New Mercies

Mark Futato writes, “The journey of life may at times take us over some very difficult terrain. Adversity replaces prosperity. Turmoil swallows up tranquility. Chaos obliterates order. Doubt replaces faith. God has given us the laments for times such as these” (Interpreting the Psalms, p. 158).

It was one of the darkest season in the history of Israel. The temple was burned the ground. Their king and leaders were chained and marched off to a foreign land. The Babylonians laid seige to Jerusalem and starved God’s children to death.

The prophet, Jeremiah, composed a series of sad poems called, laments. We call it the book of Lamentations. It comes from the first word of the poems, “How…How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!” (Lamentations 1.1). Jeremiah confesses on behalf of his people, “The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command” (Lamentations 1.18).

Last week we talked about how it is okay to grieve the past, but you can’t stay there. Many times in the psalms and this entire book of Lamentations, we read accounts of people crying out to God because of sadness, sin, and suffering. As Christians, we need to be able to express both sadness and joy. Too much of the time, we don’t do either very well and live in the lukewarm middle.

Jeremiah recounts the hardships of his people. “My eyes fail from weeping” (Lamentations 2.11). He sees starving children die in their mothers’ arms as they beg for food (Lamentations 2.12). Mothers are driven to insanity and starvation as they eat their own children (Lamentations 2.20). In chapter 3, Jeremiah writes, “Even when I call out for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has barred my way with blocks of stone” (Lamentations 3.8-9).

As challenging as this season we find ourselves, it still doesn’t compare to the hardships of the people of Israel as they watched their holy city burn to the ground.

And yet, tucked away in the middle of this book of poems, we find glimpses of hope and goodness. As Robert Chisholm writes, “The poet is able to see a faithful God through the smoking ruins” (Handbook on the Prophets, p. 219). In nearly every psalm of

Lamentations 3:22–25 NIV

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

As we seek to find out what this new normal is, we can find some common ground with the children of Israel as they mourn the loss of their loved ones and life in exile. Our situation is different than theirs. They were punished for their sins after numerous prophetic warnings. I am not comfortable saying this pandemic is a punishment from God because of our sins. Yes, we live in a sinful and broken world that is full of brokenness, disease, cancers, and death. But, I would be cautious blaming God for this pandemic. Is God using it to give the world a wake up call? Yes, 100%. I would simply urge caution to make a one to one correspondence to bad things as a direct punishment from God.

As we look at these three verses from Lamentations, we find two truths about God and a commitment for His people. These truths and this commitment will help us define what the new normal looks like in our lives today and beyond.

First, God’s Love Stands Strong in Adversity (Lamentations 3.22). Remember that these hopeful words were not written when life was good. It was in one of the darkest valleys in the history of Israel. One writer commented that these words of God’s steadfast love, unending mercy, and great faithfulness would have been declared not in a church camp, but more like a prison camp of Nazi Germany where people were starved and executed. The words of God’s love, mercy, and faithfulness would have felt out of place (Walter Kaiser, Grief and Pain in the Plan of God: Christian Assurance and the Message of Lamentations, p. 82).

Yet, that is the setting of these verses after the temple has been destroyed and people led away to a foreign land. These words are clear reminders that God’s love stands strong in adversity.

These words are clear reminders of the character of God that we read in Exodus 34.6

Exodus 34:6 NIV

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

There is some debate on the first phrase of Lamentations 3.22. The NIV says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed.” The English Standard Version (ESV), says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.” So, which is it? Either way you look at it God’s love prevails. God’s love wins. The second line of the poem parallels the first, “his compassions never fail.”

Second, God’s Love Proves Faithful Each Morning (Lamentations 3.23). God’s mercies or compassions are new in the morning. I’ll be honest, I dread the long nights of winter. Jeremiah, may be saying to the people. Yes, we are living in a dark night in our history, but morning will come. Remember that nothing can extinguish God’s love. The morning sunrise is a vivid reminder of God’s unfailing love, mercy, and compassion.

