I just recently finished reading through the book of
Lamentations in the Old Testament. I had read it before so I was not surprised
by the sorrow and destruction it talked about. Jerusalem was devastated and
destroyed by the nation from the north (Babylon) because God arranged for that
to happen. Lamentations clearly identifies God as the one who destroyed
Jerusalem because of their sin and lack of repentance. Lamentations 2:1 says,
“How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the
cloud of His anger. He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to
earth; He has not remembered his footstool in the day of His anger.”
It goes on to say God was without pity and “has brought her
kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonor.” Israel sinned and
turned its back on God and His ways. So God destroyed them. This could be a
very depression passage of Scripture, but there’s still hope. The hope is
focused on by the poet of Lamentations in Chapter 3. The poet purposefully
brings to mind the truths of God’s character that allow us to still have hope
in times of distress.
Lamentations 3:19 – 26 highlight the poet’s perspective,
which should also be my perspective:
“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.’ The
Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is
good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
When things seem to be totally downcast and full of distress,
I can turn my thoughts to the character of God and His great love for me. I
like the way the NASB puts verse 22: “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never
cease, for His compassions never fail.” His love and compassion never fail me,
even when it appears that everything is falling apart around me. That’s the
truth of the situation. Even when everything seems like bitterness and gall,
even when my soul is downcast within me, as it has been this winter, God’s love
and compassion are keeping me alive. I can wait quietly for His salvation and
trust in Him. That’s what I’m trying to do.
1 comment:
It isn't easy to wait on God, especially when one 's soul is downcast. He may seem far far away and non-caring. But as you point out in the passage, we can trust in God's character and in his mercies that are new every morning Great is his faitlfulness..
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