It's good to see everybody this morning. I'd like for you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the Book of Lamentations. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the Book of Lamentations. I'm going to be reading from Lamentations chapter 3. But first off, let me go to Isaiah chapter 40.

You don't have to turn there, I'll just read it. In Isaiah chapter 40 verse 1, the scripture says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. This morning I'm looking at a group of people that need comfort. How do I know that? Because I need comfort.

And we've heard the phrase many times from this pulpit, we're all cut from the same piece of cloth. We all have the same. We as believers are not immune from sin. And sin brings trials, tribulations, and trouble. Job says in chapter 5, verse 7, he says this, yet man is born under trouble as the sparks fly upward.

And as I read it, I thought, you know, you ever sit around a campfire at night and you got a big pile of wood and all of a sudden the wood got a big fire and it burns, it collapses and sparks go everywhere. That happens to all of us occasionally. But yeah, while that fire's burning, you see those little sparks flying up. Not in number, but they're flying up all the time.

And that's what trouble is. That's what trials are. That's what is tribulation comes to us. Now, Lamentations chapter three, it was penned by the book of, or I mean, by Jeremiah the prophet. And Jeremiah was sent by the Lord to Israel as a prophet to tell those people that if they didn't repent of their sins, their backsliding, that he was going to send the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, to destroy the city.

And when he did that, when he told the people that, they didn't like it. Man does not want to hear the truth. The false prophets said, no, God's not gonna do that. God has promised to deliver us. And they persecuted Jeremiah, persecuted him terribly. They put him in prison. They actually threw him in a hole. And it says, I don't know what it was. It was a miry pit that had mud in it. They put him in it and they persecuted him heavily.

And in chapter three of Lamentations, In the first 18 verses of this chapter, he tells us what he suffered spiritually, the afflictions he went through. Look at Lamentations 3 verse 1. He says, I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He's not talking about wrath toward him there from God. He's talking about he suffered affliction because of the wrath that was about to come upon Israel. that they persecuted him for him telling them the truth. And the first 18 verses, like I said, he goes through this, and I brought a message on this once before on these first 18 verses. And look at verse 17, for instance.

This is just an example. It says, and thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forget prosperity. He was in a terrible dilemma. But in verse 19, look at it for a minute. He says, remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. That was his affliction. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. Brothers and sisters, afflictions of the Lord are meant to humble us.

That's a fact. It's to humble us. We're a proud people. Believers say, well, I'm not proud. Well, you need to rethink that because we are proud. I was thinking about this as I was getting a message ready here this morning. If we're not proud, why do we stand in front of a mirror in the morning, shaving and cleaning our face up and washing and combing our hair and putting our makeup on? We're proud.

We don't think we're proud. We don't see the depth of this pride, but it's there. And so the adversities that we go through, the trials and troubles we go through, are meant to humble us. No flesh is gonna glory in God's sight. He said that. And he's gonna humble us for that. I want you to think for a minute about Apostle Paul. This is amazing.

Paul was taken up to the third heavens and he saw things, he said, that were unspeakable. And because of that, the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh. Now the scripture doesn't say what that exactly was, but it was obviously painful for him. Because the scripture says he sought the Lord three times. But here was the Lord afflicting Paul for pride, to keep down his pride. And I'm thinking, boy, if that's Paul, whom Christ brought the word to himself, spoke to him personally, taught him personally, if he's got that much pride in him that the Lord has to give him that affliction, Or does that leave me? Isn't that something?

In verse 21 of our text, Jeremiah changes his tone. After all this affliction, all the wormwood and the gall, he says, this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. That hope there means to wait patiently. And this is a believer's hope. We need, every time affliction comes our way, to remember, to remember what the Lord has done. And we're gonna get into it here in a minute. Wait patiently on the Lord. He's not done with us. He's not afflicting you on purpose, and we'll see that.

