Sermon Tone Analysis

Lamentation 3:21—24

Have you ever felt like there would be no tomorrow?

Or that life is as bad as it can get.

There are too many bills to pay and not enough money.

You may have sicknesses and diseases that you can’t get healed from and life is just too weary to go on another day.

Well, I want to encourage you from God’s word to look up and find hope.

No matter how bad it may seem God is still on the throne and we can find comfort and hope in that fact.

/--It is of/ the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They/ are/ new every morning: great /is/ thy faithfulness.

[1] (KJV)

--The Lord’s alovingkindnesses 1indeed never cease (Or /that we are not consumed)/, bFor His compassions never fail.

23   /They /are new aevery morning; Great is bYour faithfulness.[2] (NASB)

--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.

[3] (NLT)

--The kindness of the Lord has not ended, His mercies are not spent.

23They are renewed every morning —Ample is Your grace![4] (Tanakh)

--It is because of the Lord’s mercy /and/ loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.

[Mal.

3:6.]  23 They are new every morning; great /and/ abundant is Your stability /and/ faithfulness.

[Isa.

33:2.]

[5] (AMP)

--The LORD’s unfailing love and mercy still continue,  23 Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.[6]

(Good News)

--God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.

They’re created new every morning.

How great your faithfulness![7]

(Message)

 

Jeremiah wrote these words at a time when Israel was suffering much affliction.

He described their sin and suffering in chapters 1 & 2.  He described the destruction of Jerusalem, which was to come soon, in all its horror in chapter 4.  In chapter 3 he shares his own personal pain in verses 1-18.

But with a prayer to God to *remember* his bitter condition, the prophet gets his eyes off himself and onto the Lord.

*Hope* is revived when he remembers that *the Lord’s mercies* and *compassions ... are new every morning*, and that His *faithfulness* is *great*  (vv.

21–24).

He remembered that as bad as things are, they could be worse!

What is it that could bring Jeremiah out of his depression and the mully-grubs?

As he is reflecting on how awful the situation is, he is reminded of the /goodness/ and /faithfulness/ of God.

Let’s look at what he remembered and be reminded of God’s goodness to us:

 

*1.

**Mercies of God—God’s covenant love*

The NASB says “*loving kindnesses*”—which we can relate to better than mercy, but the word used for mercy is (Heb /chesed/).

It means a love or affection that is steadfast based on a loyalty or devotion, especially in relationship to the covenant and God as its author.

*Out of the faithfulness of His covenant God grants mercy.

His mercy is limitless and can never fail.

*

 

*2617 **חֶסֶד**, **חֶסֶד* [/checed/ ~/*kheh*·sed~/] n m.

From 2616; TWOT 698a, 699a; GK 2875 and 2876; 248 occurrences; AV translates as “*mercy*” 149 times, “kindness” 40 times, “loving-kindness” 30 times, “goodness” 12 times, “kindly” five times, “merciful” four times, “favour” three times, “good” once, “goodliness” once, “pity” once, “reproach” once, and “wicked thing” once.

*1* goodness, kindness, faithfulness.[8]

*2876* II.

חֶסֶד (/chesed/): n.masc.; ≡ Str 2617; TWOT 698a—*1.*

LN 25.33-25.58

*loyal** love*, unfailing kindness, devotion, i.e., a love or affection that is steadfast based on a prior relationship (Ex 34:6, 7); *2.* LN 79.9-79.17

*glory*, i.e., lovely appearance (Isa 40:6); *3.* LN 88.66-88.74

*favor*, i.e., the giving benefits (Est 2:9), note: for another interp in Ps 52:3[EB 1], see 2875 [9]

KJV says “we are not consumed.”

We all owe it to the sparing mercy of God */that we are not consumed/*.

If He had dealt with us */according to our sins,/* we would have been consumed long ago; but we have been dealt with */according to God’s mercies (His lovingkindesses,/* and therefore we should praise Him each day and for all of eternity.

What was it that kept hope alive in Jeremiah in spite of the terrible situation he was in?

It was his knowledge of the mercies of the Lord.

God’s mercy (Hebrew /chesed/) involved His undying *love* and *loyalty* toward His people through the covenant that He had made with Israel.

It was because of that covenant that Jeremiah could expect that the Lord would love them in spite of their sin.

He might discipline His disobedient people, allowing them to be ravaged by their enemies, and even letting their temple and the Law be destroyed (Lam.

2:9), but He would never ultimately forsake His people.

*Neither will God forsake His children today*.

His mercy and grace have been extended to those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom.

8:1), and nothing can separate us from His love (Rom 8:31–39).

As a result, we can have hope (5:1–5; 1 Pet.

1:3–5), even in the midst of the gloomiest circumstances (2 Cor.

1:8–11).

But not only did Jeremiah remember the mercies of God, he also remembered the compassion of God.

*2.     **Compassion of God—God’s tender care *

The words “unfailing love” (3:22 NLT) or “compassions” are translated from a Hebrew term related to the Hebrew word for “stork “or “womb,” suggesting a *mother’s love* and faithfulness.[10]

*7356 **רַחַם**, **רַחֲמִים* [/racham/ ~/*rakh*·am~/] n m abs pl intens.

From 7355; TWOT 2146a; GK 8166 and 8171; 44 occurrences; AV translates as “mercy” 30 times, “*compassion*” four times, “womb” four times, “bowels” twice* *

*7355 **רָחַם* [/racham/ ~/raw·*kham*~/] v.

A primitive root; TWOT 2146; GK 8163; 47 occurrences; AV translates as “… mercy” 32 times, “… compassion” eight times, “pity” three times, “love” once, “merciful” once, “Ruhamah” once, and “surely” once.

*1* to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion.

1a (Qal) to love.

1b (Piel).

/1b1/ to have compassion, be compassionate.

1b1a of God, man.

1c (Pual) to be shown compassion, be compassionate.

Compassion is a word that requires action.

It is more than pity or sympathy, because it causes us to do something.

The Bible says Jesus was “moved with compassion” and as result He healed the sick, fed the hungry, cast out demons, and taught them the truth continually.

Jeremiah said two things concerning the compassions of God.

   1.

"They fail not."

God never fails to be compassionate.

The judgment of God never comes until every means of grace has been exhausted.

It is like facing a judge who loves you and is looking for some loophole—He will find any excuse to free you.

    2.

"They are new every morning."

It seems that God is looking for some way to demonstrate His love for us each new day.

Not only did we have the mercies and compassions of God when we got saved, but we have them now—*new every morning.*

Every morning we have *fresh* instances of God’s compassion towards us!   

--He gives us the life and breath we need to live.

--He provides the sunshine and the rain we need to grow our crops.

--He gives us jobs so we can pay our bills and feed our family.

--He gives us the birds to sing to wake us up and bring a smile to our faces.

--He paints beautiful sunrises and sunsets across the sky for our enjoyment.

--He smiles upon us each day with more blessings than we can possibly think of or imagine.

Personal anecdotes about squirrels eating nuts in a tree and burying a piece of bread in the ground.

I have become a squirrel & bird watcher—marveling at how they are brings a smile to me—that is God’s gift to us.

Psalms 103:13   As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

(NIV)