Hope in the Midst of Hopelessness

Okay, between the books of Jeremiah
and Ezekiel, tucked away in there, is the book of Lamentations.
Jeremiah is the writer of Lamentations. Josephus, he’s a Jewish historian,
he believed that Jeremiah and Lamentations were actually one
book, because they kind of flow together. Lamentations is a five-chapter
book of laments, or elegies. Now, if you don’t know what an
elegy is, don’t feel bad, because I didn’t either, so I looked
it up. And if you look up elegy, the definition is a poem of serious
reflection, typically a lament for the dead, which is an apropos
description for the book of Lamentations. It conveys the idea of loud cries. The Hebrew exclamation, Eka,
or how, is an expression that conveys
dismay. To me, it’s similar to one who
has come upon a loved one who has unexpectedly and horrifically
met their demise. And you see the person go up
and they cry, how? Why? And that’s what it is here. Except instead of a person, it’s
a nation and more specifically dealt with here, the city of
Jerusalem. The city of David, Zion, the
place where the temple was. Judah, the nation of Judah and
the Israelites had been warned and warned. and warned that if
they did not change their ways, they were going to experience
destruction. But instead of heeding the warnings,
they ignored them. That’s the backdrop of lamentations. The laments are meant to lead
up to a point and then come down. Usually when you read a book,
you read a book from front to back. And then you may be reading
a book that’s popular or something, and somebody comes up to you
and says, can you believe what happened at the end of the book?
And they tell you, and you go, no, I would have gotten there.
Well, Lamentations is a book that leads up to a point and
then comes down. It’s like hiking. You go up a
hill, and then you come down. He builds up to the main point,
which is found in chapter 3, that although God has brought
about all this to Israel, And more specifically, again, Judah
here. He is still merciful. He’s compassionate. He’s faithful. And he is still
the source of hope. So I mentioned that Jeremiah
wrote the book. He’s known as the weeping prophet. You may
know that already. Jeremiah grew up in a town called
Anathoth, which is three miles outside of Jerusalem. So he was
very familiar with Jerusalem, but been there many, many times.
Jeremiah was nearly 20 years old when he was called to be
a prophet, and he continued to be a prophet for the rest of
his adult life, some 40 plus years. The vast amount of this time
Jeremiah was ministering in Jerusalem. Because his message held little
weight with the people, Jeremiah’s prophecies reveal a substantial
amount of emotional depth. often sorrow over the plight
of God’s people or his own troubles. One wrote, Jeremiah found himself
addressing a nation that hurtling headlong into judgment from God. The Israelites may have feared
the future as the outside powers drew near, but rather than respond
in humility and repentance, the people of Judah primarily lived
as islands unto themselves. disregarding both the Lord’s
Commandments and the increasing danger that resulted from their
disobedience. So for over 40 years, he was
a prophet, but like Moses, he was a little reluctant. Jeremiah,
first chapter. Verses 5 through 8, God says,
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were
born, I consecrated you. I have appointed you a prophet
to the nations. Then I, Jeremiah, said, Alas,
Lord God, behold, I do not know how to speak because I am a youth. But the Lord said, do not say
I am a youth, because everywhere I send you, you shall go. And
all that I command you to do, you shall speak. Do not be afraid
of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.
