“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him” (Lamentations 3:22-24, ESV).
These words from Lamentations are familiar to many Christians. They appear on wall hangings, coffee mugs, greeting cards, and on Facebook and Instagram posts. I used to sing the first two verses to my children and then my grandchildren. They are comforting, reassuring words, giving the feeling that all is well.
Often, we read Bible verses like these without realizing the context. We might assume the author wrote them in a time of peace and prosperity, a time when everything seemed to be going well. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah, who is often called the weeping prophet. He had good reason to weep: the messages God gave him to deliver were mostly declarations of the terrible judgment coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. God was going to punish His people because they had rejected the LORD and turned to idolatry. God had given them many chances to repent, but they would not. They even brought idols into the Temple of the LORD. Judah was filled with injustice: lack of compassion for widows, orphans, and the poor; mistreatment of foreigners; murder and theft and cheating. They had sinned willingly against the holiness of God, and judgment was coming.
The judgment would be so horrific, other nations would be shocked. Babylon would carry away the best of the people to serve their king. Then the armies of Babylon would surround Jerusalem, causing many of the Jews inside to die of starvation. And finally, they would break down the walls, destroy the Temple, killing without mercy.
Jeremiah was in Jerusalem the entire time. He suffered with the people, though he had been faithful to God. He was beaten by the leaders who were angered by his prophecies. His life was spared, but he watched as his people died and the city was destroyed.
And yet, in the middle of his book of lament, grieving for all that had taken place, he declares his faith in the LORD. He still believed in God’s unfailing love. He believed in His faithfulness. He trusted that God’s mercies would continue, morning after morning. He declared, “The LORD is my portion (inheritance); therefore, I will hope in Him.” He held on to God’s promises of restoration for Israel in the future, that the Jews would return to Jerusalem again. Every word of the prophecies of judgment God had given him were fulfilled. He had no reason not to believe that these promises of restoration would also be fulfilled one day.
The world we live in today is filled with injustice. Many have turned their backs on God, rejecting Him and preferring their own idols. There is violence all around us. It is easy to sink into hopelessness. But God has not changed! His love remains steadfast; He has not run out of mercy. He is good; His faithfulness is constant. He is still our inheritance, and our only hope. He is greater than our circumstances, so much greater than the wickedness around us. Like Jeremiah, we must remind ourselves of the greatness of our God. Only then can we continue serving the LORD in the good times and the bad, knowing that He will never change.
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