Second Corinthians 4.8 says this, we are troubled on every side. This is Apostle Paul. Yet, we're not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. I was thinking about that word despair. What does it mean to be in despair? Well, the most common thing we see is, and this is sad, that people take their own lives. That's when you get in despair, when you have no hope. But brothers and sisters, we have hope, as we shall see. Look at verse 22.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. Note the plural of the word mercies and compassions. Count this morning how many mercies God has given you, has given me this morning. Just think about that. Count the blessings that we're able to get up this morning and eat breakfast, drink a cup of coffee. Like me, I drink two cups. Gotta get awake.

But what mercy? He was merciful in bringing us here. He gave us a safe trip here, allowed us to meet together, brought us together. His mercies are new every morning. When Moses was in the wilderness before the Lord, when the Lord called him, he was in a wilderness.

Burning bush was burning yet not consumed. And there's a picture of God's affliction to his people. Affliction comes our way, but we're not consumed. We're not consumed. God is not doing this to consume us. He's doing these things to us, bringing these things upon us that we might learn to humble ourselves before his holy face.

Psalms 3419 says this, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. There's mercy, there's great mercy. Every affliction I go through, every affliction you go through, and some of you are going through far more afflictions than I am, that's for sure. And I can testify to that. Verse 23 of our text says this. His mercies and his compassions, they are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.

I look on God's faithfulness to his creation, but especially to his saints. His mercy extends to his whole creation. Look at people gone by on the road They'll have a care in the world, live and feed their families and so forth. That's all mercy of God. God is merciful.

And I'm going to read another scripture here in a minute that points that out. Psalm 145, nine says this, the Lord is good to all. That all means just what it says. Everybody, the Lord is good. Rain falls on the unjust as well as the just. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. All. And we see that. All we have to do is look around. We see that.

His mercies are everywhere. The fact that we can go around and people are living and living their lives, that's mercy. Sinners though we be, sinners though they be, that's the mercy of God. Oh, what great mercy. In Psalm 145, 16, he says this. Thou openest thine hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. That's God's mercy. That's God's mercy to every one of us. Do you lack this morning? Do I lack this morning? No. I look at a group of people, and I'm including myself, that we're doing okay. We're not wandering out on the street like these homeless people are. That's mercy. That's mercy.

Psalm 89.1 says this, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.

With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. I like to read, and probably maybe I do it too much, but on Facebook, I like to read Facebook comments and stuff. And it's amazing to me how many atheists there are out there that openly, openly defy God and curse Him to His face. And they do it openly, not realizing the faithfulness of God to them, that He's given their next breath. And you think, oh my Lord, thankful that you didn't leave me like that. Thankful that I'm not I'm a sinner, I could be that way.

If he didn't keep me, I would be that way, that's a fact. There's an old nature in me that just doesn't want to do the things of God. That's there, it's always there and it will always be there until I die. But I do, I look on the faithfulness of God to me. 82 years he's let me live. 82 years and I'm thinking my oh my Lord, you should have put me in hell long ago for what I've been.

I look back over my life. It's not been good. I confess that I have sins that I'm ashamed of things I wouldn't even discuss with with anybody, even my wife. But I look at his faithful to me and I realized brothers and sisters that I owe a debt. a debt I cannot pay. I can't.

King David says, how shall I repay the Lord for all his benefits? He asks the same question. What do I do to repay the Lord for his goodness toward me? Simple. I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. That's what God asks. He doesn't ask us to get down on our knees to and crawl to Mecca like the Islamic people do? No, just believe. Repent, the Lord said. The first thing the Lord preached was repent and believe the gospel.

Do you know why? Why is it that God shows mercy to a sinful world? Let me read this to you. Let me get it here. You don't have to turn, I'll read it to you. This is interesting. It's in Habakkuk, chapter one, verse 13. He says this. This is speaking of God the Father, Jehovah, the great three in one, the almighty God. Thou art of pure eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. Now we've got a world full of sin. How is it that the Lord God that is of pure eyes can look on sin and not destroy it, not destroy this world?

He did it once. He did it once. Why not again? Well, here's the answer to that question. It's the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a intercessor for this world in general. This world, as we know it, this sinful world exists because Christ is the intercessor in general. But he is the intercessor of his people, his believers in particular. And we're thankful that is.

