Have your Bibles this morning.
If you would, please turn to the book of Lamentations. It's
right after the book of Jeremiah. We are so thankful that our pastor
and his family made it back to us safely. We thank God for giving
us the privilege of being here today. Lamentations, chapter
3. And I titled this message, Rejoicing
in a Good Hope. We have a good hope. We have
a great hope. We have a hope that is anchored in stone, and
that is our Lord Jesus Christ. But in Lamentations 3, our text
is going to be verses 21 through 26, but I'd like to go ahead
and start in verse 1 and read down through 26. It says here
in verse 1, I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod
of his raft. He hath led me and brought me
into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me he has turned. He turned his hand against me
all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he
made old. He hath broken my bones. He hath
builded against me and compassed me with gall and cavail. He hath sent me in dark places.
as I that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about, that
I cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy.
Also, when I cry and shout, he shall have felt my prayer. He
hath enclosed my ways with hewstone. He hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bier, laying
in wait. as a lion in secret places. He
hath turned aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath
made me desolate. He hath bent his bow and set
me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of
his river to enter into my reign. He hath made me a laughingstock
to all my people, and there are songs of the day. mocking him
with their songs. He hath filled me with bitterness.
He hath made me grunken with wormwood. He hath also broken
my teeth with gravel stones. He hath covered me with ashes.
And thou hath removed my soul far off from peace. I forgot
prosperity. And I said, my strength and my
hope is purged from my Lord. Remembering my afflictions and
my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul hath been still
in remembrance, and is humbled in me. And this is going to be
our text here. This I recall to my mind, therefore
I have hope. It is the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They
are new every morning. Great is our 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 seek of him. It is good that
a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the
Lord. The word lamentation here, it
means an outward cry of inward sufferings. And I'm sure that
plenty of us, many of us, have probably been there. I remember
back at my house about 25 years ago, a car pulled in at my neighbor's. And I was about 50 feet from
the car. And I had never in my life heard
a woman screaming and hollering the way she was. And she just
found out that her son had been murdered. And that's what they're
talking about here. It's an outward cry of inner
suffering. You're suffering so much inside
that you just can't keep it in. But Jeremiah had been a prophet
sent by God and had prophesied for over 40 years that God was
going to send judgment upon his people. He had preached to them
for 40 years for their unrepentant sins. And then some say that
these are the lamentations over our Lord Jesus Christ under the
afflictions. of our sins which he bore it
in his body on the cross at Calvary. If you remember, they mocked
and made fun of him. One verse that supports this,
Lamentations 112, the Word of God says, Is it nothing to you,
are ye that pass by, behold and see, if there be any sorrow like
unto my sorrow, which is done unto me? Wherewith the Lord hath
afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger." And then some say that these
are the afflictions of Jeremiah himself, of his own sins and
the judgments that come upon his people. He loved his people. A new judgment was coming, and
when it came, he still responded with great sorrow and grief and
compassion toward the suffering of his people. But we all know
that God is holy, he's righteous, he's just, and he will punish
sin. And their unwillingness to repent
invited God's chastisement upon his own people. And though God
was the judge and the Babylonians was chosen to be his human instruments
of wrath, It still was a great grief to him to have to bring
this destruction on the people that he loves. And most of us
in here that are fathers, we know what that's like. We love
our children. My son, he's a lot bigger than
I am now, but at one time when he was small, he enjoyed getting
into things. And we'd tell him not to, and
he'd keep on doing it. Well, we'd have to correct him.