So just like Moses, Jeremiah kind of tried to talk God out
of it. And probably not the best. Okay, but God said gave the same
message to Jeremiah basically that he gave to Moses Surely
I will go with you So Jeremiah goes and as you would expect
for someone preaching God’s judgment it was not easy It was difficult
for him Jeremiah was told by God that they will not listen
to him Jeremiah 7 Verse 27, you shall speak all these words to
them, but they will not listen to you. And you shall call to
them, but they will not answer you. The men of Anathoth, Jeremiah’s
hometown, plotted to kill Jeremiah. Later in chapter 26, the priests
and the prophets didn’t like what he was saying, and they
wanted to kill Jeremiah. Jeremiah was beaten. Jeremiah
was mocked. Jeremiah says in chapter 20,
I have become a laughingstock all day long. Everyone mocks
me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud. I proclaim violence and
destruction because for me, the word of the Lord has resulted
in reproach and derision all day long. Jeremiah’s friends
deserted him. Jeremiah was jailed twice. He was arrested multiple times,
and he was left for dead. If you remember, the subjects
of the king didn’t like what he was saying, so they asked
the king, hey, let’s put him in the cistern, the well. So
they dropped him down the well with ropes and there was just
mud and Jeremiah sank into the mud left there for dead. But
God rescued him. Jeremiah was a lonely man. He did all this as a single man. Jeremiah 16 verses one and two,
the word of the Lord also came to me saying, you shall not take
a wife for yourself. nor have sons or daughters in
this place. 40 years of people not heeding his
message. Can you imagine that? Now, think
of doing all that and not having a close friend or a wife to share
it with. What happens when something discouraging,
maddling, frustrating happens to you now? What’s the first
thing you do? Maybe the second, after you think
about telling that person off or whatever. What’s the first
thing you do? You get on your cell and you
call somebody. Jeremiah didn’t have that. And
I am betting that few, if anybody today here, has had bad days
like Jeremiah had. We get frustrated when people
don’t listen to something we want to share or give our opinion
on. But can you imagine people not
listening to you and scoffing at what you say? Now, in saying
that, with the situation in our country now, I can actually imagine
that. Even wanting to arrest and kill you for what you had
to say. And unfortunately, that is coming more true here. But
have your friends desert you, plot against you, wish you were
dead for what you had to say, for 40 years with no one to vent
with. And what you had to say was not
just your opinion. These were God’s words. Yet with all the rejection, all
the solitariness that Jeremiah went through, he was faithful. Now you may say, and I say you
may say, because I say, Jeremiah was delivering God’s
words. God told him they wouldn’t listen. God said he would protect
them. Why would that be so hard? Just do what God tells you to
do. Sounds simple, but not so fast. Jeremiah is human. Look at Moses. God called him
in a miraculous way. He performed miracle upon miracle,
leading up to his talking with Pharaoh, trying to get the Israelites
free, and then miracle after miracle as he led them through
the wilderness. But leading up to Moses going
to talk to Pharaoh, God said this to Moses when you return
to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders
I have given you the power to do but I Will harden his heart
so that he will not let the people go Next chapter Moses returned
to the Lord and said Why Lord have you brought trouble on this
people? Is this why you sent me? I? Ever
since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought
trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people
at all.” Moses, God told you he wouldn’t listen. Then later
in Numbers, when the Israelites were grumbling about not having
meat, Moses said, he asked the Lord, why have you brought this
trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease
you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I
conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do
you tell me to carry them in my arms as a nurse carries an
infant to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where
can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to
me, give us meat to eat. I cannot carry all these people
by myself. The burden is too heavy for me.
If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead
and kill me. If I have found favor in your
eyes, do not let me face my own ruin. If you have been in ministry
for any time at all, you know how hard it can be. Your message
can be ignored, might be just disregarded. You watched people
leave, you get criticized. It’s just not easy. There are
articles all the time. I saw three this week from Master’s
Seminary. First one, It was an open letter to the
lonely pastor. It was an article encouraging
the discouraged pastor. And it was another article saying,
don’t compare yourself with other pastors. Ministry is difficult. It can
be frustrating. It can be tiring. But the rewards
far outweigh the difficulties. As I mentioned, Jeremiah was
trying to warn the people of Jerusalem, the city of David,
Zion, where the temple was, the city that was so important, the
city that Jeremiah loved so much, was going to be taken if they
didn’t change their ways. This is a city he loved. These
people were a people he cared about. So for 40 years warns
the people that they need to repent and return to God They
have shunned God’s ways and they have gone after other gods and
he warns them that God’s punishment is coming side note This is not
the only time they’ve been warned as I’d mentioned. They’ve been
worn time and time again back in Deuteronomy Moses said the
Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud in a pillar
of Sorry in a pillar of cloud and the pillar of cloud stood
at the doorway of the tent The Lord said to Moses behold you
are about to lie down with your fathers and this people Will
arise and play the harlot with strange gods of the land Into
the midst of which they are going and will forsake me and break
my covenant which I have made with them. I Then my anger will
be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them
and hide my face from them. And they will be consumed, and
many evils and troubles will come upon them so that they will
say in that day, is it not because our God is not among us that
these evils have come upon us? But I will surely hide my face
in that day because of all the evil which they do, for they
will turn to other gods. They didn’t want to hear Jeremiah’s
message. They didn’t listen to Moses.
