Josh’s Thoughts

This is a passage of Scripture that I love: Lamentations 3:17-33. The background of the passage is that Jeremiah is "lamenting"the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah had urged Judah repeatedly to repent, and they refused. Jeremiah’s message was one of hope: He constantly told Judah that there was hope for them if they would just turn back to God. They refused to turn back to God, so when their city was destroyed by the Babylonians and they were lead into captivity, Jeremiah himself briefly lost hope. This passage records his turning from despair back to hope. It is beautiful.

Lamentations 3:17-33 (NLT)

Peace has been stripped away,
     and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
I cry out, “My splendor is gone!
     Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”

The thought of my suffering and homelessness
     is bitter beyond words.
I will never forget this awful time,
     as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope
     when I remember this:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
     His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
     his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
     therefore, I will hope in him!”

The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
     to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly
     for salvation from the Lord.
And it is good for people to submit at an early age
     to the yoke of his discipline:

Let them sit alone in silence
     beneath the Lord’s demands.
Let them lie face down in the dust,
     for there may be hope at last.
Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them
     and accept the insults of their enemies.

For no one is abandoned
     by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion
     because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
For he does not enjoy hurting people
     or causing them sorrow.