Lamentations 3, 22 and 23. 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." That will be our subject as well as our
text. Let's begin by taking note of
a couple of things, and that is both the name and the subject
of this book from which we have read this morning. Then we're
going to have to kind of look at the overall context of the
book of Lamentation, that we might find our contextual bearing,
and that we might put these things in their proper focus. Now, as for the subject, it is
called Lamentation, and it is generally accepted that it was
penned by what is called the weeping author, or the weeping
prophet, Jeremiah. Some expositors see in this book
five very distinct lamentations that are set out one after the
other. Now, a lamentation—we hear the
word lament—a lamentation, or to lament, is to moan and wail. And it was done often in the
form of a song in Israel of old. Lamentations were made upon such
occasions as that. We read in Genesis 50 verse 10,
Joseph made sore lamentation for his father when he died. Lamentations were made in Acts
8 and verse 2. Devout men brought Stephen to
his burial and made great lamentation over him. And they mourned his
passing. They mourned the loss and the
passing of a good and of a godly and a faithful servant of the
Lord God. David mourned over Jonathan in
2 Samuel 1 and 17. Jeremiah himself mourned for
Josiah in 2 Chronicles chapter 35. and verse 25. So we kind of get the idea of
a lamentation. Thus the whole book of Lamentations
is a five-stanzaed song of mourning for their present condition.
And still in the midst of all of their mourning, all of their
wailing, and all of their sorrow, the prophet manages to praise
God for his faithfulness. The prophet declares that God
is faithful, that God, even in their present troubles, The Lord
God had been faithful. Now, that God's present trouble
does not mean that God is unfaithful in other times. He is faithful
in trouble and in time of peace. It does not mean that God has
forgotten to be gracious because we find ourselves mourning or
lamenting or in declension, it does not mean that his promises
have fallen to the ground and have come to nothing. It does
not mean that his word has failed if we find ourselves in trouble
and find ourselves also singing lamentation. Now, before we consider
the faithfulness of God, Let's look at this book contextually
and see the cause of the lamentation or the mourning of the prophet
Jeremiah, also the mourning of the people, for prophet and people
alike did mourn. Why was mourning heard from them
on this particular occasion? Well, it has to do with a very
sad state of Jerusalem at that time. One author put it this
way, quote, the deeply degraded state into which Jerusalem had
fallen. And if we notice the first four
verses of the book give an account of the present condition of that
once great flourishing city of God where worship was carried
on, the capital city of the theocracy, Jerusalem. But let's look in
1st chapter, and I'll just point out in verse 2, look there it
said, she weeps and has neither lover nor friend to comfort her. Farmer, friends, and lovers are
become enemies. Look at the 3rd verse of chapter
1, They were in captivity, and that on account of their transgression. They were forced in that time
to dwell there by the rivers of Babylon under the dominion
of their enemies. Look at verse 4. The feasts were
not celebrated. None came and went in the gates
of Jerusalem as before. The priests sigh and groan at
the sad state and the lack of people to minister to. The virgins
are the maiden's grief, and in the city the one great sound
of affliction and bitterness can be heard. Now, I like the
way that John Geale summed it up for us, that what most afflicted
the prophet was the state of Zion. It was not their personal
trouble, not their personal inconveniences, not their personal suffering.