They didn’t listen to other prophets. They didn’t listen to those warnings
that the city was going to fall. They were God’s chosen people,
after all. God wouldn’t really do this,
would he? But God has a limit. And that
limit had been reached. Not only did God, through Jeremiah,
warn of impending judgment, but unlike other many of the prophets,
Jeremiah gave the warnings, but he also witnessed it. The situation is horrific. Jerusalem is destroyed, and the
way it was taken was a slow and painful process. It was taken
by siege, meaning The army was just sitting outside the walls
of Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem are inside
and they’re trapped. My understanding is that the
siege lasted about 18 months. Many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem
trapped inside with no way to get supplies in. That means that
probably many starved to death. In fact, Second Kings 25.3 says
that on the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was
so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of
the land. And if you try to go outside
the city, well, the Babylonian army was right there ready to
capture or kill you. Of the people that were left,
some were left to be vine dressers, some were plowmen, many were
those who were too weak, too old, or just unable to be carried
off into exile and be making the several hundred mile journey
to Babylon on foot. Jeremiah’s descriptions of what
has happened to this once great city is often just horrific. Here’s the scene. You can follow
in Lamentations 1. I’m going to go through Lamentations
1, 2, and into 4 real quickly. But in Lamentations 1, verse
2, how lonely sits the city that was full of people. She has become
like a widow who once was great among the nations. She who was
a princess among the provinces has become a forced laborer.
Verse five, her adversaries have become her masters. Verse eight,
all who honored her despise her because they have seen her nakedness.
Even she herself groans and turns away. Verse 16, for these things
I weep. My eyes run down with water because
far from me is a comforter, one who restores my soul. Verse 17,
Zion stretches out her hands. There is no one to comfort her. Have you ever, I don’t, the phrase,
you need a hug has become so, you need a hug, but have you
ever been so down, so much in sorrow, you needed a hug? Imagine being in that and holding
out your arms and there’s no one. No one to comfort you. From chapter two, verses 11 and
12, my eyes fail because of tears. My spirit is greatly troubled.
Little ones and infants faint in the streets of the city. They
say to their mothers, where is grain and wine? As they faint
like a wounded man in the streets of the city. As their life is
poured out on their mother’s bosom. Verse 21, on the ground
in the streets lie young and old. My virgins and my young
men have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day
of your anger. You have slaughtered, not sparing. Chapter three, verse 44, you
have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. Chapter four, verse four, the
tongue of the infant cleaves to the roof of its mouth because
of thirst. The little ones ask for bread,
but no one breaks it for them. Verse 9, better are those slain
with the sword than those slain with hunger for they pine away
being stricken for lack of the fruits of the field. Verse 10,
the hands of compassionate women boiled their children. They became
food for them because of the destruction of the daughter of
my people. This is where David ruled. This is where Solomon built the
temple. This is Zion, the dwelling place
of God, the city where royalty from all over came to marvel
at Solomon and his wisdom, his riches, and the temple that he
built. This is the city God loved. Psalm 87, one through three,
his foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the
gates of Zion more than all other dwelling places of Judah. Glorious
things are spoken of you, O city of God. The city that God loved
is now in ruins. How has this happened? I’m sure the Israelites are asking,
how could God, who promised us all these things, do this to
us? The answer can be found in 2nd
Chronicles 36 verses 15 and 16. The Lord, the God of their fathers,
sent word to them again and again by his messengers because he
had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But
they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and
scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against
his people until there was no remedy. I told you, I’ve told
you, I’ve told you, and you haven’t listened. It has happened because
the people did not heed the word of the Lord. There is a limit
to God’s patience as to how far he will let things go. And they
reached it. At this point, I wonder, maybe
you wonder, how much farther will God let our country go?
