At my wedding the pastor gave a beautiful sermon. It honestly didn’t start so beautifully though. Here’s what happened. We had asked him to preach on Lamentations 3:22-23 and he began his sermon by asking this question, “Who would ever want their wedding verse to come from the book of Lamentations? It’s literally a book about lamenting – sadness!”

Which is true… Thankfully he dug into the text and got to the heart of it all, which is this:

God’s never-ending goodness drowns out everything else and completely changes our viewpoint.

Read the verses from Lamentations 3 with me today, “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.”

In a book of the Bible all about lamenting, why are these beautiful words written? They truly are some of the only beautiful words in Lamentations.

Here’s the back story:

God’s people, the Israelites, his chosen people, had sinned against him again and again even after he had…
• taken them through the wilderness
• defeated their enemies left and right
• fed and nourished them
• given them the promised land
• and made their nation thrive against all odds

And now because of their rebellious acts towards God in spite of the prophet Jeremiah’s warnings, the Babylonians had finally taken them captive.

What now? Is that it, God? That would be something worth lamenting about!

The prophet Jeremiah looks down on the city of Jerusalem, the city of David, the place where the Temple was built, and he has nothing but sorrow. God’s people, the ones Jeremiah had been prophesying to for many years about God’s impending judgment, had been swept away by the Babylonians and taken captive, leaving the city in ruins.

Okay, here it is, here is where the beauty comes in. I know you have been waiting for it:

After much talk of darkness and affliction and wrath… after much lamenting… Jeremiah’s hope arises. It is a hope that could only be rooted in the One, True God… because God is faithful. That’s when he writes our verses for consideration today (Lamentations 2:22-23).

The thing about God is that he never changes. He is not here today and gone tomorrow.
He is not for us one moment and then against us the next.

No, God is always faithful.

And so, after Jeremiah sits and looks upon the ruins that was once the promised land, he remembers! He remembers that over 900 years ago when God promised he would take care of his people, to preserve them, to be with them… he meant it! And he would follow through.

For you and for me, it’s the same! You may be in a time of your life where you feel nothing but sorrow. All might seem lost, broken; you may be captive to Satan’s lies that there is no silver lining or light at the end of the tunnel.

If that is you, look out over your life from the viewpoint Jeremiah took, from God’s viewpoint. See the brokenness and disrepair, see what seems to be in shambles and remember that God is faithful! Have hope because his compassions never fail – they are new every morning. Do not be consumed with grief and sorrow, for great, yes, GREAT is his faithfulness.

The commentator and theologian Charles Spurgeon wrote on the book of Lamentations and phrased it this way, “See where Jeremiah gets his comfort; he seems to say, ‘Bad as my case is, it might have been worse, for I might have been consumed, and I should have been consumed if the Lord’s compassions had failed.’”

Ah, there is the beauty: God’s goodness, God’s faithfulness, God’s compassion. That’s where the beauty always lies.

Because of God’s faithfulness, we have hope. Without God we would fail every time, our life would be in ruin with no hope for tomorrow. Praise God that he is faithful and our view is now always one of hope… true hope in life eternal with Jesus!