I wonder as Jeremiah highlights the mercies that are new each morning if he wants the people to remember who gave them the gifts of morning. In Genesis 1, during the creation account, we hear the refrain, “there was evening and there was morning, the first day, the second day...” Could Jeremiah be calling to their memory that the one who created day and night is the one who will lead them through the darkness and into the light of day.

Psalm 30:5 NIV

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Could it be for us living on this side of Good Friday and the horrors of God’s one and only Son nailed a tree. Could the reminder of God’s mercies that are new every morning take us back in memories to the garden tomb just after sunrise on the first day of the week when our Lord and Savior walked out of the grave alive. God’s loe proves faithful each morning.

So, as we think about this new normal that we are experiencing. What is one habit or practice that you can begin or continue to remind you of God’s mercies are new every morning. Maybe you use see the sunrise, you give thanks for the gift of a new day. Maybe when you first pick up your phone to see what time it is, you say, “Thank you God for a new day.” Maybe you can use the start of a new day to talk with God to see what He has planned for your day.

God’s love proves faithful each morning. The word for faithful sounds like our word, “Amen.” The word, “Amen” means “It’s true” or “So be it.” In this passage tucked away in the darkness of the Old Testament exile, we see pictures of God’s love, grace, faithfulness, and truth. These verse preview the ministry of the Lord Jesus who came to people living in darkness when we read John 1.14.

John 1:14 NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

In Jesus, we see God full of grace and truth entering the pain of the world. He stood outside the grave of his dear friend Lazarus and was deeply moved with anguish. The apostle John captures the experience in two words, “Jesus wept” (John 11.35). Later, as Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out quoting a psalm of lament, Psalm 22, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me.” Jesus knows, feels, and takes our pain because of His great love and faithfulness.

So, if God’s love stands strong in adversity and if God’s love proves faithful each morning, then God’s people can hope in Him (Lamentations 3.24). Jeremiah, a man who has see affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath (Lamentations 3.1), can say with confidence, “I will say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The word for wait is the same word for “hope” in Lamentations 3.21.

This week, I was listening in on my daughter, Hope’s, second grade reading lesson. The teachers showed their students that you have three voices when you are reading: your reading voice, your thinking voice, and your distracting voice. I won’t give you the lesson in full, but he goal is to pair your reading voice and your thinking voice together to comprehend what you’re reading and limit the distracting voice. I’m confident that the same lesson is true for all ages, not just second graders. Jeremiah bookends these verses with, “But this I call to mind and therefore have hope” in Lamentations 3.21 and “I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him” (Lamentations 3.24). If we can limit the distracting voice of chaos around us so that we can read and think on God’s truth, then we can walk with confidence and hope in this new normal.

Our new normal should be founded on the great love of God that walks with us in seasons of adversity, refreshes us each morning with new opportunities, and reminds us the hope with have with our Savior.

Dominant Thought: God’s great love wakes us up each morning to walk with Him.

Discussion Guide: New Normal: New Mercies

Dominant Thought: God’s great love wakes us up each morning to walk with Him.

You may want to refer to the sermon notes for further discussion. Take a moment to read the assigned Scripture and then reflect or discuss the questions. Customize this outline to your situation. Here are some questions to ask from the Discovery Bible Method:

What are you thankful for today or this week?

What challenges are you facing?

Have 2 or 3 people read the scripture out loud.

Can you summarize this passage in your own words?

What did you discover about God from this passage?

What have you learned about people from this passage?

How are you going to obey this passage? (What is your “I will” statement?)

With whom are you going to share what you have learned?

Based on this passage, what can we pray about?

Day 1: Lamentations 1.1-8

Day 2: Lamentations 2.11-22

Day 3: Lamentations 3.19-27

Day 4: Lamentations 4.1-6

Day 5: Lamentations 5.1-22

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