We have cities being destroyed. We have lawlessness. We have
unjust scales of justice. There is abject corruption in
our government. We have people beaten and killed
for what they wear or what they stand for. We have some even
justifying infanticide as if killing babies in the womb wasn’t
enough. Now we are experiencing this
oppression of worship. Not all worship, mind you. The
worship of the one true God. You can have certain kinds of
meetings, but when it comes to an actual worship service, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t do that. You have to
wonder, how long will God let this go on? What would God’s
judgment on this country result in? So in the middle of all this
calamity, chapter three, or lament three, Jeremiah is in despair,
true despair, like any of us have ever experienced. He has
hit bottom. Now, there are times that I’ve
had in my life where I was down or, oh, I’ve hit bottom. I haven’t
hit bottom. This is hitting bottom. In the first 17 verses of chapter
3, Jeremiah says, he has or God has. He also adds, he shuts out
my prayer. He bent his bow. He made the
arrows of his quiver enter into my inward parts. Important thing
to know here, he is saying God is doing this, not Satan. We give far too much power to
Satan. Satan is not sovereign. Satan
can only do what God allows him to do. See, Job. God is sovereign. And be thankful
for that because God is merciful to his children. Satan would
certainly not have mercy on you. But as we will see, God’s compassions
never fail. So here’s just a sample. What
Jeremiah is feeling in chapter 3? Verse 3 surely against me. He has turned his hand repeatedly
all the day He has walled me in so that I cannot go out. He
has made my chain heavy Verse 8 even when I cry out and call
for help he shuts out my prayer For the believer to think that
your prayers are not going anywhere that he’s not listening When
you’re suffering that would be the worst thing That God who
knows all about your circumstances isn’t listening to you? Verse 14, I have become a laughingstock
to all my people. They’re mocking song all the
day. To have people mock you and laugh
at you in your grief, that just makes it even more painful. Verse
15 and 16. He has filled me with bitterness.
He has made me drunk with wormwood. He has broken my teeth with gravel.”
Now, if you’re going, what? Broken my teeth with gravel?
They would bake their cakes on a hearth. And often, there would
be grit that would get into the cake, and sometimes even a little
pebble, which you would eat and break your teeth. So that’s where
that comes from. Verse 17, my soul has been rejected
from peace. I have forgotten happiness. And
finally, in verse 18 of chapter 3, so I say, my strength has
perished, and so has my hope from the Lord. Jeremiah is experiencing utter
sorrow. He has hit bottom, and he has
lost hope. I was driving to the airport
recently, and I heard Chuck Swindoll on this, saying, hopelessness
is a dangerous place to be. When you are without hope, you
open yourself up to all sorts of alien thoughts, and this is
right where Satan wants you. And it’s true. When you are feeling
hopeless, you are vulnerable. When you are in deep despair,
deep in sorrow, your mind can bring terrible thoughts to you.
I may have told you this story before, but when Carol and I
moved out to Colorado, soon after we got here, we got word that
a husband of a couple that we ministered with at a church I
was on staff with to the college group, that he had passed away
very unexpectedly. She and her husband had just
recently moved to Texas. He was in his 40s, and he had
been away back in California in training for a job. So he
was out there for six to eight weeks training for a new job,
and he died unexpectedly studying for a test. That was obviously
devastating. Not only was she not there, it
was unexpected, but he’s 1,500, 1,600 miles away. I remember talking to her on
the phone and she just wanted to know why. That’s probably
what we would all be asking. And I remember telling her that
when you’re at a loss, just go back to the basics of what you
know about God. That he cared for you, there
is a purpose for what you’re going through, and he will be
with you. Satan wants you questioning.
He wants you doubting because he’s a liar and a deceiver. And
it is here he can fill you with his poison. Oh, so this is what
he does to his chosen people. He knew he was going to do this,
yet he sent you out there to be mocked and jailed and almost
killed anyway. He used you. Satan wants you
to question. He wants you to lose hope. He
wants you feeling sorry for yourself so that he can step in and make
you fall into his devious trap. Now, maybe you’re asking, again,
when I say maybe you’re asking, it’s probably because I would
ask. But maybe you’re saying, why
didn’t Jeremiah just quit a long time ago? If you truly feel you
have been called by God to do something Do you find it easy
to quit? Jeremiah wouldn’t have been able
to tolerate it And in jeremiah 20 verse 9 we says but if I say
I will not remember him or speak anymore in his name Then my heart
it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones And I’m weary
of holding it in and I cannot endure it jeremiah couldn’t quit
Because this was what God wanted him to do, and it was burning
inside of him, and he just wanted to let it out. Now, maybe you
might think, how could Jeremiah think that God was against him? Job. Job 19, verse 21, pity me. Pity me, O my friends, for the
hand of God has struck me. The psalmist in Psalm 88 said,
O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in
the night before you. Let my prayer come before you.
