Lamentations 3:39

Living man complain. On this verse the traditional Jewish commentary, the Midrash, remarks laconically, “It is sufficient for him that he lives” (Midrash Rabbah, Lamentations, sec. 9). The fact that a man has life — a gift of God — is enough to remind him that a divine hand preserves him (see Acts 17:28). The poet here uses a bit of irony to shame the one who is tempted to complain under trial: Will a man who every moment draws breath by the leave of God dare speak against the Lord’s direction of the affairs of the universe?