Lamentations 3. I was reading this, really couldn't
help but thinking about the life of the believer. Remember when Abraham, he denied
his wife to Bimelech. He said, it's my sister. He lied
about that. And then later on, Abraham was
going to offer up his own son as a sacrifice. He was going
to offer up Isaac. It's just hard to imagine that
those two people could be the same people. Peter, remember Peter out there
on that ship and he saw the Lord walking on the water and he said
to the Lord, he said, bid me to come out on the water and
walk with you. And he did. The Lord bid him
come and he went out there He walked on water with the Lord,
but then in a short amount of time, he saw the winds boisterous
and being afraid, he began to sink. And he cried out to the
Lord, save me, save me. And the Lord reached forth his
hand and saved him. How one can be so faithful at
one moment and then just pretty much abandon ship the next. The Lord said when he said to
him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? I
just suspected he didn't even have to raise his voice at him,
did he? St. Peter, who would later, he
would deny the Lord three times. David, think about David, and
much could be said about David, but how he, I mean, he pretty
much single-handedly defeated the Philistines when he slew
Goliath. And then later he sinned against
God when he numbered Israel. Isn't that just amazing that
he knew the Lord was with him, but he went out there and battled
this giant, destroyed the enemy, and then later it's, well, I
wonder if we've got enough soldiers here. He numbered the people. How is it that John Newton could
could pin these words. He said, amazing grace, how sweet
the sound that saved a wretch like me. But he's also the same
one who wrote, tis a point I long to know. It gives me anxious
thought. Do I love? Do I love the Lord
or not? Am I his or am I not? And I think we can all, can't
we all enter into that? Isn't that just a pretty quick
description of God's people? A tried people, a sinful people. But aren't we thankful that where
sin abounded? Sin abounded. Grace. God's grace. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Well, here in Lamentations 3,
look at these words here. Look at verse 18. I said, Jeremiah
said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord, With a view of my sin, a view
of my inability, can't we say that? My strength is perished
from the Lord. In light of who God is, Isaiah
6, just listen to these words, it says, in the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up, and his train filled the temple. What a glorious sight
that must have been. And above it stood the seraphims. One had six wings, with twain
he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and
with twain did he fly. And one cried unto another, and
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, and the whole
earth, not just a corner of it, the whole earth is filled with
his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke, and then I said, What is there to say? Woe, woe
is me. I am undone. I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips. Mine eyes have
seen the King. Mine eyes have seen the Lord
of hosts. Well, back here to Lamentations
3. Verse 19, remembering mine affliction,
my poverty, my affliction, and my misery. I'm destitute. I'm helpless. He said, I remember
the wormwood and the gall, the corruption of my nature, the
corruption of this flesh. He said, my soul is humbled,
bowed down within me. in light of who God is. If he's ever pleased to give
us a glimpse of who he is and what man is, what we are
by nature, I believe we would say as Paul, in this flesh dwelleth
no good thing, nothing. Nothing good dwells in this flesh. How often, how often do we find
ourselves, I speak of myself here, how often do I find myself
filled with doubt? How often do I find myself murmuring
and complaining with regard to the Lord's providence? We may
not do it out loud, we may not do it in a company of folks,
but I tell you, that describes me. Filled, filled with fear,
filled with doubt. But look here at verse 20. My
soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. Again,
if we ever truly see anything of who God is, his holiness,
the perfection of his law and what his law requires. If we left there, we'd never
find any hope, any comfort, not by anything we can do. A true side of self in the presence
of Almighty God that can only convict us, that can only humble
us, that can only bring us to our knees. We read this without
Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God
in this world. Well, look at verse 21, Lamentations 3, 21. In those
times, the prophet writes here, this, this I recall to my mind,
therefore, I have hope. I have hope. What do I recall? Is it my works? Oh, I hope not. It's His grace. Is it my sin? My misery? No, it's His love. It's His mercy. Jeremiah looked within, and again,
if we ever do that, we can only do one thing, and that's grieve.
But now, he looks to Christ in mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ,
His mercy, His compassion, His faithfulness, His salvation. Not affliction, but the Lord's
remembrance of His people. He said, I recall these things. Well, we're about ready to look
at here. These things, and therefore, I've got hope. I like the sound
of that. Hope. So with what time we have
here this evening, let's look at some of these reasons for
hope. I believe there's, I see seven,
I'm sure there's more than that there, but I see seven. And the
first is found in verse 22. And we read, it's of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed." The Lord's mercy. Wasn't that
the cry of the publican? He didn't say, look at all these
things that I've done. He wasn't looking to merit. He
was looking for mercy. He said, God be merciful to me,
the sinner. It was, listen, that was David's
cry. David cried the same thing. He
said, have mercy upon me, oh God. Mercy, undeserved mercy,
sovereign mercy. Paul writing to Titus, he said,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his Mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which was shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Are we deserving of condemnation?
