Sustained

Lamentations 3:21-26

This I recall to my mind,

therefore have I hope.

 It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed,

because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning:

great is thy faithfulness.

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul;

therefore will I hope in him.

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him,

to the soul that seeketh him.

It is good that a man should both hope

and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Introduction — OUTLINE SUMMARY OF LAMENTATIONS

THEME – a series of dirges as if for a National Funeral upon the capture and destruction of Jerusalem – the most catastrophic event in their history

LITERARY STYLE

• Acrostic
  • Chapters 1, 2, 4 — 22 verses, 1/letter
  • Chapter 3 — 66 verses, 3/letter
• Chapter 5 — no acrostic

KEY VERSE – 1:12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. 

OUTLINE SUMMARY OF LAMENTATIONS

• Chapter 1 – Lady Zion’s (daughter of Zion) grief and shame
  • She’s a widow and Jerusalem’s destruction grieves like the death of a loved one
• Chapter 2 – Fall of Jerusalem and God’s Wrath
  • Jerusalem fell because of the wrath of God on their sin (God’s Wrath)
    • NOT volatile anger
    • God’s Just punishment
  • God is SLOW to ANGER but WILL JUDGE human EVIL
• Chapter 3 – The Suffering One
  • Language drawn from Job, Psalms, and Suffering Servant of Isaiah
  • He’s suffering because of God’s Justice and this gives him hope 3:22-26
  • God’s Justice is the Seedbed of Hope
• Chapter 4 – The Siege of Jerusalem
  • Contrast of Good Past and Present Siege
    • Children, Wealthy, Nobility (Royalty)
• Chapter 5 – Communal Prayer for God’s Mercy
  • Remember us O, Lord
    • Boys, Fathers, Mothers, Elders, Princes
  • O Lord you Reign as King Forever
  • Why do you Forget and Forsake us?
  • Unless you’ve totally rejected us…

Introduction — 

• Suffering because of God’s Justice gives him hope
• God’s Justice is the Seedbed of Hope

Observations and Explanation

• This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
  • This = what we are about to read
  • Remembering God’s attributes gives hope
  • Any single one of his attributes can remind us that all the others are true also.
• It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. “… nor are any of the Lord’s special people ever consumed; their estates may be consumed, and so may their bodies by wasting diseases, and at last by death; but not their souls, not only as to their being, but as to their well being, here and hereafter; though their peace, joy, and comfort, may be gone for a while, through temptation, desertion, and the prevalence of corruption; and they may be in declining circumstances, as to the exercise of grace, yet the principle itself can never be lost; faith, hope, and love, will abide; nor can they eternally perish, or be punished with an everlasting destruction: all which is to be ascribed not to their own strength to preserve themselves, nor to any want of desert in them to be destroyed, or of power in God to consume them; but to his “mercies” and “goodnesses”, the multitude of them; for there is an abundance of mercy, grace, and goodness in God, and various are the instances of it; as in the choice of his people to grace and glory; in the covenant of grace, and the blessings of it they are interested in; in redemption by Christ; in regeneration by his Spirit; in the forgiveness of their sins; and in their complete salvation; which are all so many reasons why they are not, and shall not be, consumed.” — John Gill
  • Not consumed
    • Many trials may come (physical, material, spiritual, familial, social, national, cultural, environmental)
    • God’s people are not consumed – Job, Jeremiah, 
  • Because of the LORD’s mercies
  • His compassions do not fail
• They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
  • New – both temporal and eternal; physical and spiritual
  • Every – day after day; encouragement to look for these in Scripture.
  • Faithfulness – every attribute is there all the time
    • To Himself
    • To His counsels and purposes
    • To His covenant and promises
    • To His Son (our Savior)

Conclusion

• The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
  • For present grace
  • For eternal glory
• The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
  • Wait for the LORD
  • Seek for Him aright
• It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
  • It is good to hope
  • It is good to wait
• Sustained – not consumed
  • Self-sustained? (sustainability)
  • God- and Christ-sustained