Scripture Reading: Lam. 3
In this message we will cover Jeremiah’s third lamentation. This is a lamentation over the afflicted prophet identified with his punished people. Although Jeremiah himself was not afflicted by God, he was one with God’s afflicted people. This indicates that a servant of the Lord must learn how to identify himself with God’s people, regardless of the situation, and especially in a situation of affliction. He is afflicted because he is identified with God’s afflicted people.
Let us now consider this lamentation as a whole and then pay particular attention to verses 22 through 25.
Verses 1 through 20 are the prophet’s (representing his people’s) affliction. This affliction was by the rod of Jehovah’s wrath (vv. 1-17). Both the prophet’s (representing his people’s) strength and his hope in Jehovah had perished (v. 18). In verses 19 and 20 the prophet says, “Remember my affliction and my wandering, / The wormwood and the gall. / My soul remembers them well / And is bowed down within me.”
The affliction described in all these verses did not happen personally to Jeremiah. God did not afflict Jeremiah directly in this way. However, because Jeremiah was one with God’s afflicted people, in his feeling, in his sympathy, he was suffering the same kind of affliction.
In verses 21 through 39 we see the prophet’s (representing his people’s) hope. The prophet’s hope was in the lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness of Jehovah, who was his portion (vv. 21-24). He hoped in Jehovah by waiting on Him and seeking after Him for His salvation (vv. 25-30), while depending on the Lord’s doing and judging (vv. 31-39).
In verses 40 through 54 we have the prophet’s request to his people. First, he requests that they would examine their ways and turn again to Jehovah (vv. 40-41). Then he requests that they repent of their transgressions and rebellion that caused the Lord to cover Himself from them and to stir up their enemies to destroy them (vv. 42-54).
Finally, in verses 55 through 66 we have the prophet’s (representing his people’s) prayer to Jehovah. He called upon His name that He would plead their case and judge their cause (vv. 55-62). Then he asked Him to avenge them of their enemies because of their evils (vv. 63-66).
Although this lamentation bears an Old Testament flavor, it is nevertheless in the sphere of the New Testament economy. This is true especially of verses 22 through 25, which we will now consider in some detail.
Lamentations 3:22 and 23 say, “It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness that we are not consumed, / For His compassions do not fail; / They are new every morning. / Great is Your faithfulness.” I believe that this word came to Jeremiah as he was contacting the Lord in the morning, reviewing all the afflictions of his people. While Jeremiah was reviewing these afflictions, he must have regretted the sinfulness of Israel. At this juncture the word of Jehovah came to him, that no matter how much He had punished Israel, He had not utterly consumed them. Jeremiah and many others remained. This was God’s lovingkindness. Realizing that he and all the others who remained with him were under God’s compassions, Jeremiah praised, saying, “For His compassions do not fail” (v. 22b). The people of Israel had failed, but God’s compassions did not fail. His compassions had preserved the remnant of Israel.
Referring to Jehovah’s compassions, Jeremiah went on to say, “They are new every morning” (v. 23a). This indicates that Jeremiah contacted the Lord as the compassionate One every morning. It was through his contact with the Lord that he received this word regarding His lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness.
In verse 23b Jeremiah declared, “Great is Your faithfulness.” God’s compassions do not fail, because He is the faithful One. The faithfulness of God refers to His word. His faithfulness is also related to His covenant. Because He had made a covenant with Abraham and confirmed it with Isaac and Jacob, God had to be faithful to keep His word. God had spoken to Israel’s forefathers, and He was faithful to keep His word.
In verses 24 and 25 Jeremiah continued, saying from the depths of his being, “Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; / Therefore I hope in Him. / Jehovah is good to those who wait on Him, / To the soul that seeks Him.” This word about Jehovah being our portion and about hoping in Him surely has a New Testament flavor. This indicates that as Jeremiah was writing verses 22 through 25, he was in the New Testament economy.
Jeremiah enjoyed Jehovah as his portion, and he put his hope not in himself nor in the people nor in anything else but only in Jehovah. On the one hand, Jeremiah realized that God is a God of lovingkindness, that He is compassionate, and that His word is faithful. On the other hand, Jeremiah realized that we still need to contact the Lord every morning, put our entire hope in Him, and wait on Him.
In Jeremiah’s time, the situation of the people of Israel was not good. It did not seem that God was so loving, kind, compassionate, and faithful. Rather, it looked just the opposite. When we are in a similar situation, what should we do? Like Jeremiah, we need to realize that God is still our portion and that we should hope in Him, wait on Him, and call upon His name (v. 55). However, even though we do these things, we should not expect the situation to change immediately. Since there may be no immediate change, we need to continue to wait on the Lord.
In Jeremiah’s case, the waiting on the Lord has been quite long. The fulfillment of his prophecies concerning the age of restoration has still not come. On the contrary, the situation of Israel today does not seem to be a confirmation of these prophecies. This indicates that we need to learn the lesson of waiting on the Lord. Today is not the time of the ultimate consummation; therefore, we must wait on the Lord.
With us there is the matter of time, the time element. Because we are in time, the time element is very important to us. We are conscious of the time element, and therefore we easily become impatient. But with our God there is no time element.
To wait on the Lord is very crucial. God is our portion; He is full of lovingkindness and compassion; and He is absolutely faithful. Now we need to hope in Him, wait on Him, and call upon Him. However, we should not expect that He will act quickly. A certain Bible teacher pointed out that God acted quickly in saving us, but in many other things He does not act quickly. For example, we know that the Lord answers prayer. We may pray to Him about a particular matter, but He may wait for several months before He answers our prayer. This helps us to realize that our God is true, living, compassionate, and faithful, yet He often does not do things as quickly as we expect.
The reason God delays is that He intends to test us. He will test us to such an extent that we will lose our hope and feel that we are utterly finished. When we feel that the situation is hopeless, that is often the time when God will come in. This is our experience under God’s dispensing.
In verse 55 of this lamentation, Jeremiah said, “I called upon Your name, O Jehovah” (v. 55a). In the Lord’s recovery we have learned to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. However, many New Testament believers do not know about calling upon the name of the Lord and do not practice it. Some even criticize us for this practice. What an unfortunate situation this is!
I appreciate the three matters we have emphasized in this message: to have our hope in the Lord, to wait on Him, and to call upon His name. If we practice these things, we will be under God’s dispensing in a practical way.
When the situation around us seems to be hopeless, we need to realize that our God can never be defeated. Whatever He has spoken, He will be faithful to fulfill. Therefore, we should believe all that the Bible says. In addition, we need to realize that God is the portion of His people, and we need to put our hope and our trust in Him. We need to trust in Him and wait on Him whether He answers us now or later. Even if He seemingly does not answer our prayer, we should continue to pray and wait on Him. The eventual result will be according to His purpose, and we will be the ones benefited by Him. May we all learn this lesson.
