Hope in Lamentations

Introduction to Lamentations Chapter 3

We're going to Lamentations chapter 3. So, you can open up there. That's right after the book of Jeremiah.

Building the Context

But before we read our passage, I want to build a little bit of the context that builds up to this. Who has ever read a good bit of the book of Jeremiah? Raise your hand if you've read a good book of the book Jeremiah. Well, in our through the Bible study, we had just read through Jeremiah. Now, there's a number of things that are spoken about in Jeremiah, but I'm sharing this because the book that precedes Lamentations is the book of Jeremiah. And a lot of the things that are spoken about in the book of Jeremiah directly connect to the book of Lamentations. And in my opinion, what I believe is that Jeremiah under the inspiration of God wrote both Jeremiah and Lamentations. And you see the connection. But in the book of Jeremiah, a big theme is what we spoke about two Sundays ago. Return to the Lord. A big theme of the book of Jeremiah was that God was telling his prophet Jeremiah to tell Israel that they needed to repent. Israel was sinning. They were worshiping false gods. They had all kinds of sinful and wicked ways that we read about in the book of Jeremiah. And God told Jeremiah to tell Israel they needed to repent and they needed to return to the Lord or else there would be consequences.

Consequences of Disobedience

And the consequences were spelled out by the prophet Jeremiah. Jerusalem would be conquered by Babylon. And God's people that didn't die when Babylon came to conquer Jerusalem would be taken captive. So these were the consequences that were spoken about. Unfortunately, Israel did not repent. Israel did not return to the Lord. And what we find out is that God keeps his promises and he brought his judgment and Jerusalem was conquered and God's people were taken into captivity in Babylon. Now, as we flip the page to Lamentations, much of these five chapters in Lamentations are about the author, who I believe is Jeremiah, lamenting.

Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet

Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. Much of Lamentations is about Jeremiah who wrote it. Sad to see what has happened. Sad that Jerusalem has fallen. Sad that God's people have been taken into captivity. In Lamentations chapter 1, if you go there before we read in chapter 3, it says verse one, how lonely sits the city that was full of people. So it starts off basically picking up from Jeremiah that the author is so sad to see Jerusalem it's sitting lonely because it's been conquered. And then in verse three, it says, "Judah has gone into captivity." Judah being that Jerusalem and that region around Jerusalem, the region of Judah, they've gone into captivity. Where have they gone into captivity? They've gone to Babylon just like God said would happen. They're under affliction and hard servitude.

Expressions of Sorrow

Then it says in verse 12 of chapter 1, behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. So you start to read about the author of Lamentations. He's being sorrowful. He's deeply sad, deeply distressed over what has happened. And then it says in Lamentations 1:13, from above he has sent fire into my bones. And then in verse 16 of chapter 1, it says, for these things I weep. My eye, my eye overflows with water. So we get this picture of Jeremiah the author of Lamentations weeping and it says in chapter 1 verse 20 see oh Lord that I am in distress my soul is troubled my heart is overturned within me we see the author is deeply distressed deeply sad and as we keep reading through Lamentations almost all of it is about this sadness this depression that the author is experiencing because of what happened to Jerusalem and to God's people.

Darkness and Affliction

And in fact, we're going to read from chapter 3, but as we open up to chapter 3 and verse one, it says, "I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has led me and made me walk in darkness." So you read about the author being in great darkness over what happened. And then in verse four, he has aged my flesh and my skin and broken my bones. You get this picture of a deep deep sadness, a deep deep depression. Have you ever been there where you just in total darkness? That's what we read the author is in. And then in verse six, he has set me in dark places like the dead of long ago. And in chapter 3:14, I become the ridicule of all my people. And we know Jeremiah was ridiculed by his people. In fact, he was shut up in prison for what he prophesied. They didn't like the message God gave him. It says in chapter 3 16, he has also broken my teeth with gravel. And in verse 17 of chapter 3, you have moved my soul far from peace.

