Full Sermon God’s Mercies Are New Every Morning based on Lamentations 3:22-33

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. Flooding in our area. The problems caused by flooding in our area are huge. You have maybe seen some of the pictures of the floods in Rock Valley and Spencer. People have been rescued by people driving tractors through the water. People have used boats to rescue people stranded by flood waters in their homes. The Ocheyedan River was overflowing the river’s banks. The Little Sioux River shut down highway 9 by Lake Park for a few days and the town of Spencer was divided by flood waters into north Spencer and south Spencer. People are stunned by how powerful and devastating flood waters can be.

II. The suffering and loss in Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah who was thought to be the author of the Old Testament Book of Lamentations knew about suffering and loss. During his time the city of Jerusalem was surrounded by enemies from Babylon. The enemies laid siege to the city for a while and the people started starving. Jeremiah saw far worse things during the destruction of Jerusalem. The temple of the Lord was destroyed. The walls around Jerusalem were broken down. In about 586 B.C. the city was conquered and many leaders were taken to Babylon as prisoners.

III. Jeremiah’s sadness in Lamentations 3:14-17. Jeremiah puts his sadness into words earlier in Lamentations 3:14–17, “I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long. He has filled me with bitterness; …. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is.” Jeremiah was struggling to make sense of his world. Maybe you are struggling to make sense of your world today. Maybe you also have forgotten what happiness is.

IV. Amazing words of hope and faith in Lamentations 3:21-22. In the middle of his extreme suffering for the people of Jerusalem we have Jeremiah’s amazing words of hope and faith. He wrote in Lamentations 3:21-22, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.” His hope was not based on what he could do to show how strong he was. His hope was based on the steadfast love of the Lord. His hope was based on the steadfast love of the Lord that never ceases. His hope was based on the mercies of God that never come to an end.

V. Troubles and hope as Christians. When the troubles and problems of life bring us down, our hope as Christians does not depend on how strong and tough we make other people think we are. Our hope as Christians depends on the steadfast and unfailing love of the Lord God. Our hope as Christians depends on the mercies of the Lord God that are new every morning. The Lord God’s steadfast love never ceases for those who have faith in Him. The Lord God’s mercies never come to an end for those who trust in Him.

VI. Temptation then and now to try to figure out if God is pleased or angry. The temptation Jeremiah had, and we have today is to think of God according to how life is going each day. If life is going well and we have good days, then we are tempted to think God is pleased with us. If life seems bad and we do not enjoy the days, then we are tempted to think God is not pleased with us. We are tempted to think that we are good people when life seems good. We are tempted to think something is wrong with us when life seems bad. The truth is when the weather is nice and life seems good God sends that nice weather to visit believers and unbelievers. The truth is when storms and floods strike our area and life seems terrible that storms and floods are allowed by God to visit the righteous and the unrighteous alike. Jesus said about His Father in heaven in Matthew 5:45, “For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

In other words, simply because storms and floods miss the area you live in does not mean God is pleased with you. On the other hand, simply because storms and floods damage the area you live in does not mean God is angry with you. Sometimes the troubles and problems of life help people understand that they need God with His steadfast love and mercies to get them through those troubles and problems.

VII. Read Lamentations 3:21-26. Lamentations 3:21-26 helps us to remember God in the troubles and problems of life with the words, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 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.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

VIII. Waiting quietly for the Lord is not easy. Waiting for the Lord is good though. Waiting for the Lord is a big part of being a Christian. Instead of thinking everything should take place according to our timing, we trust that the Lord knows what is best and His timing is best. Sometimes we might pray for the Lord to do something and we might wait for months or years to hear a “yes” answer to our prayer. Waiting for the Lord is what hope in the Lord is all about. Praying for a child to return to worship the Lord regularly in church might be one of those prayers that is not given a “yes” answer for years. Waiting quietly for the Lord to do what He knows is best for us and for those we care about is good.

IX. For troubles we need more mercy. Our unbelieving world needs more mercy. We have many troubles in our unbelieving world. We need more mercy. We have many problems in our unbelieving world. We need more mercy. We have many difficulties in our unbelieving world. We need more mercy.

X. Read Micah 7:18-19. The prophet Micah 7:18-19 has some good words to think about: “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

XI. Conclusion. As we sang not long ago: “Great is Thy faithfulness!/ Great is Thy faithfulness!/ Morning by morning new mercies I see/ All I have needed Thy hand hath provided/ Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!” (LSB #809). I did a taping session for the TV program Main Street Living at Zon Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls yesterday morning. On the wall there was a picture with a sunrise and a Bible verse in the room where I robed up and the Bible verse was a good one taken from Lamentations 3:22-23: “His mercies are new every morning.” Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.