Yes. But what's our hope? We have
a good hope, don't we? God's mercy. God's mercy to his
people in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says it's of his mercies that
we're not consumed. In Job 19, Job said this, he
spoke and he said, though after my skin, worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh, I'm going to see God. whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eyes shall behold him, and not another, though
my reins be consumed within me." This body, this body will someday,
this body that we go to such great lengths to take care of,
someday is going to be consumed. It's going to be gone. Yet, the
believer, those in Christ, they'll never perish. We'll live
eternally. We'll not be punished with an
eternal and everlasting destruction because of God's mercy, His grace,
His goodness. Those chosen of God to grace
and glory in the covenant of grace, those redeemed by Christ,
regenerated by the Holy Spirit, forgiven of our sins, completely
saved and lacking nothing. It's of His mercies that we're
not consumed. Does that give you hope? Does
that give us reason to rejoice? Second, he says, because his
compassions, they fail not. Can that be said of our compassion? I feel like our compassion just
kind of goes to a point and then we're kind of done. but his compassions, they never
fail. His tender mercies will never
fail. I will, I'll fail, but he will
not. The believer is kept by the power
of God. 41 times, This is read in Scripture. We read this passage, this statement,
His mercy endureth forever. Not just once, 41 times that
is repeated in Scripture. His mercy endureth forever. I believe we can take stock in
that, can't we? They fail not. I ask you this, in light of David's
sin, did God's compassion fail him? Did his mercy stop? David, you just went too far
this time. What did Nathan the prophet say
to David? The Lord also hath put away thy sin. God's love for his people shall
never fail. He shall not fail. His compassions, they fail not. Well, let's read on here. Look
at verse 23 of our text. They are new every morning. The love of the Lord Jesus Christ
for his people never ceases. His mercies never end. Forty years, every morning, the
children of Israel, they would wake up and go outside their
tent and there would be manna on the ground. They grew tired
of it, but you know, everything they needed, the Lord provided. And it wasn't the manna from
yesterday that was out there. That was gathered up and something
done. It was new every morning. We could grow tired of manna,
but I ask you, could we ever grow tired? Could we ever reach
a point where we don't need his mercy, God's mercy? And every time, every time we
need his mercy, it's there. Every day, every hour, every
minute, every second, His mercy is unsearchable. It's
past finding out. After a long night, maybe a long
day and a long night, a restless night, remember this. Think about
this every morning that the Lord's pleased to let us wake up to
a new day. His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. They can't be exhausted. Well,
do you still have verse 23? Fourth, he says, great is thy
faithfulness. Now, I want you to look at that
closely, okay? What's it say? Great is thy faithfulness. Not my faithfulness, thy faithfulness,
God's faithfulness. And don't get me wrong, we should
all be faithful. We should all be faithful stewards
of God's grace. which he's bestowed upon us.
We should be faithful in giving, faithful in worship, faithful
in prayer, faithful in holiness. Paul wrote of Timothy in 1 Corinthians
4, and he said this, he said, he's my beloved son, and then
he said this, he's faithful, faithful in the Lord. And he'll
bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ as
I teach everywhere in every church. I want to be faithful. But listen
to me. Our hope, our life, our glory
is not in our faithfulness. Where is it? It's in His faithfulness. You see, when we fail, and we
will, when we fall, as we so often do, when we falter, he
is faithful. He is faithful. Great is thy
faithfulness. He's faithful to himself. He's
faithful to his word, he's faithful to his covenant. Deuteronomy
7 verse 9, it says God's faithful to his son. Know therefore the
Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful. the faithful God which
keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his
commandments to a thousand generations. He is faithful. He's worthy of trust. He's one that can be relied on. I can hope. I can hope in him. Verse 24. Fifth, the Lord is my portion,
saith my soul. Therefore, will I hope in him. He's my portion. Another word
for that is inheritance. Inheritance. He is my inheritance. Isn't this an amazing thought
that we are joint heirs with Christ? The believer, huh? A joint heir
with the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the portion of His people
in life, in death, in time, and throughout all eternity. And
all He has And all he is belongs to his people. As he is. As he is, so are we. We'd never get our head wrapped
around that, would we? Heirs of him and heirs with him. Heirs of His grace, His blessing,
His kingdom, all things. He is my portion. He's my wisdom. He's my righteousness. He's my sanctification. He's
my redemption. My portion. Isn't it better to
have God than all the goods in this world. Isn't it better to have God for
our all than to have all and be without him? What shall it profit a man that he gains the whole world,
everything in it, Everything in this world is fleeting. Everything in this world is going
to be destroyed. What does it profit a man that
he gains the whole world and yet loses his own soul? The believer can say this, the
Lord is my portion, therefore will I hope in Him. Sixth point here, the Lord is
good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh
Him. What's Scripture say about waiting?
Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage. He'll strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. He's good unto them that wait
for Him, that wait on Him, and to the soul that seeketh Him. Just a couple scriptures here. Turn to Luke, Luke chapter 19. Look beginning with verse 2.
This is a familiar passage, Luke 19 verse 2. Behold, there was
a man named Zacchaeus, which was chief among the publicans,
and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who
he was. and he could not because of the
press because he was little of stature and he ran before and
he climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him for he was to
pass that way." Zacchaeus sought the Lord. What happened? What happened
when Zacchaeus sought the Lord? We read, when Jesus came to the
place He looked up, and he saw him, and he said, Zacchaeus,
make haste and come down, for today I must abide in thy house. He sought the Lord. He found
him, didn't he? The Lord was seeking him long
before Zacchaeus sought him. Boy, that's a pretty good indication,
isn't it? He sought the Lord. Not everybody
seeks the Lord. Not everybody has a desire to
know the Lord. Turn to Mark. Turn back to Mark
chapter two. Mark two, or I'm sorry, Mark
four, verse two. Mark four. I'm sorry, it was Mark 2, look
at verse 4. Got my numbers mixed up here.
Mark 2, verse 4. We read here that our Lord had
entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was noise that
he was in a house. And straightway, many gathered
together, insomuch that the room was just completely filled up
with people. You couldn't even crowd in the
door. There were so many people there
to hear the Lord. And he preached unto them. And
there were some men that came to him, and they brought one
that was sick of the palsy. He was born of four, and this
one was sick of the palsy. And they could not come nigh
unto him for that press of people. You know, they didn't relent
and just turn around and go home. He says, they uncovered the roof
where he was. And when they had broken it up,
they took that bed and they just dropped it down through the ceiling
in front of him. And when the Lord Jesus saw their
faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, He said, Thy sins
be forgiven thee." Now these men, they brought their friend.
Maybe it was a brother. I don't know. It said there were
four of them on board. Maybe it was their brother. And
I know this. I don't know who they were, but
I know this. They sought the Lord. And what happened? Look at verse
11. He said, I say unto thee, arise. take up thy bed, go thy way into
thy house." And immediately, immediately he arose and he took
up his bed and he went forth before them all insomuch that
they were all amazed and they glorified God saying, they never
saw anything like that. You know, I can't think of one
example in Scripture where a man or a woman truly sought the Lord,
that he didn't find Him. David in Psalm 34 verse 4, he
said, I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and He delivered
me from all of my fears. Scripture says this, the Lord
is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh
Him. Seek the Lord. Lamentations 3.26, last point. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Here's a good reason for hope.
Salvation is of the Lord. Just a few books over in Jonah,
that was his cry, that was Jonah's cry from the belly of the fish,
wasn't it? Salvation is of the Lord. God the Father, He chose His
elect. He chose a people in Christ. He determined to save them. He
predestinated them unto the adoption of children by His Son. And the Spirit of God takes those
people. He quickens them. He regenerates
them. He gives them life. Life where
there was never life before. Life in a dead center. And then the Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, redeems, justifies, and pardons them. Salvation. Any question about that? Salvation
is of the Lord. It's not by man's decision. It's
God's decision. Salvation is not by man's power. Salvation is by God's power. Salvation is not by man's work, but by God's work. Salvation
is not by man's will. It's by God's will. Salvation
is of the Lord. Isn't that reason for hope? Doesn't
that give us reason to hope? I pray the Lord would enable
us, every one of us, to leave this place tonight resting in
Him. Resting in Him and Him alone. that we might recall these things
tonight, just as it did here in scripture, and be reminded
of the hope, the sure hope, the good hope that we have in Him,
that we have in Christ. All right.