What most concerned the prophet was the state of Zion." Look
what he said, "...her adversaries prosperous, her beauty departed,
her sadness mocked, her nakedness seen, all the pleasant things
in the sanctuary seized by their adversaries." Moving closer to
our great text, there begins here to rise a fire out of the
ashes in the text I read this morning. There is a break in
the clouds at long last after the storm, at last a break in
the cloud, and as it were the sun the light begins to shine
in upon them. And in verse 21 of our text,
hope is kindled at the fond, blessed remembrance, and he begins
to speak of that hope. And you have it in chapter 3,
verse 21 and 24 and 26, that hope begins again to flicker
before them. In Lamentations chapter 3, verse
22 and 23, the prophet speaks here of three shining attributes
of our God. He mentions three of them in
rapid succession. They are His mercy, His compassion,
and His faithfulness. Verse 22, the prophet weighs
the sins of the nation. against the lovingkindness and
compassion of God." And that is an admission that they would
not be punished all that their sins deserved, all that their
sins merited, saying, it is because of the mercies of Jehovah that
we are not consumed. They deserve worse than what
they got. They deserve greater chastisement
than what the Lord brought upon them, which was captivity under
in the Babylon nation, which in itself was a terrible, terrible
experience. We find in Psalm 137 and verse
1, that as they sat there by the rivers of Babylon, when they
remembered Zion, they wept. And the misery that had befallen
the covenant people, Zion lying in disgrace, plundered and spoiled
by the enemies of God. And then the contempt which the
enemies of God heaped upon their head at every turn, their commonwealth
desolate, lying, as it were, in almost total ruin. And expositors
speak of some starving to death during this time, and of others
being slain or killed by the sword. Yet, in the midst of that,
we see that the prophet notes they were not totally consumed. If many died, yet were they not
totally obliterated and consumed. And for this notice of profit
credits the mercy, the compassion, and the faithfulness of Jehovah,
saying clearly it is of the Lord's mercies, His lovingkindness,
as some read and translate that word, and this because His compassions
fail not. They are perpetual, they have
no end. Psalms 103 and verse 17. The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting. upon them that fear him, and
his righteousness to children's children." Yes, even to the grandchildren. In the 89th Psalm it's mentioned
again. In verse 28, "'My mercy will
I keep for him evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast
with him.'" There is a strong statement in Malachi chapter
3 and found in verse 6 as he speaks to sinful, rebellious
Israel, and he says unto them, I am the Lord, I change not,
Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Here the Lord
speaks not just of the immutability of his nature, of his person,
which of course is absolutely true, but he speaks of the immutability
of his purpose, of his will, or of his counsel, that his covenant
is made, and that it stands with the house of Jacob. Therefore,
his faithfulness is anchored by his immutability, as if to
say to them in Malachi 3.6, If I were a changeable God, you
would be destroyed, because I change not, ye sons of Jacob, or not
consume." Malachi 3 and 7, the next verse said, from the time
of your forefathers you have turned away from mine ordinances
and have not kept them, even in wrath. He remembers mercy,
as said Habakkuk chapter 3 and verse 2, as the prophet prays
in behalf of the people that God might temper his wrath with
mercy, that as he judged them and as he punished their sin,
he also would remember or keep in mind his mercy. Now, there are some interesting
passages in the Old Testament Scripture along this line. One of them is Psalms 103, verse
10, which says, He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded
us according to our iniquities. Again, in Psalms 130, verse 3, If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
who could stand? That is, if you kept exactly
punished every sin and every transgression, exactly as they
merited and as they deserve, who is there that could stand
at all? 9 and verse 13, that of all that
had come upon them as punishment for their sins, this word is
said, God has punished us less than our iniquities deserve. Now, I'm turning to the book
of Nehemiah, when they came back to build again the city and raise
up again the temple. And I wanted to read a passage
