It’s Monday…again. While Monday typically offers a return to the frenetic pace of the world, believers are invited to pause and reflect. A great reflection this morning, for members of BBC, is the message God brought through His messenger Zad. If you missed it, check it out here. The church was exhorted and reminded that we must “Worship God His Way” and the declaration was given that “Mercy triumphs over judgement.”
Our opening scripture reading was Lamentations 3:22-25 and it is a needed reminder of “Mercy triumphs over judgement.” Traditional scholarship attributes Lamentations to the prophet Jeremiah, who wept over the his national’s fall under God’s judgement for unfaithfulness. Even throughout the exile, famine and destructions, the Spirit ministered to Jeremiah. He was reminded to lift his eyes beyond the circumstances and see that YAHWEH is unchanging. Read this declaration of the divine’s unchanging character:
“The steadfast love 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,” to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
This is not being optimistic for sentimental reasons. This is an understanding of true theology that was born amidst the fire. Forged if you will. As Pastor Zad mentioned yesterday, God’s covenant love (hesed) – “a loyal love” endures even when His people fail. Three thoughts about this text.
I. The Never-Ending, Never-Ceasing, Never-Failing Steadfast Love of God (vv 22-23)
As we were reminded of the loyal love of the Lord, His covenant-bound faithfulness because of God’s nature and character, we see it is all because of Him. This love is not merited. This love overflows with His “mercies” (rachamim, plurality of compassion). These are NEVER exhausted. These are “new each and every morning, just like the manna in Exodus 16. A striking contrast to the reality of sin’s consequences, Jeremiah tells us that without God’s mercies “we would be consumed.” Great is YAHWEH’s emunah, His rock-solid unmovable, inexhaustible – faithfulness.
II. The Lone Source of Hope (vv 24)
When we look back in Israel’s history, we see that the tribe of Levi received no land as inheritance, because “the Lord was their portion” (Num 18, Psalm 73). Jeremiah makes this same statement even in His loss: “the Lord is my portion.” Take the temple, the city, the kind away, and God Himself was enough for Jeremiah. “I will hope in him” is not a fringe momentary statement, it was grounded in the knowledge of the Holy’s character.
Crossway has recently released volumes of the collected works of John Owen, the great puritan writer who gave us works such as The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (1648), The Mortification of Sin (1656), and Communion with God (1657). From this latter work, he writes, “There is in my Father’s love every thing desirable: there is the sweetness of all mercies in the abstract itself, and that fully and durably.” Owen tells us that true hope rests in the redemption and fulfillment only found in His promises. He is faithful to them because he cannot lie.
III. The Goodness of Waiting and Seeking the Lord (vv. 25-26)
God is “good to those who wait for him, to the should who seeks him.” This is an eager, and expectant, waiting of God. Often we can align waiting with resignation. We resign that yes, God will accomplish His will, so I just need to resign any hope and see what happens. That is not the directive given for “waiting” in this context. This is a “stretching” toward God. It is a humble stillness before our Sovereign King who saves. The waiting is active in pursuit, prayer and preparation. What we see as delay is often divine directives being worked out in real time. When we think about person or cultural turmoil and even collapse, we must not question God’s steadfast last. Instead, Al Mohler states, “we wait in reverent trust that His timing and purposes are perfect.”
Closing Thoughts
Start each day with deliberate devotion on this thought: “The Lord is my portion.” Record on your heart His faithfulness from yesterday. This will craft in you a hope to carry you through today. We should wait actively instead of anxiously. Seek Him through His word and prayer. Labor in faith and rest in His sovereignty. If we do this practically, it will keep us from “self-help” efforts and guard us from giving up. Owen gives another great reminder that “staggering at God’s promises dishonors His faithfulness. When doubt creeps in, return to the cross. It is ultimate proof that His mercies never end.”
If you feel today that the fountain of mercy has run dry, scripture answers this by calling our gaze upward.
Romans 5:5 – “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
His mercies greet you newly and freshly today as we turn our eyes upon Jesus. Great is his faithfulness. Hope in Him. Wait on Him. Seek Him.
He is good – now and forever.