Lamentations 3 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin

   In the first sixteen verses of this chapter, Jeremiah continues his lamentation identifying himself closely with the nation of Judah in her sin and misery and retelling in very vivid language what the Lord has done to them in his wrath, as if it were done to him personally.  For example, he says, “He has made my flesh and my skin waste away…he has made my chains heavy…he is a bear lying in wait for me…he has bent his bow and set me as a target…he has made my teeth grind on gravel.”  Clearly, this is a horrendous ordeal for the Jews, for the Lord has finally unleashed his wrath upon them after hundreds of years of overlooking their sin. 

         Then, in vv.17-20 Jeremiah describes the seemingly helpless and hopeless estate of Israel again personalizing it, saying, “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; my hope has perished.”  Verse twenty-one is where the mood finally begins to pivot with that great word “but.”  Jeremiah says, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.”  Even in the midst of our darkest of days when there seems to be no hope in sight, we must always remember these types of important transitions in Scripture, such as in Genesis 8:1, “But God remembered Noah,” after the flood waters had covered the earth in judgment.  Or consider Joseph’s words to his brothers in Genesis 50:20 “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”  Or listen to Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 7:6, “But God comforts the downcast,” and in Ephesians 2:4 “But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”

         This particular “but” that Jeremiah mentions precedes one of the most beloved passages in the Old Testament beginning in v.22, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  Only a soul who truly relies upon the Lord, hopes in the Lord, and waits on the Lord can give his “Amen” to these verses in the midst of such great suffering.  But what makes the difference for Jeremiah and those like him?  As he says in v.24, it is because “the Lord is my portion.”  Only those who know that the Lord is truly theirs will still cling to the Lord in their sufferings, and especially when under discipline.  Notice in vv.28ff that those who have the Lord for their portion do not open their mouth in complaint when being disciplined; they are willing to give their cheek to be struck by their enemies, and to endure insults from every side.  They are willing to endure this and much more because they know the Lord will be merciful to his beloved even when under discipline, that the Lord will relent, and show his compassion once again.  And it is this child-like trust that motivates Jeremiah to continue to call upon the Lord in his pain and suffering knowing that it is better to fall into the hand of the Lord than into the hand of man, for his mercy is great.