Incline your ear to my cry, for my soul has had enough troubles
and my life has drawn near to Sheol. I am reckoned among those
who go down to the pit. I have become like a man without
strength. Forsaken among the dead, like
the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, and
they are cut off from your hand, you have put me in the lowest
pit. In dark places, in the depths,
your wrath has rested upon me and you have afflicted me with
all your waves. Now, Notice Jeremiah when I said
he said he has or God has he is not blaming God You may say
John you just pointed out that he said he has or God has That
God is doing all this to him He is But he’s not saying it’s
not deserved. He’s not saying God is unjust
in doing so He feels targeted But however, according to Charles
Spurgeon, that’s not necessarily unusual. He said, when God’s
hand is continually turned against us, we are tempted to think that
his heart is turned against us too. This pain is so evident
in Jeremiah’s reaction to this devastation. It clearly communicates
the significance of the terrible condition in Jerusalem. Jeremiah
pictured himself captured in a besieged city without anyone
to hear his prayers and as a target for the arrows of the enemy. Yet, in this seemingly hopeless
situation, he somehow found hope. That’s your introduction. Don’t worry. Lamentations 3. Verses 20 to 26, this is what
he has built up to. And I wanted to show you how
in despair Jeremiah is so that this really makes the point.
Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This
I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s loving kindnesses
indeed never cease, for his compassions never fail. They are new every
morning. Great is your faithfulness. The
Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I have hope in him. The Lord is good to those who
wait for him. To the person who seeks him,
it is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord. Three steps. in this passage
that I see that allow you to have hope in the midst of hopelessness. For without hope, the heart would
break. Number one, and I struggled with
this number one, is to have a good memory. Because I find mine failing
every day. I can’t remember this. I can’t
remember. What’s that word? I don’t know. for lack of a better term, a
good memory. Verse 21, this I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. This I recall to mind. For the
Christian, we don’t have to conjure up positive thoughts or practice
the power of positive thinking. I looked up that book by Norman
Vincent Peale while preparing for today. the advertisement, or for lack
of a better word, it says, it is written for the
sole objective of helping the reader achieve a happy, satisfying,
and worthwhile life. With the practical techniques
outlined in this book, you can energize your life and give yourself
the initiative needed to carry out your ambitions and hopes.
You’ll learn to believe in yourself and in everything you do. Build
new power and determination. Develop the power to reach your
goals, break the worry habit, and achieve a relaxed life. Improve
your personal and professional relationships. Assume control
over your circumstances. Be kind to yourself. I’m sorry. None of these ever worked for
me. I worked in a bank while I was
in college, and I will never forget this lady. She was older.
You could even say frail-looking, fairly tall. I can picture her
to this day. And she came to me a number of
times. And her big thing would be, she’d point at me, don’t
have a nice day, make it a nice day. I’m in college. I got 18 units. And I’m working
30 hours a week. And I don’t want to be there.
There are other things I’d rather be doing. I didn’t feel like
making it a nice day. That didn’t work. I can’t. Anyway,
it’s a good attitude to have, mind you. I’m not saying there’s
anything wrong with it. But for me, I just can’t conjure
up positive thoughts necessarily like that. But as for the Christian,
we don’t have to imagine coming up with positive thoughts. What
we have to do is remember. This I call to mind, this I recall,
this I remember, this I know from experience. Ephesians 2,
12 through 13 says, remember that at that time you were separate
from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the
covenants of the promise without hope, without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you
who were once far away have been brought near. by the blood of
Christ. Psalm 77, verses 11 through 14,
I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember
your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds. Your ways, God, are holy. What God is as great as our God. You are the God who performs
miracles. You display your power among the peoples. We can read the scripture and
see what he’s done for people throughout history. And that’s
a great thing to do. But we need to recall what he
has done for each of us. Number one, he saved us. He moved first. He divinely resuscitated
us. He made us alive on our own. It never would have happened.
