Lamentations 3:1-24

I am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of His wrath. He has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. Surely against me He has turned His hand repeatedly all the day. He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away, He has broken my bones. He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship. In dark places He has made me dwell, like those who have long been dead. He has walled me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my chain heavy. Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer. He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces; He has made me desolate. He bent His bow and set me as a target for the arrow. He made the arrows of His quiver to enter into my inward parts. I have become a laughingstock to all my people, their mocking song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood. He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust. My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness. So I say, “My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the Lord. Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”^[1]

In this second lament Jeremiah recalls the destruction that has befallen Jerusalem. The city and its temple lay in ruins because of the sin and rebellion of the nation. Unlike in the first lament there is no confession of sin, nor is there any appeal for sympathy. Instead Jeremiah writes about how the hand of blessing was withdrawn, but the pain of punishment remained. The prophesies of false prophets lulled the people into a sense of false security making them believe that they were immune from the wrath of God because of their privileged position. But God’s wrath was released and his retribution so severe that all hope seemed to be gone, until he remembers the Lord’s loving kindness that is new every morning.

God is so faithful in His great and abiding love for His people that there is always hope even in the midst of the darkest storms. When we remember His compassions that never fail the cry out of the depths of our soul becomes, “The Lord is my portion, therefore, I have hope in Him.” As chaotic as things become around you today recall, as Jeremiah did, God’s faithfulness in extending His loving kindness to us and walk in hope.

Precious Lord, You are always so faithful in keeping covenant with us even when we are consistently unfaithful. Your love for us is so great that You discipline us with Your wrath, and sometimes we don’t even seek You or call upon Your name until our days are so dark that we feel as though all hope is gone. Thank You Lord for Your mercies, Your loving kindnesses that are new every morning and reminding us the darkness can not overcome us. Help us to hold on to our hope in You especially as we face the darkness around us and the darkness that is yet to come. This we ask in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), La 3:1–24.