Lamentations

Lamentations 3: Loving kindness new every morning

Begin in prayer

Before we read of a man in deep affliction who finds hope, let us stop and look to the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to quiet our hearts, to show us His loving kindness that is new every morning, and to lead us to Christ.

But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.

Psalm 86:15

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Your loving kindness and Your faithfulness in suffering, and lead us to Jesus. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

In the middle of the book one man speaks, and he says he has seen affliction under the rod of the LORD's wrath. He says he is walled about in the dark, and that his prayer is shut out. He uses pictures of a bear and a lion lying in wait, a bow bent for an arrow, and a life filled with bitterness. Then he remembers, and he says “therefore I have hope”, because the LORD's loving kindnesses are new every morning. He says the Lord will not cast off forever, and that the Lord does not afflict willingly. The people are told to search their ways and turn again to the LORD. The man tells how the LORD came near when he called and said, “Don’t be afraid”.

As you read Lamentations 3, look for the answers:

• What does the man remember that gives him hope? (verses 21 to 23)
• What does he say about the LORD to those who wait for Him? (verse 25)
• What did the LORD say when the man called on Him? (verse 57)

Reflect together

Key truth

Because of the LORD's loving kindness, His people are not consumed, and His compassion is new every morning.

Lamentations 3 is the middle of the book, and its first twenty verses are some of the darkest in the Bible. The man says the LORD has led him into darkness, walled him in and shut out his prayer (verses 2, 7 and 8). The book lets him say all this aloud to God, and God's Word keeps it for us. Then comes verse 21, “This I recall to my mind”, and hope begins when he remembers who the LORD is. He says the LORD's loving kindnesses are the reason the people are not consumed (verse 22). Loving kindness means faithful love that does not let go. Verses 31 to 33 say the Lord will not cast off forever, and that He does not afflict willingly. Because of that, the people are told to search their ways and turn again to the LORD (verses 40 and 41). God can show this mercy to sinners because Christ bore the wrath in their place (Romans 3 verses 25 and 26).

How does Lamentations 3 show us that, because of the LORD's loving kindness, His people are not consumed, and His compassion is new every morning?

The man is honest with God about his suffering.

He says the LORD has walled him in and shut out his prayer (verses 7 and 8). He does not pretend, and he does not leave God. He keeps speaking to the LORD in the dark. Jesus also cried out to God in great darkness on the cross (Matthew 27 verse 46).

His hope rests on the LORD's faithful love.

Hope begins when he recalls who the LORD is (verse 21). Because of the LORD's loving kindnesses the people are not consumed, and His compassion does not fail (verse 22). They are new every morning, so each day brings mercy again. He says, “Yahweh is my portion”, and so he hopes in the LORD (verse 24).

The LORD is good to those who wait for Him.

Verse 25 says the LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. The Lord will not cast off forever, and He does not afflict willingly (verses 31 to 33). The people are told to turn again to Him (verse 40). When the man called, the LORD came near and said, “Don’t be afraid” (verse 57).

Memorise

It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, do I need the LORD's mercy each morning, and will I ask Jesus for it?

A man sits in the dark and says, “He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness”. Then he remembers, and he says it is because of the LORD's loving kindnesses “that we are not consumed”. He ends with these words, “great is your faithfulness”.

Why are God's people not consumed? Because the wrath they deserved fell on Jesus. At the cross He bore the punishment for their sin, and He gave His life in their place. On the third day He rose from the dead. Nothing is left unpaid.

So come to Him. Turn from your sin and trust Jesus, who bore that wrath. Anyone who trusts Him receives forgiveness, and each new morning He is faithful to them.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God's loving kindness keeps His people from being consumed, and that Jesus bore the wrath they deserved. Parents, please explain verses 10 to 13 and 64 to 66 yourself, since they speak of violence and of curses on enemies. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His loving kindness that is new every morning, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one speak a short prayer if they want to.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Peter 1:3

Faithful Lord, thank You that Your loving kindness is new every morning and Your compassion does not fail. Thank You for sending Jesus, who bore Your wrath for His people. Please lead each person here to turn from sin and trust Him. Amen.