Finding Hope in the Midst of Suffering: God’s Faithfulness Through Lamentations
New Mercies for the Wounded Heart
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22–23
I’m going to walk us through a passage of scriptures that gives hope to the hopeless. It comes from one of my favorite books of the Bible, Lamentations. To lament means to vent pain and grief loudly with wailing and crying. There’s an entire book of the Bible dedicated to expressing pain.
Lamentations 3:22-24
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
This book echoes the heart of those who love the Lord during a time of correction, confusion, and grief. Those who choose give praise to the Lord despite being in the midst of deep, prolonged suffering.
The book of Lamentations is an invitation to safely process and express the gamut of human emotions. Communicated within this book and many other biblical books (Job, Psalms, Isaiah) is deep sorrow, grief, anger, confusion, disappointments, distress, protests, and fears.
Most Christian scholars and historians credit the authorship of Lamentations to the prophet Jeremiah. The poems in Lamentations give virtue and dignity to human suffering. I’m so grateful the Word of God doesn’t shy away from the emotional rollercoaster that is the human experience. He can bear our pain.
These three verses are wonderfully brimming with hope. However, to fully comprehend the magnitude of these scriptures, we must first put them in proper historical context. The situations described in Lamentations are during the fall of Jerusalem and exile at the hand of the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The land and the Israelites have experienced gross and horrifying trauma that only war, and exile can bring.
Jeremiah penned these words for us, under extreme circumstances, which is a remarkable testament to his trust and hope in God. The Lord wants us to express our pain to Him, face to face, not after we have turned our back on Him. In our earthly relationships we tend to only share deep pain with those we consider safe, those we trust. The Lord wants that level of trust from us, He wants an authentic relationship with us. He is consistently inviting His people to comprehend Him as the ultimate place of peace.
What gives Jeremiah hope anyway–the nation is in dire distress, captive, enslaved, destitute? Great is Your faithfulness. Jeremiah knows that the Lord of Hosts is faithful to judge evil, consistent on His covenant promise to not let evil triumph. God has not changed. The evil done to us will be judged.
Because we have time on our side, we’ve seen more of God’s rescue than the prophet Jeremiah. We’ve witnessed throughout history, those who mess with God’s people are always on the losing side of history. The Babylonians, the Assyrians, Persians, the Romans… the list goes on. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Israel has seen enough war and hardship to have been wiped off the face of the earth many times over, but they’re still standing. Because God is faithful, because His compassions fail not. Again, God has not changed. The evil done to us will be judged.
The foundation of Jeremiah’s hope is…"The Lord is my portion”, says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
I love how pastor David Guzik puts it–“Jeremiah found the key to satisfaction—finding one’s portion in the LORD. Whatever measure he was to receive, whatever inheritance, whatever future, it would all be found in Yahweh. These are the words of a satisfied soul. Jeremiah had no other place of satisfaction, so he was settled with the portion received, and that portion was the LORD Himself.”
We can find our satisfaction in God. We are His! We can stand in the midst of this crazy world and remember our hope and satisfaction comes from Him and Him alone. He will not allow the evil done to us go unpunished. Seek refuge under the shadow of His wing. Trust Him with all of your painful emotions, and seek His glorious face.
When you enroll in one of our healing programs—Shelter From the Storm for women or Renew for men—you’ll discover a safe, Christ-centered space to process anger, injustice, shame, sadness, and grief with others and with the Lord. In these 12-week studies, participants walk through Scripture, find community, and experience the power of God’s truth to heal even the deepest wounds.
Join a group today. We will ultimately point you back to the One who brings hope, peace, and satisfaction even in the midst of pain—Jesus.
Prayer: Dear Lord, You are my Portion, You are my hope and satisfaction. Thank you for the example of Jeremiah and others that show You do not turn away from our grief or pain. Our relationship is strong enough to withstand my expressions of sorrow and joy.
Lord, please gently correct me, when I shy away from bringing my hurt, pain or confusion to You. Please mold me into Your image more and more every day. I pray this in Jesus’s holy name, Amen.