Finding Hope in Despair

That's kind of the setting of what we're reading in Jeremiah and in Lamentations, building up to the verses that I'm about to read. Now, Crystal and I were reading through Lamentations last week, and it's hard to read about all that sadness, isn't it? But then there comes a point in Lamentations chapter 3, beginning in verse 21, where we're about to read, where you see hope. And you read about hope for the author, who again I believe is Jeremiah under the inspiration of God. You read about the hope that he has in God. We're going to read from there. And I do invite anybody that would like to stand with me in honor of the reading of the word of God. Lamentations chapter 3, beginning in verse 21, the word of God says, "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Because his compassions fell not, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I hope in him."

A Prayer of Gratitude

God, thank you for your word. Thank you for the hope that we have in you, God, no matter what. And God, today, as we continue to worship and as the word is preached, I pray you speak to our hearts and use it for your purposes. We love you. And God, as we continue to preach, also again, we lift up Kurt and Betty. God, ask you to have your hand on them. God, we love you and just give this time to you. I pray it honors you and brings you glory. And I pray that you stir inside our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

The Promise of Hope

You know, if you read Lamentations or maybe if you just kind of were listening to the context building up to it, it's really cool the way after all this sadness and all this darkness that we're reading about, all of a sudden there's these few verses right there in the word of God. And something we're reminded of is that there's always hope with God. No matter how dark it might seem, no matter how impossible a situation in life might appear, no matter how hopeless we might feel, there's always hope with God. Amen.

Jeremiah’s Journey to Hope

Jeremiah was depressed. He was in darkness. Hey, he had been in prison even. He had been mocked by his people. He had to feel hopeless at a lot of times. And you know, the enemy wants to make us feel hopeless. But there's always, always, always hope with God. Verse 21, all of a sudden we read this. Therefore, I have hope. It's as if Jeremiah after weeping and talking how dark he felt, he remembered all that God had done in his life when he thought about God and he said, "Therefore, I have hope." Today, we'll be remembering what Jesus did for us, especially when we partake in the Lord's supper. Sometimes it does us good to remember what God has done and that gives us hope because if he did it before, he can do it again. There's always hope with God.

Hope in Personal Struggles

I don't know what's going on in each of y'all's life today, but I know for humans, for men and women and boys and girls, there's a lot of ups and downs. And I know in a room with this many people, in a sanctuary with this many people, I know there's got to be many hard things that many people are going through. And there might even be someone here today or some of you here today that feel a little hopeless. I mean, I'm a pastor, but I get moments feeling like that. Does anybody else? But there's always always hope with God. There's hope on this earth. And we know there's hope for eternity. There's always hope with God. I tell you one thing that as we keep reading in those verses we read, we can have hope in God knowing he will get us through the hard times.

God’s Mercies Sustain Us

I love what it says there. It said, "This I recall to mine. Therefore, I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed." You know, Jeremiah might have felt hopeless, like he couldn't go on, but he knew somehow, someway, he would not be consumed. In other words, somehow someway God would get him through that depression, that darkness, that hard time. And I hope that everyone here today is reminded no matter how much you might feel like ashes, no matter how dark you might feel, God will get you through. Hey, I've felt completely hopeless. When I answered the call after two days of a supernatural peace, the enemy went to work. The enemy started to attack my mind. The enemy started to make me worry. The enemy started to make me doubt. The enemy started to make me think, "How is this going to work out? How are you going to feed your kids? You don't even have a job. You're going to be worse than an unbeliever because you're not going to provide." He would try to bring that verse up to me. And he would tell me, "You're such a fool. You can't be a pastor." And he would tell me, "Man, you were about to go do this and go do that. Now you don't even have any work. You can't even take care of your kids." And he was going to he would tell me this and he would tell me that. What do you think people are thinking? He put the enemy will do that, right? The enemy is a liar. He's the father of lies. And listen, when we're having those hopeless feelings, they're not of God. They're not of God. God is a God of peace. He God is not going to give us those feelings like there's no way that we can make it. That's not of God. But the enemy will. The enemy will tell you lies. And I remember in those days it just the enemy kept getting my mind until finally I had no peace. I had no joy. Every single there was nothing bad going on in my life really other than my life had changed. But the enemy was making me think it was impossible. And the enemy got my mind, got me stuck. And the enemy made me feel I thought I had no hope. I thought I didn't want to live because of the pain. But Crystal didn't give up on me. She fought for me. She got me help. And God had a plan. It felt hopeless. It felt impossible. Guys, there's always hope with God. I tell you what, one day it's like God just clicked the light back on and I was healed. And but I want to tell you, I thought I had no hope. So if you are here and you feel hopeless, first recognize that's not of God. And also just know you do have hope. I promise you with God there's always hope. Jeremiah thought he had no hope. But then he remembered what God had done and he said, "Therefore, I have hope." Just understand.

