THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS – PART 18 – THE KINDNESS AND COMPASSIONS OF GOD NEVER FAIL. WAIT AND SEEK THE LORD AS YOUR PORTION - CHAPTER 3:22-26
In the last message we saw a complete change of thought. Up until that point there was much misery and complaint and so many horrible things that had happened. Then Jeremiah suddenly burst forth with a new theme that seemed as if it did not fit the context. You might recall it began with this verse from last time - {{Lamentations 3:22 “THE LORD’S LOVING KINDNESSES INDEED NEVER CEASE for HIS COMPASSIONS NEVER FAIL.”}}
That verse speaking of compassion did not seem to fit into the situation of dying and suffering survivors of the Babylonian slaughter where people were rresorting to cannibalism and their skin turning black and withered like wood. How can a compassionate God bring that on the people? How can a compassionate God let it continue to ravage the people? We tried to open that up last time.
Now we look further into all this as the verses follow on.
PART [21]. AS THE SUNRISE, SO GOD’S KINDNESS AND COMPASSION
{{Lamentations 3:23 “They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.”}}
Verses 22 and 23 should never be separated but I did that only for commentary as the text was getting long. They are a beautiful unity. How can you explain this verse to a Christian who has just lost a child in an unforeseen accident, or coping with a terminal illness, or the family who lost their house in a fire, or a struggling family whose husband just lost his job? How can you make it clear that God is compassionate and that His kindness and compassionate are fresh for you every morning?
Christian character is forged in the furnace of suffering, and there is a combination of FAITH and RESTING in the will of God that brings understanding and an appreciation of the compassion and faithfulness of God. David learned so much about his God through suffering and in isolation fleeing from his enemies. The strong-hearted man in trial has his faith locked into the faithfulness of his God.
Faithfulness is a quality much lacking today by those claiming to be Christians. I think many decades ago, certainly a century ago, commitment was real as was dedication and service and the depth of the bible operating among the people. The modern church is part of the modern world with its glitziness and showmanship. Froth and bubble is the order of the day from many. There is an element of superficiality and worldiness.
God’s faithfulness to His children is permanent and continual while we are on this earth. How beautiful is it when the faithfulness of God kisses our weak faithfulness to Him. The term, “God is faithful” is used three times in the NASB and I list them without comment - {{1 Corinthians 1:9 “GOD IS FAITHFUL, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, and GOD IS FAITHFUL who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.” 2 Corinthians 1:18 “but as GOD IS FAITHFUL, our word to you is not yes and no,”}}
It is of great concern to me that the modern church lacks faithfulness and commitment. It is so shallow in the western world. We need to take our examples from the suffering Christians in the Middle East and Africa who daily make sacrifices for the Lord, even to losing their lives to the hatred of Satan. Our faithfulness and commitment need to be fashioned after that of the Lord Jesus who persevered to the end, enduring the cross for each of us.
{{Lamentations 3:22-23 “The LORD’S loving kindnesses indeed never cease for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.”}}
PART [22]. MY “PORTION” OF THE LORD LEADS TO HOPE
{{Lamentations 3:24 “The LORD is my PORTION,” says my soul, “therefore I have hope in Him.”}}
“The LORD is my portion,” Jeremiah could claim, but is He yours? The sense of “portion” is what is dished out to you, or what you have claimed. As in a large buffet meal, some people take little to eat and others take a lot, then in the Christian life, some have little and some have much. All others range between.
What portion of the Lord are you claiming? It seems a rather crude way to put it, but we mean, “How much does the Lord influence and control your life?” Is He your everything, or is He your “something?” The time for non-commitment and play around has ended. The coming of the Lord is so close, so don’t be a fairweather church-goer. Wake up and surrender your lives to Him in proper commitment else you will be ashamed at His coming.
Paul wrote two verses of challenge that are vital for everyone who confesses the Name of Christ, and if you refuse we question your true salvation – {{Romans 12:1-2 “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship, and DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”}}
In our verse above, in Lamentations 3:24, there is a very important word “THEREFORE” and it connects “portion” with “hope”. Do you have not much hope as a Christian? Well examine your portion. Is hope burning bright with you? Well your portion is strong. You have hope in God when your portion is full. That is how it must be. Remember Jeremiah wrote this when in the midst of the worst suffering possible. In that adversity the LORD was his portion, completely. Hope in God that towers above any adversity is true hope.
We ask again, “IS THE LORD YOUR PORTION?” It means are you living a committed, faithful life for the Lord. We used to sing a little chorus in the 1960s – “He is my everything; He is my all. He is my everything, both great and small . . .” That is the truth when the Lord is your portion.
PART [23]. THE LORD IS GOOD – WITH SOME CONDITIONS
Lamentations 3:25 “The LORD is GOOD to those who WAIT for Him, to the person who SEEKS Him.”
The Lord is not bad to those who do not seek Him or to those who do not wait for Him. However their end will be bad because they will follow where their fallen, un-regenerative natures lead them and that is further and further away from God to a Christless eternity. We know God is not willing that any should perish but that all will come to a knowledge of the truth but those who refuse the truth found only in the Lord, will perish.
