August 25, 2012 … God’s Mercy … New Every Morning

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 238 

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Lamentations 3-5 To study these chapters, go to this link -

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Highlight Passage: Lamentations 3: 1-3; 13-15; 19-23; 25-27; 31-33; 37-40; 52-57 : [NLT] … 1 I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the LORD’s anger. 2 He has brought me into deep darkness, shutting out all light. 3 He has turned against me. Day and night his hand is heavy upon me. … 
13 He shot his arrows deep into my heart. 14 My own people laugh at me. All day long they sing their mocking songs. 15 He has filled me with bitterness. He has given me a cup of deep sorrow to drink. … 19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. 20 I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. 21 Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: 22 The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. 24I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” …  
25 The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. 26 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD. 27 And it is good for the young to submit to the yoke of his discipline. … 
31 For the Lord does not abandon anyone forever. 32Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love. 33 For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. … 
37 Can anything happen without the Lord’s permission? 38Is it not the Most High who helps one and harms another? 39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? 40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn again in repentance to the LORD. … 
52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed, chased me like a bird. 53 They threw me into a pit and dropped stones on me. 54 The water flowed above my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!” 55 But I called on your name, LORD, from deep within the well, 56 and you heard me! You listened to my pleading; you heard my weeping! 57 Yes, you came at my despairing cry and told me, “Do not fear.” 
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Highlight Passage: Lamentations 4: 1-2; 6; 11-13; 20 :[NLT] … 1 How the gold has lost its luster! Even the finest gold has become dull. The sacred gemstones lie scattered in the streets! 2 See how the precious children of Jerusalem,£ worth their weight in gold, are now treated like pots of clay. … 
6 The guilt£ of my people is greater than that of Sodom, where utter disaster struck in a moment with no one to help them. … 
11 But now the anger of the LORD is satisfied. His fiercest anger has now been poured out. He started a fire in Jerusalem that burned the city to its foundations. 12 Not a king in all the earth—no one in all the world—would have believed an enemy could march through the gates of Jerusalem. 13 Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood. … 
20 Our king, the LORD’s anointed, the very life of our nation, was caught in their snares. We had foolishly boasted that under his protection we could hold our own against any nation on earth!  
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Highlight Passage: Lamentations 5: 1-2; 14-15; 19-22 :[NLT] … [Jeremiah’s prayer in anguish] 1 LORD, remember everything that has happened to us. See all the sorrows we bear! 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. … 
14 The old men no longer sit in the city gates; the young men no longer dance and sing. 15 The joy of our hearts has ended; our dancing has turned to mourning. … 
19 But LORD, you remain the same forever! Your throne continues from generation to generation. 20Why do you continue to forget us? Why have you forsaken us for so long? 21 Restore us, O LORD, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had! 22 Or have you utterly rejected us? Are you angry with us still? 

My Journal for Today: No wonder they call Jeremiah, “the weeping prophet.” Reading through this poetic proclamation of Jeremiah’s – in Chapters 3-4 today - the prophet’s declaration of grief and his prayer of anguish - in Chapter 5, it’s impossible to miss how utterly overwhelmed Jeremiah was with grief and remorse over how God’s children had disobeyed God’s word and allowed themselves to fall into the condition of captivity (to the Babylonians) and horror in which they found themselves when Jeremiah was writing this acrostic poem [Chapter 1-4] and his prayer [Chapter 5].

But there’s one beam of hope, one passage of light which shines through all the expressions of anguish expressed by the weeping prophet; and that is found in Verses 22-23 of Chapter 3, which I’ve highlighted in bold and underlined test above. This is one of my favorite passages to remember and pray back to God when I’m feeling down about my own failings or when I see, as did Jeremiah, God’s children rejecting and rebelling against His loving desire to protect and restore His children.

Go above and recite – out loud – the words of truth uttered by Jeremiah. …. Do it again – here, let me repeat them in another translation (the NKJV), which I have memorized years ago: 22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness!  

Doesn’t that truth lift anyone out of the pits of despair and onto the solid ground of faith. And as I meditate on this passage I recall the words of the great hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, which was written to put this truth from God’s word into song.  Here’s a version of that great hymn to which I link you for your meditation if you’re reading here as we realize that our God’s mercy is endless; and it’s new – and GREAT – every morning when the sun rises; … or should I say when “The SON rises.”

If you’re feeling down or depressed by your circumstances or what you see happening in the world now, take some time to mediate on your blessings and declare to our Lord, ”Great is Thy Faithfulness!!!”

My Prayer Today: … On yes, Lord, … Your mercies are new every day. And we so need Your grace and love to shine in these dark times. Amen