here from Nehemiah chapter 9, and it's verse 28 through verse
31. Nehemiah 9, verse 28 through
verse 31. But after they had rest, They did evil again before thee,
therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so
that they had the dominion over them. Yet when they returned,
cried unto thee, Thou heard them from heaven. And many times did
thou deliver them according to thy mercies, and testified against
them, that thou mightest bring them again unto the law. Yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened
not unto thy commandment, but sinned against thy judgment,
which, if a man do, he shall live in them, and withdrew the
shoulder, hardened their neck, and would not hear them. Yet
many years didst thou forbear them, and testify against them
by thy spirit in the prophet. Yet would they not give ear,
therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the enemy. Nevertheless, for thy great mercy's
sake, thou didst not utterly consume them. nor forsake them,
for thou art a gracious and a merciful God." In Psalms chapter 78, 37
and 38, their heart was not right within Him, neither were they
steadfast in His covenant. but he full of compassion forgave
their iniquities and destroyed them not." And listen to this,
"'Yea, many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir
up all of his wrath.'" Oh, listen to that. many times turned his
anger away off of him, and did not light the furnace of his
wrath as hot as it might be, not like in the flood, or the
fire and the brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, or against his
son when he was there on the cross, there he let He let loose
the full desert of their sin. But there were occasions when
judgment fell upon the Jews from time to time. Many were destroyed. That is, many of them died. Many
of them were killed. And at their making the golden
calf in Exodus 32, three thousand of them perished. after the making
of the golden calf. Remember the fiery serpents in
Numbers chapter 21, when much people of Israel died. Or at the mutiny of Korah, when
250 of the famous princes of the nation of Israel rose up
against Moses. And in Numbers chapter 16, the
earth opened up her mouth and swallowed up the house of Korah,
and fire from the Lord consumed two hundred and fifty offering
incense at that time. Though these things were true,
as John Gill wrote, God did not make a full and complete end
of them. at any of these times, always
leaving a seed, always leaving a remnant. Isaiah wrote about
that in Isaiah chapter 1 and verse 9 when he said, Except
the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, a remnant, we should
have been like Sodom or like Gomorrah. Though I completely
destroy all the nations among you which I scatter you, I will
not completely destroy you. I will discipline you and correct
you in justice, but I will not leave you altogether unpunished,
and neither will I altogether consume you." Thus Jeremiah writes
in Lamentation 3 and 23, the first part, they, meaning the
mercies and the compassions of God, are new every single morning. Like the dew on the grass, like
the sun that rises upon us each day, they never fail. They are great each and every
day. They do not fail to come forth. Isaiah 33 and 2, Be thou their
arm every morning. The psalmist said, 130 and verse
6, My soul waits for the Lord more than they that watch for
the morning, looking for daylight to come. The psalmist said, I
look for the Lord more than they that look for the daylight that
is coming. But then, in the last part of
verse 23, the prophet makes a proclamation that echoes across the pages
of the scripture, skipping from book to book, we meet this great
subject. Great is thy faithfulness, the
prophet and the people cry out. Now, the first sure fireproof
of the faithfulness of God, in view of the many, many texts
that we have read and that are found in the Old Testament, is
that God was faithful to the covenant that he made with Israel. That stands out. page after page
and passage after passage, that so long as that covenant stood
with Israel, God was faithful to that covenant, and He promised
all those things that were attached to that covenant would come true,
and they did. The covenant people, if I may
call them that, the Jews, were often unfaithful to the covenant
that they had agreed to with God. In many ways and many degrees
the people were again and again unfaithful. They are described
as a disobedient and gainsaying people all the days of their
time. Every generation of them it was
so. They promised to serve only the
one Lord God when they entered covenant, but often they went
a-whoring after other gods. Deuteronomy 31 and verse 16.