I didn't use the word correct, I used the word spank him. But
we didn't get no pleasure out of it at all. So God got no pleasure
out of what he had to do here. He done it out of his love for
his people. And you know, sometimes in this
life, we get so overwhelmed with the struggles of life, like Jeremiah,
that we forget that the Lord is absolute sovereign in providence. And we fail to realize that we
are under the protective care of our Lord at all times and
through all circumstances, regardless of what they may be. He does
all things well. Let's read our text again here
in verse 21. When I recall to my mind, therefore,
I have 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 our faithfulness. The Lord is my
portion, as if my soul, therefore will I hope in him. The Lord
is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seek of
him. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. You
know, in verse 21 right here, the memory of God's devotion
to his people brings hope sometimes out of hopelessness. And I'm
sure there's times that we felt that. And then we get to thinking
about the Lord. I love what it says in Psalms
86, 15, and this is speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
thou, O Lord, art a God that is full of compassion and graciousness,
long-suffering, plenteous in mercy and truth, And in Hebrews,
our Lord says, I will never lay thee nor forsake thee. And if you hold your place here
and turn to Hebrews 6, just for a second. Hebrews 6, verse 17. He says here in verse 17, "...worrying God, willing abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel
confirmed by an oath, but by two immutable things." That means
unchanging. What are the two things that
God's promising here? He's promising an oath And he
promised me his word. You know, God's word says, the
flower fadeth, and the grass withereth, but the word of our
God will stand forever. And by two immutable hands, in
which it was impossible for God to lie. We might have a strong
constellation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon a hope
that is set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of
the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within
the veil, whether the forerunner is for us and even Jesus made
a great high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. We'll go back to our text. Lamentations 3. Verse 21 here, it says, This
I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. What is this hope? Remember what Paul said in the
book of Philippians? He said that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. And then it says in Galatians
5.5, For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. You know, God's children have
a good hope if they rest entirely and completely upon the work
and the person. of our Lord Jesus Christ for
their salvation. And it gives us joy, it gives
us peace, and it gives us rest when we learn, when we're able
to enter in and truly learn to trust and lean upon Christ. And there's times that we must
really lean upon him in this world, in this flesh that we
live in. But our faith and our confidence
is all in Christ, regardless of the circumstances that we
face in this life. It says that the word mercy here
refers to God's character. And when you look at the character
of God, it can't do nothing but bless you. But there's many meanings
to it. And this is the character of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Love, we can relate to these,
love, grace, mercy, goodness, forgiveness, truth, compassion,
faithfulness, And he directs all of these toward his children,
and they are forever. Malachi 3.6 says, For I am the
Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. And then in Hebrews 13.8, it
says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. And then all the blessings that
he gives us. In James 1, 17, he says, every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father
of lights. And listen to this, with whom there is no variances,
neither shadow of turning. And it is not about anything
that we have done or will do or ever have done, but it's because
of who he is and what he has done for his people. If you will,
this brings a blessing to me Because I'm a sinner and always
will be as long as I'm in this world with flesh. Turn to Matthew
9 if you would please. Look at verse 10. Christ Jesus, he come into this
world to save people like me and you, and I thank God for
that. The Bible says, if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth and believe the Lord Jesus in thy heart,
thou shalt be saved. It says here in verse 10, and
it come to pass as Jesus sat at me in the house, behold, many
publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it,
They said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, They that behold need not a physician, but they
that are sick. Right here's what blesses me. But go ye and learn that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners. to repentance. And I thank God
for that. It is by God's mercies that we
are not consumed. If we had been dealt with according
to our sins, we would have been consumed long ago. We have His blessed hope in our
Lord Jesus Christ and His mercies. And His mercies never dry up.
Psalms 100 verse 5 says, For the Lord is good, and His mercy
is everlasting, and His His truth endureth unto all generations. And whatever hard things that
we suffer through in this life, we must never, you know, sometimes,
you know, we're in His flesh, but we must never entertain the
thought of being mad at our Lord or having hard thoughts of our
Lord because He does all things well. He does all things perfect.
He says in Jeremiah, He says, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. with loving kindness, have I
loved you? And our Lord delights to show
mercy. He delights to show it. It says
in Micah 7, 18, who is a God likened to thee that pardoned
iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage?
Who's he talking about here? He's talking about those that
have been washed and redeemed by the blood of our Lord. He
retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth to show
mercy. Why? Because his compassions
fail not. If you will, look at verse 22.
Go back to your text and look at verse 22 of our text. He says in verse 22, it is of
the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions
fail not. They are new every morning. Great
is our faithfulness. You know, why are His mercies
and His compassions new every day? Well, for one thing, the
book of Job says a man that is born of a woman, his days are
full and full of trouble. And we can experience that. And
then we have this old flesh that we live in. And I'll be honest
with you, I say things, I do things, I think things, I imagine
things that are sinful. And I need his compassion. I need it every day when I get
up. I have to ask him, God have mercy on me today. Watch over
me. Protect me from evil and harm.
Because I know the world that I live in and I know the flesh
that I live in. Give me the strength through
your spirit to overcome the enticements of this flesh, you know. Psalms
46.1 says that God is our refuge and script and that he is a very
present help in time of trouble. And that's 24 seven day after
day. He's always there. In verse 23
here, he says, there are new every morning. Great is our faithfulness. You know, The Bible says great
is his faithfulness. It's not our faith, it's God's
Word. God's Word says in 2 Timothy
2.13, if we believe not yet, he abideth faithful. He cannot
deny himself. My faith gets awful weak at times.