But as you look back in your life, should you not be able
to recall times of his provision? His protection, His blessing,
His mercy, His faithfulness, and on and on. It’s there. How many times has He taken you
through the night? You’re struggling, and the night’s
just a time where you dwell on it more. But then the morning
comes. And everything seems to be a
little clearer. How many times has he taken you through that?
Jeremiah, in his dire situation, was able to remember that the
Lord’s loving kindnesses never end. Notice the word loving kindnesses
is plural. As MacArthur points out, it’s
a comprehensive term that encompasses his love, his grace, his goodness,
his mercy, his forgiveness, his truth, compassion, and faithfulness. And all of these never end. They
are there and accompany the believer all of his or her days. Psalm
30, verse 5, for his anger is but for a moment, but his favor
for a lifetime. Weeping may remain for the night,
but a shout of joy comes in the morning. As a young kid, 6, 7,
I hope I wasn’t much older than that, Out in California, I hated
thunder and lightning. Hated it. Because mostly it would
come at night. And I just remember putting my
head under the covers because I didn’t want to see those flashes.
I could hear the thunder. I could hear the rain pouring
down. I just didn’t like it. But then I remember one specific
time waking up and hearing the drops fall from the roof. onto the cement stairs below.
Trip. Trip. The night was over. The angry
sounds of the storm were gone. And it was peaceful again for
this six or seven-year-old. That’s what I think of when I
read that verse. Matthew Henry said the plural
shows the abundance and variety of those mercies. God is in an
inexhaustible fountain of mercy, the father of mercies. A.W. Pink wrote this, marvelous it
is that one who so infinitely is above us, so inconceivably
glorious, so ineffably holy, should not only notice such worms
of the earth, but also set his heart upon them, give his son
for them, send his spirit to indwell them, and so bear with
all their imperfections and waywardness as never to remove his loving
kindnesses from them. Not only do his loving kindnesses
never end, but his compassions or mercies never fail. That as
bad as things are, because of his compassion and mercy, things
aren’t worse. Spurgeon and Henry described
compassion as pity. Psalm 40 verse 11 says, you,
O Lord, will not withhold your compassion from me. Your loving
kindness and your truth will continually preserve me. One wrote, as bleak as the situation
of judgment had become, God’s covenant loving kindnesses were
always present. And that even in the depth of
their affliction, they still have the experience of the tenderness
of the divine pity. and the truth of the divine promises.
That God’s compassions fail not, they do not really fail, no,
not even when in anger, he seems to have shut up his tender mercies. These rivers of mercy run fully
and constantly, but never run dry. When our comforts fail,
his compassions do not. A few verses after writing this,
Jeremiah writes, the Lord, for if he causes grief, then he will
have compassion according to his abundant loving kindness,
for he does not afflict willingly. The mercies of God are often
hard to recognize when they are happening. He does cause grief
and does afflict. But all this serves another purpose,
a merciful purpose, if we trust him. What did James say? Consider
it all joy, brethren, when you face, encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And
let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing. Meaning, trials have a purpose. In his book, A Burden Shared,
David Roper wrote, to resist the pain is to miss the purpose
of it. Suffering isn’t fatal. Our eternal
security is not based on circumstances, but on his acceptance and his
word. Suffering promotes counsel we
could not otherwise give or messages we could not otherwise deliver.
Now, when you’re suffering, you’re stressing. To hear someone say,
well, it could be worse. That’s not what I want to hear.
