Great is His Faithfulness

It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed,

because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul;

 therefore will I hope in him.

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him,

to the soul that seeketh him.

It is good that a man should both hope

 and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD (Lamentations 3:22-26).

What lovely verses, full of hope, confidence, and dependence in God! When we read them, many times out of context, we forget that these beautiful statements of trust in the Lord follow on the heels of suffering and deep despair. Read a few verses before these:
I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
(verses 14-19)

I confess. Lamentations isn’t my favorite book of the Bible. (I prefer happier books like Psalms and Philippians.) In Lamentations, Jeremiah writes extensively of despair, the people’s suffering, and judgment—all brought on because they didn’t heed God’s warnings.

But God, in this important book in His Word, teaches us the right response to pain and suffering:

            Meditate on the truths we know about God.

            Rejoice in His provision.

            Realize we need nothing else but Him.

            Look for and wait for the “blessed hope” of eternity with the Lord.

In our darkest moments, we would do well to do the same.