In Colossians 1.16, Why is he the intercessor?

It says this, all was made by him and for him. And think about that. What's this world all about? Is it about me and you? All things made by him and for him. It was made for him. This world exists with all its sin. because of the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when I think about it, I think about life itself. And I marvel sometimes when I'm alone by myself and just thinking, he made me. Now think about that. He made you personally. Of seven or eight billion people on this earth, he made you personally. God made you personally. made you for himself, saint and sinner alike, unbeliever and believers alike, he made us for himself.

Back in our text, verse 24. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him. There's the word hope again. If the Lord is your portion this morning, if the Lord is your portion, then hope in the Lord is gonna carry us through afflictions. When afflictions come, where do we go? We go to the Lord. Not like the world does. The world starts complaining about their aches and pains. Why is this happening to me? I don't deserve this.

Well, we do, we do. But for you, the believer, flee to Christ, come to Christ. And this coming, coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, is not just a one-time thing that way back when I came to him. No, it's a minute by minute, day by day coming. It's seeing how far short we come to the glory of God We're always reminded of sin, we see it in ourselves, and we come, we come, and we come. Lord, have mercy on me, don't leave me to myself. Lord, I'm a sinner. Back in our text, verse 26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. How many times in scripture Does it say to wait, to wait upon the Lord? We're funny creatures. We're instant gratification. We want it now. That's life. That's sin. That's the part of sin in us. We want it now. We want it now. Where are you, Lord? Where are you? That's what people say.

Well, His time's not our time. God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. That's what it says in the book of Isaiah. Wait on the Lord, wait on the Lord. It is good, it says, that a man should both hope. If you don't have hope, you're not gonna quietly wait. That's a fact. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9 says this. But as it is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him.

You know, men, you see these pictures and cartoons and stuff, men show a heaven and a God up here on the clouds and men walking around. Scripture says that there's gonna be a new heaven and a new earth. wherein dwelleth righteousness." We're going to be walking around on Earth one of these days. It's not going to look like this in fours with all the diseases and weeds and I mean just chaos everywhere. There's going to be an Earth and we're going to be on an Earth.

Isn't that a blessing? Think about that. Think about that. That's very comforting to me that God would save me, but here's the blessing part of that. Had new heaven and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, perfect righteousness. No more sin, no more pain. I think about that a lot and I think, wow, you know. Oh Lord, come. I want that righteousness. I really do. I believe I do.

Verses 31 and 32 of our text again. Even though the Lord causes trials and troubles, he brings affliction upon us. And let's keep this in mind, it's always for our own good. It's for our own good, all things work together for good to them that love God, Romans 8, 28. Verse 31, 32, for the Lord will not cast off forever, but though he cause grief, Yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. The Lord says in one place, and I'd have to look it up, it says, I create good and I create evil. That evil there means trouble. It doesn't mean wickedness. God is not the author of sin, but he creates trouble. We're sinners. We deserve it. Later on it says in this text, why should a living man complain for the punishment of his sins? What's your complaint? What's my complaint? If I'm going through affliction, why do I complain?

It's though I don't deserve it. Verse 33 and 34. And listen to this very carefully because men don't understand this. The world by and large deny this. It says, for he, the Lord God, doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth.

He has power. He has power to do what he will. He said of Pharaoh when they were coming, when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt, he said, for this cause I've raised him up. He had power. Pharaoh did exactly what God wanted him to. But the Lord does not. He is not a tyrant. He does not afflict willingly just because he can. He doesn't crush under his feet all the prisoners. That's what the scripture is saying. He's not a tyrant. The world will say he was a tyrant. Unbelievers will say he's a tyrant. particularly when they read the Old Testament. Men do not like the Old Testament. They don't like the judgments of God that we see in the Old Testament.

And we can see this, you know, the Israelites, when they were brought out of Egypt, Moses led them to the entrance to Canaan. They were at the entrance to Canaan twice. The first time, When they come to Canaan, Moses sent the spies in to check out the land.