Truth is, though, it could be. When I was on staff in California
at a church, I had a really nice office. I hated to give that
up. But it was large. And in the morning, I would go
in there, and I would shut the door, and I would get on my knees,
and I would pray to God out loud. And I don’t know if it was the
out loud part, But you’d say, what was going on? You might
complain a little bit. But all of a sudden, I would
talk myself into, yeah, but it could be a lot worse. There are
a lot of people who have it worse than me. It could be a lot worse. And I know you don’t want to
hear. That’s hard to hear. But it could be. And not only. that but these compassions these
mercies they’re new they’re new every morning one used the description
of a cistern the water in the cistern a well it may be sufficient
for a long time but if it is stored up for a long time it
will not remain fresh stagnant water It may have been fresh
the morning it flowed into the cistern, but it will not be fresh
tomorrow. The water that flows from the
springhead or from the faucet, that is fresh. God is not the
cistern, he is the fountain. In other words, God’s mercies
are not stored up until they are used up, but they flow freely
and are fresh and new every morning. God provides his people with
mercies each morning because he knows what we will need for
each day. So when we start today, his mercies
are there in full for whatever comes that day. After all, he
knows all that will go down. He knows more than we do. Nothing
that happens or will happen will come as a surprise to him. He
will not have to adjust. He will not have to say, oh,
didn’t see that coming. We usually have a good idea of
what the next day will bring, what we need to do, but we don’t
know everything. It would be a sad thing, a sad
state for us to wake up and find unexpected responsibilities and
duties without the strength and mercies to get through them.
Again, the Spurgeon said, this is your consolation that there
be daily strength given to you for the daily duties to which
God calls you. Some of the mercies or compassions
he provides us with may be the same type, but maybe the source
is different. Carol and I have had a few occasions
where we’ve had some blessing, financial or some otherwise, and believe me, they’re wonderful
blessings, but they came from such unexpected sources. I mean, I had no idea, would
never even have thought of that. There are a few that we still
don’t know. But let’s not limit mercies to
unexpected blessings. Don’t discount your health. Don’t
think lightly that you have a roof over your head, that you have
food to eat. There’s an old spiritual that
goes, can you see? Can you hear? Can you walk? Can you talk? Then you don’t
know just how blessed you are. God is faithful. Jeremiah knew
that. Now behold, today I’m going the
way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in
all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the
Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed. All have been
fulfilled for you. Not one of them has failed. A
couple of weeks ago, Ron used a quote from A.W. Pink in his
sermon. And when I heard it, I knew,
OK, that’s going to fit here. And it says, there are seasons
in the lives of all when it is not easy, not even for Christians,
to believe that God is faithful. Our faith is sorely tried. Our
eyes dimmed with tears. And we can no longer trace the
outworking of his love. Our ears are distracted with
the noises of the world, harassed by the atheistic whisperings
of Satan, and we can no longer hear the sweet accents of his
still small voice. Cherished plans have been thwarted.
Friends on whom we relied have failed us. A professed brother
or sister in Christ has betrayed us. We are staggered. We sought
to be faithful to God, and now a dark cloud hides him from us. Have you ever felt that? Do not doubt that God is faithful.
He has to be faithful. It’s part of his character. God
is true. His word of promise is sure.
In all his relations with his people, God is faithful. He may
be safely relied upon. No one ever really trusted him
in vain. We find this precious truth expressed
almost everywhere in the scriptures. For his people need to know that
faithfulness is an essential part of his divine character. This is the basis of our confidence
in him, but it is one thing to accept the faithfulness of God
as a divine truth. It is quite another to act upon
it. God has given us many exceeding great and precious promises,
but are we really counting on his fulfillment in them? Do we
actually expect him to do for us all that he has said? Are
we resting with implicit assurance on these words? He is faithful,
that promise. Now, I struggle with this. I
can look at all you and see that God does things for you. And
I said, well, yeah, yeah, he would do it for him, but not
for me. That’s just wrong. What are some of the promises?
There are so many. But here are a few, we have his
protection. Psalm 91 verse four, he will cover you with his feathers
and under his wings, you will find refuge. His faithfulness
will be your shield and rampart. We have forgiveness. First John
1.9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He
knows our limits. First Corinthians 10, 13, no
temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God
is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your
ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way
of escape that you may be able to endure. And in spite of our
unfaithfulness, he remains faithful. The words of the hymn, come thou
fount of every blessing, say prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it, prone to leave. the God I love. Isaiah 54 10
says for the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
but my loving kindness will not be removed from you and my covenant
of peace will not be shaken, says the Lord who has compassion
on you. Unless we forget God is faithful
to Jerusalem and Israel and the Israelites. He has a plan for
them in the future. I sincerely believe that God
has been faithful to Israel. Just look at it. A tiny country,
completely surrounded by its enemies. It has no earthly reason
why it should still exist, except for God’s faithfulness, God’s
sustenance on them. God has a future plan for them.
