Lamentations 3:31–33
For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
If you are grateful that the Lord has been good to you, open your mouth and give Him praise right now.
If the Lord has been good just repeat this He’s been good to me.
For real, if you have had some ups and downs.
Some unsettling circumstances. Some bitter moments. Do me a favor and minister to somebody on your row by telling them, it hasn’t always been easy, but I made it through it. Now just shout the Lord has been good to me.
My brothers and sisters we don’t testify today because life has always been easy.
We testify because life was hard, and because God has been faithful.
Some of us didn’t shout because we avoided trouble.
We shout because trouble didn’t avoid us, but it couldn’t defeat us.
May I tell you that the Lord has been good to me not because I never fell, but because He never let me stay down.
The Lord has been good to me not because I have never mess up, never said a badddd word or never thought any evil thoughts, but he’s been good to me because his mercy enduredth forever.
When I studied the book of Lamentations, I noticed that this book is traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, who is known as the weeping prophet.
It was written after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. when Babylon came in and invaded the city, burned the city, destroyed the temple, and carried the people into captivity.
This is important because these verses were not written in comfort, they were written in some catastrophe times.
Jeremiah is standing in the ashes of his city, surrounded by grief, loss, trauma, and some unanswered questions.
And right in the middle of devastation, Jeremiah says something revolutionary about God:
Jeremiah drops a bomb that would never be forgotten.
He says the Lord will not cast off forever.
That tells me something, it tells us that God’s goodness does not depend on our circumstances.
Here is the exposition, the examination, and the explanation of the Text.
Verse 31, The Lord will not cast off forever
This verse teaches us that what you are in now, is not what you will be in forever.
What you are going through right now is not what you will be going through forever.
I wish somebody can get happy right here.
In a season where everything seems to be in chaos.
In a season of loss.
In a season of waiting.
In a season of confusion.
In a season where my marriage seems off, my family seems to be having trouble getting along, relationships are going bad, my check has been delayed, it tax time.
The plumbing in the house is backed up, the refrigerator is broken, the creditors are calling, spam callers keep calling my phone. The landlord keeps going up on rent and they are not fixing anything. I am in the mist of some chaos, but in the mist of it all God says, this is temporary.
Here is what I learned in the midst of ups and down. Ups and downs don’t mean abandonment. It means transition.
Tell your neighbor, thank God It won’t last always.
Now here is where I got messed.
I mean, I was thrown off discombobulated, Disoriented, confused and baffled, I mean I was a little disturbed.
Because verse 32 threw me for a loop. Verse 32 says, (Though He cause grief), I had to stop, and pause for a minute. Because I couldn’t hardly get past the, through he cause grief.
The one person that I looking forward to helping me, the one person who provides help to the helpless.
The comforter, the healer, my Lord and God, it’s right there in your bible. It says though he cause grief. I couldn’t believe it, he admitted to it. He own up to it. Though he cause grief.
And this is why reading is fundamental. Because if I would have stopped there at the (though he cause me grief) I would have been messed up for life.
Because many times we often stop and put a period in life where where God has put a comma. It says But though he cause grief, (comma) I believe that too often we put a period where God has placed a comma.
The comma implies is only for a while. The period implies it’s the end. So, the scripture says, but though he cause grief, comma, then it reads on by saying yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
Yet will He have compassion
This is deep theology, because God allows seasons that stretches us, but He never removes His compassion from us.
Jeremiah is saying: Even when life hurts, God’s mercy still works.
God’s compassion is not canceled by our pain. In fact, His mercy multiplies where grief increases.
I feel you David when he said, It was good that I was afflicted.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; it was good for me that I have been through some rough times. It was good for me that they didn’t want me. It was good for me that they turned their backs on me. It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes.
Some of you can testify: that they tried you this week but they couldn’t conquer you.
Others can testify that you cried, but mercy caught you.
You were confused, but compassion covered you.
You were tired, but grace sustained you. In other words, Lord you’ve been good to me.
Verse 33 teaches us that He does not afflict willingly.
This verse tells us God is not cruel and not careless.
God does not hurt His children for pleasure.
But if He allows pressure, and it’s because purpose is being produced.
What you survived did not come to destroy you, it came to develop you.
And when we look back, we can honestly say: The Lord has been good to me.
Sure it looks like I almost lost my house. Yes, it looks like the job has given me, grief and pain but through it all I can still shout. The Lord has been good to me.
Yesssss, life has had its ups and downs
But let’s be honest:
Some days you praised.
Some nights you cried.
Some seasons you trusted.
Some moments you barely survived. But you’re still here.
The enemy tried to break your mind, but God kept you.
He tried to wreck your faith, but God kept you.
He tried to wear you out, but God kept you.
Let me testify for myself, I didn’t lose my mind.
I didn’t lose my faith.
I didn’t walk away, instead I bowed down on bending knees because I knew that God had kept me.
There’s a story of a woman who survived a terrible storm that destroyed nearly everything in her town.
When reporters asked her how she made it through, she said: I didn’t know how strong the storm was, and I didn’t I just know how strong my house was. But I did know how strong my God is.
PTMC, you didn’t survive because the storm was weak.
You didn’t survive because the storms skipped over your house.
But you survived because your foundation was strong.
Your foundation was mercy. Your foundation was grace.
Your foundation was a God who would not cast you off forever.
And when we look back over our lives, when we look at the ups, the downs, when we look at the tears that we have cried,
We ought to be able to say through it all, the Lord has been good to me.”
If you know God has been good to you, stand up on your feet, lift your hands, and give Him the praise He deserves.
The Lord has been good to me.
It has not always been easy to be a pastor.
Some days I’ve cried, some days I’ve gotten mad, some days I wanted to quit. But through it all the Lord has been good to me.
Can anybody else testify that the Lord has been good to you?
Can anybody else be a witness that he’s been real good?
Can anybody tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth that he has been better, to you than you can be to yourself?
