I hope in Him
Through the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!” (Lamentations 3:22-24).
The Book of Lamentations was written by Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet”. He laments the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BC and the desolation of Judah. It has struck me that in the most painful experiences recorded in the Bible you find the most beautiful expressions of hope amid despair. In just thirty words the prophet, by the Holy Spirit, speaks of God’s mercy, compassion, faithfulness, presence and hope. He did this when faith was under enormous pressure, and people were asking, “Where is God?”
We are going through the bitter experience of COVID-19. Simultaneously, people are passing through all the other experiences of life that cause distress, but have nothing to do with the pandemic. It is at these times people lose faith and hope and feel abandoned. It was in such circumstances the prophet wrote the short verses we have read this morning. These words have touched the hearts of millions of people for nearly 2500 years.
Mercy is about meeting needs. Our needs are not only material, but also spiritual. Jeremiah discovered God’s mercy was still active in the midst of destruction and prevented His nation from being obliterated. Throughout the Lord Jesus’ ministry, He found people in hopeless situations, and in mercy met their needs. He removed the power of disaster, the devil, disease and death. It is one thing to have the power to remove needs, it is another to express compassion – which is about feeling another’s pain in my heart. Those who Jesus found, and those who came to Him, did not only experience mercy, but also knew they were loved. Sometimes, as we have discovered, individuals walked away from the Saviour because their faith in a material world was greater than their willingness to know the love of God.
But God’s compassion does not fail, and His faithfulness is new every morning. When I started writing these daily posts, I woke up to the light of a new day and the singing of my blackbird friend. Now I wake up to darkness, and I don’t hear a song. But I still thank God for His faithfulness. I am assured of the faithfulness of His mercy that we find at the Throne of Grace and the faithfulness of His compassionate heart as we pass through challenging times.
I recently wrote to a young friend that I expected to struggle through lockdown. Our active lives came to an abrupt halt and the celebrations of what should have been a special year were taken from us. And so many others have passed through far more bitter experiences. But during the restrictions of COVID-19 I have discovered what Jeremiah wrote: “The Lord is my portion.” Our lives are distilled down to what is most precious and where our hope lies: “Therefore I hope in Him!” The faith which emerged from the ruins of Jerusalem set in motion events which are still taking place, and leading to the time when
the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).
Hope in Him!