He is faithful and will carry it out. Number two, remember
you belong to God. The Lord is my portion, verse
24 says. The Lord is my portion, says
my soul, therefore I have hope in him. To have hope in God is
to have hope in that which will never, ever disappoint, never
fail. We put our hope in things all
the time. We hope as we cross the street, those cars will stop
as we walk across. We hope that the food we eat
is not tainted. We also put our hope in man a
lot. We put our hope in government
a lot. Things will get better. Those things are sure to disappoint. God will not disappoint. The
top of the list is that we are his. He will never leave us,
and that should be a great source of hope. For I’m convinced, Romans
8 says, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. John 6, verses
37 and 39 says, all that the Father gives me will come to
me. And the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast
out, for I have come down from heaven Not to do my own will,
but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of Him who
sent me, that of all that He has given me, I lose nothing,
but raise it up in the last day. So remember, He has promised
never to leave you. And as those who belong to God,
remind yourself of what you have. Look at Psalm 91. Psalm 103,
Ephesians 1 as beginnings. Number three, to have hope in
a midst of hopelessness, you need patience. The Lord is good
to those who wait for him, to the person who seeks him, it
is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord.
Our trials may seem to go on and on. We may feel deliverance
may never come for us, We must continue in prayer, seeking him
and him only. And I admit, this is not easy. The speaker at our son-in-law’s
graduation said this. We are a microwave society, and
we serve a crockpot God. Slow cooking. But when you do
a crockpot, the flavors are meant to meld together. and be at their
fullest. And when we wait, and when he
finally brings relief, it will be full relief. We want to be out of our trials
quickly. I mean, who wouldn’t? But in order to get us to learn
what he wants us to learn, it may take a while. But the blessing
is that believers who are patient and are in prayer are blessed
with the strength to deal with trials. Isaiah 41, I’m sorry,
40 verse 31. Yet those who wait for the Lord
will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings
like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk
and not become weary. When we are patient and in prayer
to Him, He will give us the strength to endure. And if we are sincerely
wanting God’s purpose in our lives to be accomplished and
we want His will to be done, if we truly have that goal in
mind, we may have hope that the end will come at last. Second
Peter three nine says the Lord is not slow about his promise
as some counts loneliness, but is patient towards you, not wishing
for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. So what
can we take away from lamentations three that in the midst of trial
and suffering? How many times have we gone through
difficult circumstances only to come out stronger and closer
to God? I pray that as we recall to mind
and continue to experience his loving kindnesses, compassion,
mercies and faithfulness, it will bring about us about in
us a new faith, not a new faith in something else, a renewed
faith, more confidence in God’s living kindness in difficult
times. As a result of the new faith, we would have new praise,
or new, more exuberant praise in light of this renewed faith,
in light of more confidence in what God has done. And that would
result in new action, a bolder testimony to others about what
God has done for us. There’s an old hymn I grew up
with, and it seems like it was written especially for this,
but it says, day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength
I find to meet my trials here, trusting in my father’s wise
bestowment. I have no cause for worry or
for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives unto
each day what he deems best. Lovingly, it’s part of pain and
pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest. Our Heavenly
Father, you are surely good to your people. And there are times
when we need to teach us something or to correct something in us.
But help us to remember that you do that because you love
us. A parent would let their kids
go off and get into trouble without correction. You do that because
you care for us and you love us and you want us to grow. But
Lord, you, even in those times when we feel you’re not listening
to us or you’ve abandoned us or whatever, you are there. And
that your loving kindnesses indeed don’t fail and that they are
new every morning, and help us to remember that you are faithful
and that we are yours. That should give us great hope.
And I pray that you would Engrain that in us Each and every day
and it is in your name the name of Jesus Christ our Lord who
gave himself up for us Amen