08/27/18 Faithfulness and Forgetfulness

READING: Lamentations 1:1-3:36

“Great is Your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:23

Let me be honest this morning. Today, I re-read a post I wrote about today’s reading several years ago as part of my devotional time. I suspect that the words I wrote then reflected a time when mercy and forgiveness were for some reason very much fresh and alive for me that day. This many years later, I confess that I’m forgetful and that I again too often take God’s mercy for granted. For that reason, these words from 2015 challenge me this morning. 

We sing the song, but I’m not so sure we understand the depth of the words. “Great is thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see . . . .”  Our sanctuaries echo with the lyrics, but I’m unconvinced that our hearts resound with the truths. 

These words in Lamentations form the apex of the book, the crescendo of poems in the heart of the book. These words are almost surprising, coming at the end of stanzas filled with verses lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians in 587 B.C.  Jerusalem had sinned grievously against God (Lam. 1:8), and the Lord’s anger resounded against them. In fact, His anger and judgment are mentioned dozens of times in the first ten verses of Lamentations 2. 

It’s then that we are almost surprised by the turn in Lamentations 3:22-23–“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” 

God is faithful to His people, even when they have not been faithful to Him. His love is constant — indeed, He judges because He loves — and His mercies have no end. Every day is a new opportunity to love Him, serve Him, and to live in His grace. Like God’s giving manna to His people on a daily basis, He extends His faithful, steadfast love to us every day. 

He is the gracious God of new beginnings, the loyal Creator who shows compassion to repentant rebels. Every day He grants us mercy. Surely we cannot just sing the words, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” as if they were simply a song. They are a testimony to the grace of our God — the God who calls us back to Him this morning. 

I forget God’s mercies, but He doesn’t forget to send them.  

ACTION STEPS: 

  • Just thank Him. All day long. 
  • The tune of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” may be bouncing around in your head. Sing it today. 

PRAYER: “Father, I can hardly speak today. Permit me to just bask in Your grace.”     

TOMORROW’S READING: Lamentations 3:37-5:22

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