He says although we are called to endure and to be faithful,
salvation does not rest. upon our faithfulness, but it
rests upon the work and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, our Lord. He
says here, nevertheless, the foundation of God stand ashore
having this seal, for Lord knoweth them that are His, and let every
one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. In verse
34 of our text here, it says, the Lord is my portion. saith
my soul. Therefore will I hope in him."
Our hope is in Christ Jesus and him alone. Christ is our portion. In other words, he is our inheritance. He's what we've got to look forward
to. Everything that we need, everything that we have is in
him. And all the Lord's children have it. have a desire to be
with him. You know, everything in this
life is only temporary. It's not gonna last, but God's
portions will last forever. He says in Ephesians 1 through
8, blessed to be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed who? His children. He has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ.
Oh, I wish I could enter into that every day. I wish I could.
In Christ we have it all. Not of anything that we've done.
Salvation is all of the Lord. And we always must remember,
as I said before, that regardless of what we've got here in this
life, God give it to us. We are what we are by the grace
of God. And it all belongs to him. And
we must always remember that they're only temporary. They're
gonna last for a while. You know, but God's portions
are forever. I know some of you younger people
don't realize this, but it seems like it was just yesterday I
was out in the front yard, I've got 11 siblings, and I was out
there playing with my brothers and sisters. It goes that quick. What does the Bible say? Life
is like a vapor, it appears for a little while and it's gone,
you know? And then verse 25 here, it says,
the Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that
seek of him. Psalms 145 now says, for the
Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are all over his
works. You know, God shows mercy to
every human being on this earth. A person couldn't get out of
bed if it wasn't for the mercy of God. We wouldn't be able to
breathe or walk or anything. Anybody wouldn't. Any human wouldn't
if it wasn't for his mercies. But God's promises of love and
goodness, and grace, and the blood of Christ are to his elect,
and they are in Christ. And we seek him, how do we seek
him? Right here, we seek him in his word. And then we seek
him in our prayer. He talks to us through his word,
we talk to him through our prayers. That's why it's important that
we scribe to have a good prayer life with our Lord. And then
we seek him in worship. We love to worship him. Because
He is our Lord, He is our God, He is our Savior, He is our Prophet,
He is our Priest, He is our King, He is our Substitute, He is our
Representative, He is our All. And to those who seek Him, who
want to help us with our waiting, we must always remember that
it's not our will, But it's His will, and we may not understand
that because His ways are so much higher than our ways, and
His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts. He's God.
He's a sovereign God. He's sovereign in salvation,
He's sovereign in creation, and He is sovereign in providence.
And that's something that I tend to forget from time to time.
and I have to ask him to forgive me. But Jeremiah 29.13 says,
and you shall seek me and find me when you search for me with
all of your heart. What is the one thing that the
Lord's children seek after most and desire? David said it in
Psalms 27.4. He said, one thing have I desired
of the Lord that I will seek after that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord for all the days of my life, and to behold
the beauty of his Lord, and to inquire of his temple." You know, the children of God
will continue to seek the Lord. The Bible says over in the book
of Revelation, he that overcometh shall inherit all things. I will
be his God and he shall be my son. But the only way that God's
people overcomes is by his power. It's not our power. It's not
anything that we do. But they will continue to seek
the Lord. We need our Lord every day. Sometimes
we forget that, we get caught up in this world, but we need
him. Every step that we take in this
life, we persevere in faith and we are kept by the power of God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. God's people always have a strong
desire to know our Lord better. We want to know him better, you
know. And may we never be satisfied
with where we stand in our lives concerning our relationship with
our Lord. Over in Matthew, Jesus said,
learn of me and you shall find rest for your souls. In verse
26 right here of our text, it says, it is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. That word quietly, it means to
patiently wait. He is coming back. It means to
patiently wait and wait in our afflictions and to realize that
God is absolutely sovereign in providence. And he said, to be
still and know that I am God. He is our hope, as I said. And I love that verse over. I
think it's in Titus for that blessed hope of looking for the
glorious return of our great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. He's coming back because his
absolute word says that he's coming back. And it's the truth.
You're dismissed.