Merciful God

Recently I was challenged by an elder at my church to keep a record of the lessons that the Lord teaches me so that I can share it with my children someday. Since it's so easy to forget the little things in life the Lord does and teaches us, I have resolved to make a habit of writing down some of the lessons the Lord teaches me. Here's a little excerpt from my journal entry this afternoon.

Today, I was reading Lamentations, a book filled with the mourning of a prophet over the plight of Judah. When I came across the most famous passage in Lamentations (3:21-26), I was struck by the dramatic context of this verse. Lamentations primarily focuses on the consequences of Judah's sin--the Judgment of the Lord. After highlighting the humiliation of God's people, the writer of Lamentations breaks the rather depressing description of Judah's desolation by calling to mind their one hope--the lovingindness and mercy of their God.

When everything looks hopeless, still there is reason to rejoice for God is still on the throne (Lamentations 5:19). The Lord will never give up on us just as He never gave up on Israel. Paul and Timothy were so certain of this that they wrote the church in Philippi saying, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).  

"Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD" (Lamentations 3:19-26).

Let us remember to wait quietly for the Lord's salvation and take comfort in His mercy and compassion.