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Passage: Lamentations 3:21-24
"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:21-24Introduction
The book of lamentation is a book of grief and believed to be written by the prophet Jeremiah who is present and a witness of all that is happening on this era Israel. To deeply understand the book of lamentation we have to have the setting of the story from the book that comes before Jeremiah. Jeremiah serves as a prophet who warns Israel of the coming judgement of God upon His nation. He mediates between God and His people. What happens is, as part of this nation of Israel it causes him grief and in response he cries out to the people to repent and turn to God but instead of heeding to his cries what they did is they try to get rid of him. Deep in the heart of the people of Israel is the nature of rebellion towards God.What happens in the book of lamentation is the aftermath of the Lord’s judgement to His people and the environment is hopeless and depressing. The Lord did what He say He would do, and that is the theme of the events that is happening in the old testament from Genesis up to this moment, when He says that when you eat from that fruit you would die and God stays to the truth of His word. The Lord warns this people the same way in Deuteronomy 28: 15 ( “But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. )
So chapter 1 and 2 of this book paints us a picture of the destruction that happened at the time. The chaos that is happening in their present condition. They have been shamed and the author agonizes as he watch starving people, weeping mothers and mocking of their enemies. They began to acknowledge that what happens to them is an earned distress/a well deserved judgement.
What is at play here across these funeral poem is that in the midst of these pain and distress, is paralleled with faith and hope. I believe that in our situation today reflects the same questions they are having at that time and my prayer is for us who is studying the book of Lamentation is to see that even the suffering of the present seems more real than the possibility of redemption in the future, God’s love and faithfulness remain.
Our passage today is the climax of that hope, the hope of God’s blessing all through out Israel’s history.
He starts with "Lord I will remember of your faithfulness" and that is his hope in this statement.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;”
That is very hard to say in the light of what is happening around him. In our mind there is just no evidence of these statements. We may question: on what basis you are confidently saying these words. That is our first point ...
1. The Lord’s faithfulness is based on the truth of what He say and not on the things we see.
As he utter these word he remember of what the Lord promises. In Jeremiah 29 he wrote a letter to the exiles of Babylon and the Lord gave a promise that ...(“You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. )
These promises shows no immediate evidence that it is true but this passage teaches us to utter these words as a prayer.
“they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentation 3:23
To remind our self in every waking moment to worship the Lord and that ...
2. Worship is based on the character of God and not on the things we experience.
The world will always deceive us to lure us away from the truth that God is not good. Misconception from picky reading of God’s word will lead us to miss the true nature of who God is but the entirety of the Bible tells us the story that God is good and that He is sovereign and what he is doing, that is to call people to himself for His purpose. This is what last week’s series is all about “ The kingdom of Heaven”.When we understand this reality it all lead us to this one truth as the author of lamentation proclaim.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentation 3:24
"There is nothing else I will hope for" that is his cry, as we begin to see God in his entirety in the coming of Jesus the full revelation of who God is, we realize that there is nothing else that will satisfies us except Him.
3. We base our life only in Jesus.
That is how he conclude this that despite of what is happening around him he learned that nothing else matters except Him. These pandemic stop the fast pace of everyday for us to understand what truly matters. This is what the author of lamentation learned at the end of his constant lament on what he is witnessing around him. He learned the only thing that truly matters that the Lord is his portion and therefore his hope is in Him. He will wait on Him and he will continue to believe and trust in His promises.
Photo by: Nathaniel Callanta
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