In that text, Jeremiah isn’t happy with God. Read through the first part (Lam 3:1-20). It’s almost startling in its agony directed at God. Jeremiah assigns all his suffering to God when he repeatedly says, “He has made …” Jeremiah digs the pit of despair deep and blames God. It looks like a losing proposition. And then, he turns.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of YHWH never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “YHWH is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” (Lam 3:21-24)Jeremiah hangs his hope on the “steadfast love of the Lord.” That in spite of his belief that God Himself brought about all his suffering. That term, “steadfast love,” is interesting. The Hebrew word is chesed. And it’s translated differently across various translations because it’s so hard to define.
It is translated “lovingkindness,” “steadfast love,” “faithful love,” and even “mercy” or “kindness” in various places and translations. It is, perhaps, the central term for God’s covenant character.
When Moses returned to the mountain to receive the stone tablets, God passed in front of him and declared who He was (Exo 34:6-7). God included His compassion and grace and such, but God repeated that He was “chesed”. In fact, He was “abounding in lovingkindness” and gives it to thousands.
Psalm 136 repeats the term over and over. There we read, “His chesed endures forever”—at the end of every verse.
It is personal and covenantal. It is never abstract kindness; it is relational. It is the foundation of God’s mercy (Psa 51:1) and kindness in suffering (Lam 3:22-23). It is grace and mercy and faithfulness and love and covenant loyalty.
It is, then, the reason that Jeremiah can declare, “My strength has perished, and so has my hope from YHWH.” (Lam 3:18) followed by “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. YHWH lovingkindness indeed never ceases, for His compassion never fails” (Lam 3:21-22).
It is the reason we, too, can have hope in the face of apparent hopelessness.
2 comments:
As we mature in our understanding of how great the gulf between us and God is, we see more clearly how great His chesed is. Even to the simplest thing of waking up in the morning as a sign of His love, or the rain that falls and waters the food to feed us. We begin to see that the universe itself demonstrates His lovingkindness. And with that little increase in recognition, we can see how we will be able to spend eternity being amazed by Him.
I too love Lam. 3:21-24 and the promise it contains that turned the writer’s despair and hopelessness around, as he moved his thoughts from his circumstances to God’s purpose within them. (Indeed, it echoes the question, “why do bad things happen to good [God’s] people?”) The knowledge that God’s love, kindness, goodness, mercy, and compassion are abounding and never-ending is indeed the only solid hope for mankind. Every other thing or person in which we might place our confidence or expectations will fail us in its limitations, but not the Lord, whose love powers all His effective work in us. Since our need for guidance, rescue, and assistance will attend us “every morning,” how encouraging to know there is a ready Source from which to seek help and comfort--and to find it without fail. We are never helpless … or hopeless … while under His care.
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