Joy in the midst of weeping

“The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  The are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness.”  Lamentations 3:21-22

The book of Lamentations is a book of five poems, thought to have been written by Jeremiah, Israel’s weeping prophet.  It is a book of intense mourning.

Jerusalem had fallen. The nation of Israel had fallen into idolatry and rebellion and so God gave her over to the Babylonians.  Jeremiah made it clear that the only reason she fell was because of the anger of the Lord, not because of the national strength of Babylon – God caused it.  Jeremiah weeps over the destruction of the city.  He mourns because of the sin of the nation that led to the anger and rejection of Israel by God. God had told them that this would happen, and that he would do whatever it took, including being exiled, to bring them to repentance.

           

Almost exactly in the middle of this sad book, Jeremiah remembers and reaffirms the love of God.  In the center of the destroyed city, Jeremiah remembers who God is, and he finds hope.

“This I recalled to my mind, therefore I have hope,” he says.  “If He causes grief, then He will have compassion, according to His lovingkindnesses.”  (3:21, 32)

Jeremiah understood something of the nature of God.  God is holy and will not tolerate sin forever, but God is also love.  He disciplines us for a season, to correct and direct us away from sin.  He loves us too much to allow us to continue in a direction away from Him.  In His compassion, in His faithfulness, He disciplines.  Because Jeremiah understood, in the midst of destruction he could say, “the Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning.  Great is Thy faithfulness.”

As we go through our lives, we will be unavoidably confronted with difficulties.  Sometimes God disciplines us.  Sometimes we go through rough times because of the sin of another.  Sometimes stuff just happens.  The only way through it is to remember the nature of God, and to allow it to give us hope.  In the midst of our weeping, we, like Jeremiah, can remember God’s compassions, His lovingkindness, and can stand firm on truth.  We can only hold on to what we know; we can only remember what we have learned. 

How well do you know God?  If you are not in His word, studying His nature and getting to know Him and in fellowship through prayer, when hard times come you will have little or nothing to stand on.  Turn off the TV, the radio, the movie – the noise.  Exchange the need to be entertained for a solid foundation of truth as revealed by the Holy Spirit to the quiet and receiving heart.  Give yourself a reason for joy in the midst of sorrow, a reason for joy now.