Hope in the Night
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
How are we to respond to suffering in challenging times? It starts with a changed heart of faith which yields itself to hope.In order to walk in the power of Hope, we need take a fresh look at God in light of our present circumstances.
Verse 22:
“The steadfast love (חַֽסְדֵ֤י) of the LORD (יְהוָה֙) never ceases (כִּ֣י לֹא־תָ֔מְנוּ),
I. The Steadfast Love of the Lord (v.22a)
Hesed-loyal love
John Robert Walmsley Stott (English Preacher)
The reason our hope will never let us down is that God will never let us down. His love will never give us up.
Application in Lamentations 3:22
• Jeremiah acknowledges that despite Israel’s suffering and exile due to their sin, God has not abandoned them completely. His covenant loyalty ensures their survival.
• Even in judgment, God’s steadfast love remains, offering hope for restoration.
His Steadfast love gives us Hope in the Night because its:
• Constant in every circumstance—God’s love never ceases.
• Covenantal in nature—His faithfulness is not based on our actions but His promise.
• Comforting in trials—We can rest in His unchanging love.
• This verse serves as a reminder that God’s promises are not nullified by human failure—His mercy and faithfulness endure.
In summary,
covenant loyalty in Lamentations 3:22 reassures that even in despair, God’s steadfast love remains the anchor of hope because His faithfulness is rooted in His character, not our performance.
13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
II. The Sure Mercies of the Lord (v.22b-23)
Verse 23:
New
Hadash-Fresh
Ray Pritchard
Today’s mercies are for today’s burdens. Tomorrow’s mercies will be for tomorrow’s problems.
Ray Pritchard
v22b- for His mercies (רַחֲמָֽיו) never come to an end (כִּ֥י לֹא־כָל֖וּ).”
v-23 “They are new (חֲדָשִׁים֙) every morning (לַבְּקָרִ֔ים);
great (רַבָּ֖ה) is Your faithfulness (אֱמוּנָתֶֽךָ).”
• Supplied daily—God’s mercies are new every morning.
• Sufficient for every struggle—No matter how great our need, His mercy is greater.
• Steadfast in faithfulness—His promises never fail.
Illustration:
Fresh Baked Bread and God’s New Mercies
Imagine waking up in the morning to the smell of fresh-baked bread. The aroma fills the house, warm and inviting, reminding you that something good has been prepared for you. Yesterday’s bread may have gone stale, but today, a new loaf is ready—soft, nourishing, and satisfying.
God’s mercies are like that fresh-baked bread. Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us that His compassions are new every morning. No matter what happened the day before—failures, regrets, burdens—God doesn’t serve us leftovers. He gives us fresh mercy, enough for today, just as fresh bread nourishes and strengthens.
If you hold on to yesterday’s failures like stale bread, you’ll miss the fresh grace God is offering you today. Instead, wake up with expectation, knowing that His faithfulness provides new mercy, just like a warm loaf straight from the oven, ready to sustain and renew you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.
5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Charles Spurgeon
Praise is the rent which God requires for the use of his mercies.
III. The Secure Hope in the Lord (v.24)
Verse 24: Provision
Heleq- share of the booty; possession
“The LORD (יְהוָה֙) is my portion (חֶלְקִ֤י), says (אָמְרָ֣ה) my soul (נַפְשִׁ֔י),
therefore (עַל־כֵּ֖ן) I will hope (אוֹחִ֥יל) in Him (לֽוֹ).”
• Satisfying—The Lord is our portion, providing all we need.
• Sustaining—Hope in Him strengthens us through life’s hardships.
• Sure—Waiting on God is never in vain; His plans will come to pass.
Illustration:
The Lord as My Portion – A Full Plate
Imagine sitting at a table set before you with a perfectly prepared meal, custom-made to satisfy your hunger. The plate is full—no missing pieces, no lack, just exactly what you need. Now, imagine someone else at the table is anxious, scrambling to grab more food, fearing there won’t be enough. But you sit peacefully because you know that the portion given to you is enough—prepared with care by the One who knows exactly what you need.
This is what it means when the Lord is our portion (Lamentations 3:24). We don’t have to chase after things that won’t satisfy or worry about what we lack. God Himself is our provision—our sustenance, our strength, our inheritance. He gives us what we need daily, just as He provided manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4). We don’t have to hoard or fear; we just trust that what He gives is always enough.
When the Lord is your portion, you can rest, knowing that no matter what you face, He will provide exactly what you need—at the right time, in the right measure, with perfect care.
Question for preaching: Is the Lord all that you need…All the other tribes was given land, but for the Levites, the Lord was their portion…Trust in the Lord as your portion..
5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
5 I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Celebrate:
God’s Steadfast Love, Sure Mercies, and Secure Hope provide strength in life’s darkest moments.
Great is thy faithfulness,
Great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hast provided;
Great is thy faithfulness,
Lord unto me.
God can produce salvation! he has the power, the ability, the capacity…
He sent His Son Jesus because Justice demands our soul because of sin, but God being rich in mercy…
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
