Great Is Your Faithfulness
3:1 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11 he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me
as a target for his arrow.
13 He drove into my kidneys
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
the object of their taunts all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29 let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not willingly afflict
or grieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the earth,
35 to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
the Lord does not approve.
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39 Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
and return to the Lord!
41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 “We have transgressed and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
killing without pity;
44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 You have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
46 “All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47 panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and destruction;
48 my eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52 “I have been hunted like a bird
by those who were my enemies without cause;
53 they flung me alive into the pit
and cast stones on me;
54 water closed over my head;
I said, ‘I am lost.’
55 “I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56 you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57 You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
you have redeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all their plots against me.
61 “You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all their plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 Behold their sitting and their rising;
I am the object of their taunts.
64 “You will repay them, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them dullness of heart;
your curse will be on them.
66 You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under your heavens, O Lord.” (ESV)
3 days to Revival! Keep praying for God to do a great work!
Also if you want to read my blog about Slave Esteem just click on my name!
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
I think that reading through the book of Lamentations gives you the context to really appreciate this verse. It is saying that in the midst of this invasion and the judgment of God, they are not dead yet because he is still being good to them. Even in the midst of his wrath, there is a reminder of his mercy.
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I too am reminded of God’s grace in this passage. The fact that even in the midst of His wrath spewing forth He is still in their midst. His mercy is evident in His judgment. Great is His faithfulness!! He has spoken in His Word and He stays true to that. What an encouragement.
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
We do so many bad and sinful things in this world, we deserve to be terminated and destroyed by God. But He won’t to do that, until He comes back anyway. God loves us so much and cares for our souls, He will not destroy us. God gives us so much grace beyond what we can imagine, and we do not deserve it.
40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.
After we sin it is hard to pick ourselves up and return to a dependence on God. This verse reminds me of the unfailing compassion and never-ending forgiveness God has shown us. He is control of everything and that comforts me.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
This verse is actually pretty true for today. If you work really hard in school now, you can get a good job later in life. Also, God commands us to be blameless and sttand out, so just like the sermon Bobby gave about homework we need to work hard to stand out.
20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
Oh i really love these verses, they remind me of my favorite Psalm, Psalm 42 especially verse 5 which says
Psa 42:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And {why} have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him {For} the help of His presence.
It is in those times when we are downcast and burdened in which we can take joy for we have hope in the Lord. As 1 Thess 4:13 talks about, we weep but not at those without hope for we can call the creator of the universe our Father and He cares for our needs and will continually provide for us and work things out in our lives for good. So as difficult as the time may be, we can know that in the long run it is what is best for us and what the Lord has planned for our lives!
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
It is so comforting to know that God is faithful. He does not bring suffering upon us without cause and He does not abandon us in it. When suffering comes, we can rejoice knowing that God will redeem us and Has a purpose for us in our pain. Instead of becoming bitter and hardening our hearts we should instead depend on God for deliverance and know that trials like this will help us to continue to do so.
The beginning of the chapter starts out mournfully, like the previous chapters, but then in verse 19, it starts and there is hope.
20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
This reminds me of the book of Job. Job was being tested, though, and not punished for sin… but he still rejoiced in the LORD and had hope. Here, Jeremiah is talking and finds hope in the LORD and knows He is faithful and just. He knows God is being just by punishing Judah, but God is faithful and Jeremiah knew God wouldn’t destroy Judah forever. Jeremiah went right back to God’s character. He knew God is faithful, just, loving, merciful, and forgiving. This is a good example. We shouldn’t just rejoice in the LORD when times are bad though and remember His faithfulness, but everyday.
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
Mmmm we need to place and keep our hope in the only One who can save us from eternity from hell. This earth with burn away and all on it, but the Lord will last forever. Dont forget about the verse saying that all authority on heaven and earth has been given to Him!! He is so powerful, and we are but dust in the wind!
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
The Lord teaches us in Lamentations that God is with us in all things and at all times. We learn so much when things are difficult. We must be patient and wait for God’s timing. Hope is the light of the Lord, let us hope and trust by faith that God’s timming is perfect even when we donn’t understand it.
Will you please pray for my Dad to get a job soon? Thanks
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
This verse is very encouraging to me, especially during hard times. Although things are wayy hard right now and disapointing i need to be hopeful and believe in God’s plan. All things are in his hands i just need to trust him!
and i agree with Vanessa verse 22 reminds me how forgiving God is and all His grace that he has pored out for us :]
and thank you to everyone who has prayed for me these past dayss<333
22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail
This passage reminds me that even through His wrath and His anger, the Lord is also very graceful. He is graceful enough that we are not consumed because the Lord still loves us. This is one reason that we should live each and every day out for the Lord.
Wow…I can’t wait til Revival!!
40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.
This verse is saying that we need to constantly be examining our lives, making sure we are doing God’s will. If we are not, we need to recognize that and get back on track.
I really liked verse 25, “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;” This verse is so encouraging!! If we put our trust and hope in Christ he will make things right for us and provide us with everything we need. I really need to work on doing this, especially during hard times.
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him…
As Christians we need to seek God and but our hope in Him!!! He will be good to us if we do….I have seen it!! God has blessed me so much in my life because I continue to seek and grow in knowledge in Him!!!
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him
i can really relate to this verse because i really needed to find hope and the only way i can do that is through him.
8 Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.
I can’t even imagine whqt it would feel like if God shut out my prayers. I would be alone with no help. It is such a scary thought.
I love how in this Chapter it shows that no matter how tough things get we should always trust that God has a plan. This is something I need to remind myself of constantly and this Chapter is really encouraging to me.
64 Pay them back what they deserve, O LORD, for what their hands have done.
intense… jeremiah must have had to be blameless before God in order to not be considered a hypocrite… its too easy to turn an point the finger and ask for God to punish others when we ourselves have sinned just as badly towards God… this was a solid reminder that God will judge us for everything we do so we should to fear him for that