Dear Friends,

In writing this note today on the topic of God’s new mercies, I decided to go back to Lamentations 3 and review the verse (v. 23), in its context.  Most likely, the prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations. Jeremiah was a man who was called by God to prophesy the coming exile of his people, the nation of Judah. His career spanned five kings and more than 50 years.  

As a result of his obedience to the Lord, he was cast out of the temple, threatened with death, thrown into prison, suffered under the siege of Jerusalem, and thrown into a slimy cistern. The first king under whom Jeremiah prophesied was the king Josiah, who instituted many reforms in the name of restoring the people to a proper worship of the one true God. Following Josiah’s death, Jeremiah’s career took a difficult turn, as each of the following four kings was unwilling to listen to Jeremiah’s prophecy. Eventually, he was branded a traitor even as he watched the people he loved be carried off into exile in Babylon.

In short, Jeremiah’s life was truly difficult. Obeying his calling required daily sacrifice and submission. Your life is most definitely difficult, at times. Perhaps you are in a season of mis-understanding, sacrifice, or suffering. So, today, I want to encourage you by sharing a few more verses out of Lamentations 3. As you read them, consider Jeremiah’s life and God’s good purposes that were fulfilled through his obedience.

As you ponder Lamentations 3:14-26, allow His new mercies sustain you this day.

“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. He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, ‘My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the LORD.’ 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.”

Blessings,

Ron