Lamentations 3:9 Meaning and Explanation

'He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone.' Hewn stone is dressed, fitted masonry, the most solid and permanent kind of wall. Every road forward is blocked by something immovable. The sufferer cannot advance; wherever he turns, he meets a wall built to last.

'He hath made my paths crooked' adds disorientation to obstruction. The ways that should run straight have been twisted, so that even where he can move he is led astray and turned from his goal. Both blocked and bewildered, he has lost the power to chart his own course. This is the end of self-direction, and though it feels like ruin, it is often the place where a soul finally looks up for guidance it cannot supply itself.