Exodus 34. and verse 15. But you remember
in Exodus 24 and verse 7 when Moses brought down the book and
gave them the covenant, the people said something like this, All
that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient. That was their committing to
the covenant that Moses brought unto them from God. We will do
all that the Lord has said. The reason is, the terrors of
Sinai are still in their mind, what they saw there, what the
Lord said we will do. But alas, again and again, They
proved unfaithful in so many things with regard to God. If you want to turn to the 89th
Psalm, there are some things here that declare the faithfulness
of God concerning the covenant that He made with the house of
David. This 89th psalm has been called
by some expositors the covenant psalm because it puts such an
emphasis upon the covenant. It had been called that, and
in verse 3, I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn
unto David my servant, and the psalmist uses the word faithfulness
at least six times in the 89th Psalm. And I've turned there,
and I'm going to read some verses. First of all, verse 28 and verse
29, concerning God's faithfulness to the covenant made with the
house of David. My mercy will I keep for him
forevermore. My covenant shall stand fast
with him. his seed also will I make to
endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven." Now jump
down to verse thirty-three, all the way through verse thirty-seven. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness
will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness
that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever,
and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever
as the moon and as a faithful witness unto heaven." Let us
make this observation that these texts of Scripture are things
said in the covenant psalm, as we pointed out, that they are
only applicable to the greater David. However, there are things
here not applicable to King David in the flesh. There are things
here that are only applicable to the greater David, the son
of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, such as in verse 27, when he
calls him, My firstborn. it must needs be the covenant
made with Christ, which can neither fail nor be altered, since the
covenant made with Moses as the mediator was to wax old and vanish
away." Hebrews 8 and verse 13. Thus we see the faithfulness
to Israel under the first, or the old, covenant that God made
with them. Now, let us see what the New
Testament has to say about the faithfulness of God, especially
in the realm of salvation. And God has promised everlasting
life, and that before the world. Let's open this discussion by
giving a short definition of what we are to understand by
the faithfulness of God. Moses in Deuteronomy 7 and verse
9 said this to the people, Know therefore that the Lord thy God,
He is God, the faithful God that keeps covenant and mercy to a
thousand generations. Now, the New Testament authors
also freely speak of this attribute of the faithfulness of God, saying,
God is faithful, God is faithful in this or in that. Now, the most common New Testament
word for faithful is the word pastos. Trustworthy is actually
one meaning of it. Of course, it involves the veracity
of God. He is true, therefore He is trustworthy,
and that it is truthful He cannot lie. He is true if all men on
the earth prove out to be liars. Just as he is light, and just
as he is light, so he is truth. There is no unfaithfulness in
him, and no one holds any to be faithful who are not truthful. Is a liar faithful? Of course not, but it is impossible
for God to lie. And this means that all of his
words inspired by the prophet in the inspired scripture, all
of them are true, and all of them are without error, and are
trustworthy and reliable. Thus, God is faithful, he's reliable,
he's dependable, he's trustworthy. God is true to his purpose. true
to his promises, true to his word which he has spoken or inspired. We read Paul writing to the Corinthians,
chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 9. He says to that
carnal, confused church, God is faithful by whom ye were called
into the fellowship of his Son." He writes again to the Thessalonian
church, verse Thessalonians 5 and 24, faithful is he that called
you. In Hebrews 10 and 23, It says,
he is faithful that promised, and then there are others. But
these establish the fact well enough that God is faithful to
his word, to his covenant, to his promise, to his calling,
to his saving, mercy, and all of those things. John Owen made
what I thought was a good point concerning the faithfulness of
God and his promises, which is this. The first thing to consider
when a promise is made or is passed, is given or is received,
quote, is the faithfulness of the one that made the promise,
unquote. It all hinges on the faithfulness
of the one that made the promise. Of what character? is the one
who has made the promise. Are they trustworthy? Are they
faithful? Are they truthful? Now, the promises
of many today are vain and empty. In fact, they are lies to just
work a scam and get out of some present jam today. That's how some operate. Others,
they promise full intention, but beyond their means to fulfill
or to bring to pass. But God is faithful to His promises,
for He is truth, and He has all power in heaven, and in earth. He has all wisdom in his mind
and disposal to direct all things to their appointed end. 1 Peter
chapter 4, verse 19, even calls him a faithful creator, that
such as commit their souls unto God have done so unto one who
is a faithful creator. But let us concentrate now on
the faithfulness of God in regard to the salvation of His people,
beginning with salvation as being promised before the world began. In Titus 1 and verse 2, and for
emphasis, the apostle puts in that such as was promised by
God who cannot lie. That salvation promised by God
who cannot lie. and that before the world began."
