Lamentations 3:22-24 says this,
“22 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”
When we look at what was happening during the time that the author wrote the book of Lamentations, the Israelites of the Southern Kingdom had been taken into captivity. The author laments and mourns the captivity of God’s people in Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of Babylon, completed his attack on the city of Jerusalem, destroying the temple and the city and taking many of the survivors into captivity in Babylon. The Southern Kingdom of Israel suffered this fate because they rebelled against God by worshiping idols and other acts of unfaithfulness toward the LORD.
Yet within this book which focuses on mourning, we see a theme of redemptive hope. The passage quoted above is a profession of God’s faithfulness amid the surrounding devastation. God is not aloof from His people as they suffer, nor has He abandoned them. As the author publicly confesses the sins of his people, he also has hope that God will have mercy on them as they repent of their sin and cry out for His mercy. While our suffering and pain may be significant in this life, we must entrust ourselves to God and His never changing mercy and compassion. The LORD God Almighty, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is faithful to His Word and promises. He is not aloof, and He has not abandoned us. As Christians we need to trust and rely on God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus who suffered for our sins on the Cross and who rose again for our justification (Romans 4:25). The Lord who died for us and rose again for us is also with us through our suffering and sorrows. He hears our cries. He wants us to tell Him about our suffering. Jesus is the only hope of our salvation, and since He is perfectly faithful to keep His promises, He is the sure anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19,20). I close with these words from the hymn, “Great is Thy Faithfulness”
“Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided;
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Book of Common Praise ©2017; hymn 362)
Words: Thomas O. Chisholm Tune: William M. Runyan