They come back and said, oh, this is bad. He said, they're giants. We can't do this. And the people rebelled, and they said, let's make us a leader, and let's go back to Egypt. Can you imagine crawling back on your knees to Egypt? And the Lord told Moses, They've tempted me 10 times, 10 times. You're going back into the wilderness. There was mercy. He could have destroyed them. He wanted to destroy them. Moses made intercession. So what'd he do? He sent them back into the wilderness for 40 years. They tempted him 10 times, and mercy was shown unto these people.

That's our God. Though we sin, though we're sinners, our God is merciful. If we confess our sins, he is just and able to forgive us, the scripture says. And I thank the Lord for that, because I'm a sinner as well as, you know, you are too. We're no different.

Verse 36, it says, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. You have a cause this morning to come to Christ, that is our cause, that should be our cause in this life, that should be our aim, that's what it means, that should be our aim in this life, our total aim in this life should be to come to the Lord, to be with the Lord, to be like the Lord, to love the Lord, And just because God causes affliction, that doesn't mean He's subverting it.

He's trying us. He's testing us. That's what He's drawn to us. And we're sinners. We deserve it. Let's face it. Let's be honest. And as I wind this down, this is short, I know, but I think it's good. Afflictions, brothers and sisters, are meant to prove us. It's not to prove to God. God already knows. It's to prove something to us. It's to show us our weakness. Is our religion, is our faith genuine? Is it really genuine? Well, how we act in afflictions tells the story. Gold must be purified with fire. We all know that. We've heard that many times. You gotta get the dross out of the gold.

First Peter 1.7 says this, that the trowel of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried by fire, there's the afflictions, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Second Corinthians 4.17. Now listen to this.

For our light affliction, no matter what you're going through, this scripture says it's light. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, a few short years even, you know, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. A light affliction. How can we compare This life, this little affliction we go through to eternity with God the Father, where righteous alone dwells.

We need to think on that a little bit. We really need to sit down and consider that. When we're apt to complain about our feelings and question God, and let's be honest, This old nature will question God. It's in us. We can't get away from it. It's in us. Not that that excuses us. I don't want it. I don't want to do that. This old nature, though, it struggles against the new nature. And it tries to lie to the new nature. Well, where is your God? Where is your God? Oh, he's there. He's there.

Hebrews 12, 11 says this, now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but rather it's grievous. And you know that, and I know that. Trials and tribulations are tough. And every one of us go through different types of tribulations, some of them I tell you one thing, every believer will go through spiritual tribulation, I know that, and will go through bodily afflictions and trials, some more than others. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. It doesn't say it yields righteousness, that righteousness comes from Christ alone, but it says it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Rest, brothers and sisters, rest. That's where rest is. Rest in Christ. Rest in God.

Trust God. I think about that word a lot, this thing of trusting God. That's a deep, that's a very deep, that's a very deep to trust God, to believe God. It's easy to talk. Oh, I believe God. I read the Bible. I believe it, but get it down here in the heart. I have no strength to do that. That has to be done by the Lord himself. He has to give me that.

And that ought to be our prayer all the time. Lord, Give me a heart, give me a right heart to trust, a right heart to believe. This peaceful fruit of righteousness, it means, it causes us to settle down and trust the Lord, that all things are in his hands. That's what the peaceful fruit of righteousness is. And it brings about obedience. And we can rest right there. That's where rest is. Trusting the Lord. So I close, I say, I pray that the Lord might cause us to bow, bow down to his providence in every affliction that comes our way and say, thank you, Lord. Paul said he gloried in his afflictions. It made him weak. But he also says, when I'm weak, that I'm strong. The weaker I get, the stronger I get in the Lord.

That's a believer. The world doesn't understand that. But that's where our strength is, in our weakness, because then we have to depend on our Lord. I pray that was a help. I wish I could have done a better job. I'm no preacher. I stand up here with fear and trepidation, but I know that what I say is true. I believe that. I know that's right. How I deliver it may not be the best, but what I say is the truth. Amen.