God is good; His nature is good and His plans are good; and His workings with mankind are good. We all departed from God, born in sin, but the work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary made it possible for us to enter into the goodness of God. That comes about by repentance and belief in Jesus for salvation. The Holy Spirit leads man in the necessity to wait on the Lord and to seek Him but most refuse and stubbornly walk in the opposite direction.
There are two requirements here and they are wait and seek. One without the other is no good for you can wait all your life and get nowhere from the position you are sitting in. It is no good seeking unless you are waiting on the Lord for His goodness to be revealed to you. So many in the world are seeking and end up with all sorts of humanistic distortions and have become the prey to false teachers who promise you everything with Satan’s lying tongue.
For those who wait and seek, they find the Lord is good to them. It is a simple but powerful truth that a sinner can enter into the goodness of God who created the universe and sustains it all, but at the same time cares for us puny human beings. {{Psalm 8:3-6 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained, WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU TAKE THOUGHT OF HIM, AND THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU CARE FOR HIM? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands. You have put all things under his feet,”}}
I have no doubt that after the drastic overthrow of Judah and Jerusalem, there were those who came face to face with reality and sought the LORD their God. It could very well be those who are the subject of verse 25. For those Jews back then, and people today these verses are very important and must be urgently obeyed – {{Isaiah 55:6-7 “SEEK THE LORD while He may be found. CALL UPON HIM while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”}}
PART [24]. WAIT IN SILENCE FOR THE LORD’S SALVATION
{{Lamentations 3:26 “It is good that he WAITS SILENTLY for the salvation of the LORD.”}}
Verse 26 begins 5 verses of instruction and these connect with the verse we just did, verse 25. God is good and that goodness is discovered by those who wait and who seek. Verses 26 to 30 assist in knowing the God of goodness with practical instructions.
Waiting in silence with patience is almost foreign to most of us. We like action and love to be doing as Martha was in rushing around in service for her Lord, while Mary sat in silence listening to the Lord in communion. The concept of waiting on the Lord is a frequent one in scripture; many references.
Why must we wait and not be doing so much? Well our decision-making processes are flawed and our experiences limited to doubtful human reactions. Therefore we need Someone much higher than ourselves to be in control, and THEN to be able to rest in that Person and understand that He knows best.
Just yesterday I realised something when I was mowing the lawn. I have two reasonably sized outside finch aviaries at home. The finches know me and I think they trust me as I am in and out of the cages quite often. They sit fairly quietly when I enter to do what has to be done. However I was mowing the grass with a push mover that made a noise of course. When I came near the aviaries, the birds started flying around somewhat agitated. I thought, “Birds, don’t you realise I am mowing this grass and I am in control of the mower. Don’t you know who I am? Don’t listen to the noise or be perturbed by movement. Look to me who is in control of all this and be calm. It is still the same me.”
That is so much like us. God has not relinquished control and still has His hand on the universe, so whatever happens in the universe ought not perturb us. We must look to the one who controls the universe for His care for us never changes. He is the loving Father who seeks always the very best for us.
Then {{Lamentations 3:26 “It is good that he WAITS SILENTLY for the salvation of the LORD.”}} will apply. Too many want to do what belongs to God who loves us and cares for us. Imagine the trouble a sheep will get into when it races off from the flock to do its own thing. Wait on the Lord and wait silently to hear what He says to you through the bible and the witness of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 10:38-42 “Now as they were travelling along, He entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called MARY WHO MOREOVER WAS LISTENING TO THE LORD’S WORD, SEATED AT HIS FEET, but Martha was distracted with all her preparations and she came up to Him, and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me,” but the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part which shall not be taken away from her.”}}
We need to consider this verse as it was meant for the displaced people of Judah after the Babylonian invasion. They were perturbed because their idolatrous sin had been their undoing. Now what are they to do? Jeremiah answers that question. They must wait silently for God’s salvation because in due time His salvation will come. Not to do that is akin to Saul who rushed into the priests’ office because of impatience and self-will and became a disgrace to God.
{{Psalm 25:3 “Indeed, none of those who WAIT FOR YOU will be ashamed. Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.”
Psalm 27:14 “WAIT FOR THE LORD. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the LORD.”
Psalm 130:5 “I WAIT FOR THE LORD. My soul does wait, and in His word do I hope.”}}
A number of commentators add that to wait in silence, is to refrain from murmuring and complaining. Straight away our thoughts go to Israel in its journey to the Promised Land, for they were no sooner out of Egypt than the murmuring and complaining began, and they forfeited their right to enter the land. {{Exodus 14:11 Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?”}}. {{Exodus 16:2-3 “and the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”}}
Let us be careful. We must wait silently for the salvation of the Lord for it is certain He will come for us to remove us from this world in the Rapture of all believers, past and present. For those who love meditating of God’s word, I will leave you with two verses to think about (remember context) – {{Psalm 55:16-17 “As for me, I shall call upon God, and the LORD will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I WILL COMPLAIN AND MURMUR and He will hear my voice.”}}
