He Is Faithful

Introduction:

On Sunday, we read the passage that we are going to look at tonight. However, I want us to do something different with it tonight than just read it. We are going to first look at the passage and see what is going on and then we are going to pray it back to the Lord making it personal.

Lamentations 3:19–26 ESV

19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Background:

Jeremiah has watched the fall of Jerusalem and the exile of his people.

God had warned them over and over again of impending doom if they would not turn from their idolatry and repent.

They crossed a threshold where the hardness of their hearts and the wickedness of their sins had filled up the cup of God’s wrath.

God acted and now Jeremiah is in exile with the people who survived and his heart is broken and in anguish.

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Jeremiah pens the letter we have known as Lamentations. It is a lament for His people and a cry for God’s mercy.

The Greek title for the letter is called “Tears or Wailings.”

In Chapter 3, Jeremiah begins an acrostic lament using every letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

It’s also a little different in that it uses 3 verses to every letter rather than one like Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5.

In essence what Jeremiah is doing is saying with all the words that can be formed, his heart is expressing its anguish. He is expressing his grief from A to Z.”

In the midst of that letter, we have hope and we are going to look at two things tonight that we can take away from the lament.

1. There are Hardships in this Life (vv.19-20)

Some are caused by our own sins

Some are caused by the sins of others

Some are caused by life lived in a fallen world

2. God’s Mercies Are Available to Us (vv. 21-26)

Remember Them (Reflect on Them)

Hope in Them

Seek Them in Prayer

Depend on Them

Conclusion

Jeremiah had hope because the Lord was his portion. Is He yours?

The hope that we have is that God is a compassionate God. He longs for us to turn to Him and he will save us.

Lamentations 3:39–41 ESV

39 Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? 40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! 41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven:

Lamentations 3:55–58 ESV

55 “I called on your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit; 56 you heard my plea, ‘Do not close your ear to my cry for help!’ 57 You came near when I called on you; you said, ‘Do not fear!’ 58 “You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life.