Reflection: The book of Lamentations is a collection of poems giving voice to the suffering that came to the Israelites after the fall of Jerusalem. It is full of strong emotion – grief, disappointment, anger, doubt, despair. It’s raw and honest. The brokenness of our world is awful and inescapable. When it impacts us personally, it is like we are hurled into a flooded river that surges and gushes and moves forward at a pace that seems unstoppable. It’s hard to breathe, and you can feel as if you will suffocate alone, abandoned in darkness.
These verses sit in the middle of five poems of lament. They offer some of the few words of hope in the whole book. But they are powerful, air-giving, life-affirming words of hope. Have you ever tried to stop the flow of water? As a child, I built many dams with my father who loved to try to keep a stream of water in check. But we rarely succeeded. Moving water is hard to stop; fast flowing water is unstoppable. These words stop an unstoppable flow of grief. ‘Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope’. Suddenly – almost mid-sentence – the writer remembers something that lets him come up to the surface, lift his head, and take a breath of air into his lungs. He remembers words that give him hope. He remembers that he is not alone or abandoned. His God is faithful and great. ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end’ (Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV). When do the steadfast love of the Lord and his mercies cease? Never. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. They continue, new every morning. This is what enables the writer to continue. His life remains unchanged, but he has sufficient to get through today. Tomorrow there will be fresh evidence of God’s love and mercy. This is grace. Our God has not abandoned us to drown in this flooded river. God let his son Jesus join us and experience the brokenness and pain of this world. Through his death and resurrection, he has become the anchor for our souls.
Prayer:Â Help me, Lord God, to remember that because of your mercies I have hope. Fill my mind, my heart, my soul with the rich truth that your love is steadfast and constant. Thank you that one day there will be no more grief or tears or pain. How great is your faithfulness! Amen.