Lamentations 3:17-24 MSG I’ve forgotten what the good life is like. I said to myself, “This is it. I’m finished. God is a lost cause.” 19-21 I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed. I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: 22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.
Observation
The prophet Jeremiah, like King David, was one who freely and publicly lamented before God. Jeremiah repeatedly warned that, despite their status as God’s chosen people, disaster was looming. God’s blessing and protection were conditional on obedience to the covenant (agreement) between them (Deuteronomy 28) and His patience had run out. If you read 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, you can see that the moral and legal conditions were not anywhere close to being met.
So, God allowed the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar to destroy most of Jerusalem, burn down the Temple, and carry all but the poorest people into exile. This conquest went even deeper than the physical loss and devastation for the Israelites because the Temple was seen as the home of God’s presence among them. No Temple meant God had stepped back, removed His hand of protection and fulfilled His promises for Israel and Judah ignoring their covenant with Him.
Deuteronomy 28:26a, 35 NIV The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. …36 The Lord will drive you and the king you set over you to a nation unknown to you or your ancestors. There you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone.
So, under these devastating conditions, it is no wonder that Jeremiah confesses his “feeling of hitting bottom.” The destruction of the Temple alone was like stripping the nation of its soul, hope and future, a sign that God had abandoned making His home among them. He has already confessed that God is righteous (Lam 1:18) and that Judah received its just desserts according to the covenant between them. Nevertheless, in the midst of the crushing circumstances, he remembers “God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!”
Jeremiah, like David in the psalms, always returns from despair to hope, trusting in God’s goodness as he remembers and holds on to the constancy of God’s mercy, compassion and faithfulness. Like David, Jeremiah has a “but God” ending. “Things are terrible BUT God is unfailingly good, faithful, merciful, loving and just.” Jeremiah reminds us to keep our “buts” in the right place. If we will keep our trust and hope in God regardless of the devastating circumstances or any lack of understanding as to the “why” of those circumstances, God is still good and we can trust in Him!
Impact on Me
This is a difficult book to read. This book of Lamentations cries out about human struggles still common today – worshipping at the altar of other gods, defeat, loneliness, abandonment, sorrow, pain or agony due to sickness, suffering, loss or death, and shame or loss due to sinful living. I have been where Jeremiah is at this moment – “I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed. I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—the feeling of hitting the bottom.”
However, like Jeremiah, I recognize that there is nowhere else to turn but God when I hit bottom. Through the bitter, desperate and difficult experiences, when I reach out to Him, I have found Jesus close by, His presence ever more tangible, His comfort ever sweeter. I am always in a place where all my efforts have failed, my resources proved inadequate, my possibilities exhausted. Why do I wait until I hit bottom? Why don’t I cry out on the way down? Do I think I am weak for seeking His help? The only weakness in this instance is my faith in His mercy, His provision, His ability to execute His eternal plan and my commitment to be used by Him regardless of the cost to me.
I am learning as I walk with Him that God is more interested in my character than my comfort. He takes me to the places that I need to become what He needs me to be to do what He needs me to do. I need to remember that in the middle of the circumstances. There is no one and nothing else that is my sure hope. “But there’s one other thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope: 22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness! I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over). He’s all I’ve got left.”
Prayer
Lord God, You are goodness itself. Your faithfulness is unquestioned. Your mercy and grace never fail. You are working out Your eternal plan and I am privileged to be an instrument in Your hand. Give me the wisdom to cry out to You on the way down before I hit bottom. Remind me when I whine about the circumstances that You have everything in control. Give me discernment into whether the circumstances are my fault, the devil’s attack, or part of Your will and purpose for me. I pray that I will be what You need me to be and do what You need me to do in all circumstances. Make it so, in Jesus’ name.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 