August 30: Lamentations 3-5

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012

Lamentations 3–5

Jeremiah’s lament continues as he considers the plight of the family of Israel.  Jeremiah speaks of the personal impact of the Lord’s judgments, as he served on behalf of the Israelites:

 

“He pierced my heart

                with arrows from his quiver.

I became the laughingstock of all my people;

                they mock me in song all day long.

He has filled me with bitter herbs

                and sated me with gall.”

 

 

Still, Jeremiah turns back to the hope that he can find in God alone:

 

“I remember my affliction and my wandering,

                the bitterness and the gall.

I well remember them,

                and my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind

                and therefore I have hope:

 

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

                for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

                great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion;

                therefore I will wait for him.”

 

 

He recognizes that, based on human events, there is little reason for hope in restoration.  I have often struggled with this trust in His providence in light of uncertainty and challenges, even today to a great degree.  We cannot allow our human sight to trump the reality of His mercy and compassion, however.

 

Jeremiah thus calls the people to trust in God’s ever-renewed faithfulness and giving to the people.  You may know that these verse form the core of a great hymn of the faith, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”  Written in 1923 by former life insurance agent Thomas Chisholm, the hymn represented just one of the author’s 1200 poems.  The three verses describe God’s great faithfulness in three key areas:  as revealed through His Word; as revealed through creation; and as revealed in our lives.  As James 1:17 instructs us, “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

 

Let us join with Jeremiah in turning wholeheartedly to this faithful King:

 

“Let us examine our ways and test them,

                and let us return to the LORD.”

QUESTIONS

 

1.  How have you seen God’s faithfulness in His Word?  In creation?  In your life?

2.  What can you turn over to Him this week?

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