Hope in Hard Times

And there's times when we go through hard things, right? Some of you might be going through some hard things right now. We go through hard things with our health, right? We go through hard things with our children. We go through hard things with relationships. We go through hard things with depression. We go through hard things with finances. There's we go through hard things with work. There's all kinds of being a Christian doesn't mean life's going to be easy. And in fact, you'll have the enemy attacking you and you got your flesh. Praise God. Though, as a believer, in those times that are hard, we've got God to go to and God will get us through. And by the way, there is power in prayer. And man, when we have faith and we pray and we pray big, God can do things that we don't even think about. God can God can heal when we when doctors say you can't be healed. Amen. God can provide when you think your house is going to be taken from you. Amen. God can give you a house when you're on the street and you don't see any way you can get one. God can do anything. There's always hope with God. And when we go through those hard times, we need to remember what God has done. And we need to know that it's a promise. He will get us through the hard times. Sometimes he will work to answer a prayer and remove that hardship. Have you ever seen that in your life? Man, I've seen it time and time and time again. And sometimes people say, "That's coincidence. Quit saying that. What about God answered a prayer? That's not coincidence. God loves you. God cares about you. And when we do have to bear it, there are times we might have a thorn in the flesh or there are times when we might have a hardship. But even if that circumstance remains, God will get you through and you'll get the opportunity to draw closer to the Lord than ever before.

God’s Compassion and Love

We can have hope in God because he'll know we know he'll get us through the hard times. We can also have hope in God because he loves us and he cares for us. Verse chapter 3 verse 22 of the passage we read it says because his compassions fell not. We have a God that loves us more than we can imagine that has compassion for us. I love what we read about the Lord saying in Matthew I believe it's chapter 9 verse 36. Watch what we read. But when he saw the multitudes talking about Jesus, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. The Lord is the chief shepherd and he cares for his flock. He loves you. He loves you as a child of God and his compassions fell not. So we can have hope in God because we know one attribute of God is that he loves us, that he cares for us, and when we're going through hardships, he hears us and his compassions fell not.

God’s Mercy

And we can have hope in God because he is a merciful God. Amen. It says in verse 22, "Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed." We God could let us go through that alone. God could choose to just never answer our prayers. But he's a merciful God. Therefore, we are not consumed. We know first, boy, is he merciful to save a sinner like me. Does anybody agree that he is merciful to save a sinner like you? God is merciful. Man, I've done some awful things. Who else has? Who else is I mean, we've done we can try to act like we're we know we've all sinned and we know we've done things we are not proud of. In fact, sometimes God will use sometimes God will use your sin and as a testimony to say how God helped you. But but you know there's things you are not proud of. But God is so merciful to make a way for sinners like us to be forgiven and our sins are just wiped away. And also God is so merciful for us as believers to have time and time again when we're in a hardship when things seem hopeless that he's right there with us. God will never leave us nor forsake us. The scripture says that he hears our prayer and that even in those times we we get to call on God and we get to feel his presence and somehow being in his presence it just we're like you know what I'm okay in his presence is fullness of joy and he's so merciful that even though he doesn't have to so many times he'll he'll help us with that situation. I mean, he's such a big God, creating the heavens and the earth and giving us life and setting up eternity in heaven, but he's still so caring and loving and merciful that he cares about each and every one of our little thing. Not saying they're little, but I mean, you think about in the grand scheme of things, he cares about this little thing I got going on, even though it's big to me, or that thing you got going on. He's a merciful God.

