HOPE IN THE LORD FOR HELP (4)

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I HOPE IN HIM!” – Lamentations 3:24

There are more reasons than otherwise to HOPE in the LORD for HELP: “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I HOPE IN HIM!”  (Lam.3:24). God’s Great Faithfulness is one vital basis for our HOPE in Him: “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; GREAT is Your FAITHFULNESS” (Lam.3: 22-23). In the preceding verse 21, Jeremiah was troubled but he said, “Yet I still dare to hope” (NLT). This “weeping prophet” found himself in a hopeless situation. He watched the Temple of the Lord being burned to the ground by the Babylonians. His heart broke as the elements of the Temple were stolen and taken to Babylon to be used to worship false gods. In anguish, he lamented, “Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost” (Lam. 3:18 NLT).

In the midst of the devastation, Jeremiah prophesied God's words of judgement to his people, but also His Word of Compassion. Despite the distressing times, he found Hope in God’s Compassion and Faithfulness. There are two features of God’s Compassions: “They fail not”; and “They are new every morning”! God never fails to be compassionate. His judgment never comes until every means of grace has been exhausted. His compassions are never spent, never stale, always fresh: “Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise” (Lam.3:23, Good News Bible). Each day is a gift from our loving Father. Like a parent tenderly loving the child, He “daily loads us with benefits” (Psa.68:19).

In the face of despair, Jeremiah received courage to dare to hope again, as he remembered God’s unfailing Love, fresh Mercies, and Faithfulness. God's Word is designed to renew our Hope and secure Help for us. In troubled times, people not only need Hope, they also need to encounter Believers who are filled with Hope. God calls us to rebuild our Hope and restore Hope to others: “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should HOPE and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (vv.25-26). Jeremiah’s knowledge of God’s limitless Mercies and Compassion, kept hope alive in him in spite of the terrible situation he was in.

The prophet knew that as bad as things were, but for mercies, they could be worse! God has extended the same mercies to His children today; hence He will never forsake us, and nothing can separate us from His love (Rom.8: 31-39). Added to His Mercies and Compassion, God’s Great Faithfulness gives us solidity and stability. When life’s storms rise, God our Rock, is there in all of His Power. Hope in Him is the Anchor to hold onto no matter how high the waves crash or how hard the winds blow. We can have Hope even in the gloomiest of situations because God’s Mercies never expire.