Not only can God not lie, it is impossible for God to lie. Hebrews 6 and verse 18. How can eternal life, though,
be promised before the world, before the fall, or before even
the creation of man? The answer is, according to the
eternal purpose, covenant, or will of God, When at that time
the Son became surety for the elect, and upon His coming death
incarnate and upon the cross, the promise had its substance
of eternal life before the world in Jesus Christ. And by the way, did not God promise
Abraham that He would deliver His seed out of Egyptian bondage? and that before they were in
bondage, yea, before some of them were ever born or brought
into the world, God was faithful to his promise to Abraham. He
brought them out with a strong arm, put them yonder in the land
of Canaan, or a promise. Even so, God has been faithful
to his promises of salvation and eternal life. He sent his
Son to be the Savior of people. He punished the sins of his elect,
not in them, but in their surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
has called them to the hope Once again, in 1 Corinthians chapter
1, verse 8 and 9, Paul tells the Corinthians that in relation
there to Jesus Christ, quote, "...who shall also confirm you
unto the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,
God is faithful, by whom you recall, into the fellowship of
his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." And the same apostle tells the
church that met in Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24. and the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly, and your spirit and body and soul be preserved blameless
until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he
that calls you who also will do it." Yes, there is a divine
call. It is the effectual call. It
begets in the called ones the hope and the expectation of eternal
life, and that call is the evidence of election. Thus, God effectually
calls. He preserves. He works perseverance
in them under the enjoyment of their eternal and everlasting
life. This he will do because he is
faithful to his word of promise. In II Thessalonians 3 and 3,
the Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from
evil. Paul tells those at Corinth,
I Corinthians 10 and verse 13, There has no temptation taken
you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, will
not allow you to be tempted above that which you are able, and
will with the temptation provide a way of escape. He says, He
will not tempt you above which you are able to bear, but with
that temptation also make an escape that you might be able
to bear it. Though this is true, I think
we might all agree with author W. Pink, who wrote in a chapter
in a book, The Faithfulness of God, that there are those times
when even a Christian, even a child of God, may wonder if God is
faithful. So much has come upon them so
fast they may wonder in their sinful unbelief, when their faith
is sorely tried, when His providence towards them is not good but
is frowning. The loss of a dear loved one,
a betrayal by friend, some great strong temptation, faith weak. The heavens seem like brass when
they open up their mouths to pray unto him, the body sick
and painful, a most cherished plan crushed by the providential
ways of God, their gourd vine cut down, as was that one of
Jonah which irritated him. hiding yonder in a cave, like
the prophet Elijah from that hussy Jezebel, hiding yonder
in a cave, in prison like John the Baptist, and asking, is this
the one that should come, or should we look for another? One's
own son, a traitor against him, as Absalom was against David,
such as one might be tempted to cry, If God is faithful, why
is it thus with me? As the mother of twins in the
Old Testament, Genesis 25, if it be so, why is it thus with
me? And the saint may cry that out
at one time or another. Now, the exhortation to the Hebrews.
Let's go to it. Hebrews 10.23 is this. He is faithful that what he has
promised he will faithfully and fully perform. No more could
God be unfaithful to His promise than He could cease being God
at one and the same time. His being would vanish if God
should not be true. Together he has sworn to himself,
by himself rather, in Hebrews 6 and 18, when he would make
a promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater
It says he swore by himself. We read he swore by his holiness. God swears by the highest. Consider Hebrews 3, 1 and 2,
that the apostle and high priest of our profession was faithful
to God, the One that had appointed him, that is, the Father. Thus
he is in our behalf a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God." Hebrews 2.17, Our high priest is merciful and
faithful. He was faithful and obedient
unto death to reconcile his people to God. He was faithful to bear
their sin. He was faithful to intercede
with God in their behalf. He was faithful to his priesthood,
both to the God that appointed him and to those in whose half
it is performed. Again and again, God is faithful. Conclusion In due time, Abraham
had the promised son that God promised him. In due time, Israel
was brought out of Egypt and put yonder in bondage, and in
due time, the Son of God was made manifest and assumed flesh
and dwelt among us and died for our sins on the cross. I want
to say that even in delays or even in trouble, God is faithful,
always has been, always will be. Great is thy faithfulness.