New Mercies Every Morning

And I tell you what, something that really I love about when I read one part of this passage, I'm just reminded we can have hope in God today and every day and forever and ever on into eternity. It says, "Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed because his compassions fell not. They are new every morning." I love that verse. I don't know if any of you are in the habit of getting up first thing in the morning and giving that time to God. I know everybody's schedules different. I know some people aren't morning people, but when I looked at scripture, the Lord would rise early often and he'd he'd get along with the father before the hustle and bustle of the day. It'd still be dark. You read about that. He'd rise before the day got going to get along with God. And I tell you that that time in the morning with the Lord for me, even though there can be times that maybe I struggle or I've got a lot on my mind, more times than not, what I find is like every morning, I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm getting my coffee in me, too. But but it's like every morning I'm just reminded it's a new day. God God's given me a new day. And it says his mercies are new every morning. And every day I'm just reminded God, this thing I've been calling out about, God might choose to answer today. Always have hope. You know what I mean? And I know if if it doesn't change, I know I got God to get me through it. But there's just something special about knowing his mercies are new every morning. Man, I wonder what God's going to do today as we get with him and spend time with him. And I think most important thing we we take time with the Lord, but I maybe I'm biased and this and that, but like I just really feel like it would bless anybody if they find a way to block out time first thing with the Lord. I in my heart, in my opinion, I just think it'll bless you.

God’s Faithfulness

But we can have hope in God today and every day. And lastly, and I'm doing kind of good. I told you I'd be a little shorter today. Lastly, I'd say this. Y'all y'all joke, but now people get mad when it goes long. Like, we're just worshiping Jesus. It's okay if it goes long. If you have to go, you have to go. But I'm trying to honor that we can have hope in God because he is faithful. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Because his compassions fell not, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Don't y'all love that old hymn, Great is Your Faithfulness? Reminds us so much about how faithful God is. He is our God. We can count on him. He's faithful. He says he has compassion and loves us and care for us. We can take it to the bank. He is a loving God. He loves us even when we're in the midst of this storm. He still loves you. He still cares about you. He says his mercies are new every morning. He's faithful. He says that we can count on it. And every morning we can have hope. Y'all ever have middle of the night, you just feel like you're under attack, but then you say, "Joy comes in the morning." You know what I'm saying? Sometimes I I'll be enemy of trying to get me. Middle of the night, joy comes in the morning. But he's faithful. We can have hope that no matter what we endure on this earth, God will be faithful. He'll be faithful to get us through no matter what. And man, a lot of times he's faithful to answer our prayer. Man, when he answers your prayer, tell people what he's done. I walked into the Sunday school class where Jimmy teaches and Miss Cricut just shared how we had prayed about her shoulder, right? About her shoulder and ever since praying, God just took that pain away. I think for two weeks. Yeah. And so we immediately praise God because that's nothing about a person or this or that. That's about the power of prayer and about God answering prayer. There's power in prayer when the saints pray.

Eternal Hope

But God, he is faithful. And something else I think about his faithfulness is about the promises in the word of God that have not yet come to pass but will come to pass. You know, God tells us in his word that when we believe in Jesus, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. When we truly place our full faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we can know God is faithful to keep his word and we will spend eternity in heaven. That gives me hope. That I hope it would give everyone in this room hope because we know God is faithful and we can have hope knowing that we can count on the promises of God and we can count on the fact that just like the word of God says Jesus he died and he rose on the third day and it says for whoever Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. The promise of eternity in heaven for the believer. That should give us great hope.