I was reading in Lamentations recently and came across some verses that I found particularly interesting. It’s traditionally claimed that Lamentations was written by the Prophet Jeremiah. This is based on the reference in the Book of Jeremiah to the writing of a lament for King Josiah in 2 Chronicles 35:25. However, the Book itself does not contain any reference to Josiah.
Lamentations was written following the destruction of the city of Jerusalem to the Babylonians around 586 BCE. There is some question as to whether or not Jeremiah was the actual author but that makes little difference in terms of the message. The book consists of a series of poetic laments over the city.
Given the background of the writing of the book, I usually expect it to contain poems related to the loss the writer was feeling at the destruction of the city and the temple. And, for the most part, that is what it contains. The tone of the poems is bleak. It doesn’t have a message that is attributed to God.
Because of the generally despairing tone of the book as a whole, verses (3:22-26) stood out.
3:22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
3:23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
3:24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
3:25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
3:26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.1
(New International Translation, NIV)
When I come across a passage that catches my attention I want to check out how it’s read in other translations of the scripture. One of my favorite versions is The Message2 written by Eugene H. Peterson. This isn’t a word for word translation, however, it carries the meaning of the passage very well.
3:22-24 God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left.
3:25-27 God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God.
It’s a good thing when you’re young
to stick it out through the hard times.
(The Message, MSG)
There are a lot of laments being said in our community, our nation and in the world as a whole. The crisis with the Coronavirus brought suffering to millions. What we can sometimes forget is that with each of those deaths, there were family members who now have to grieve. That increases the immediate impact by three times, four times or even more.
In addition to those deaths, there are those who are ill. But I don’t know how long the recovery process will take. Regardless, there is suffering for them and their families while they are in the healing phase
We have multiple reasons for a lament. In the middle of our lament there is a need for a reminder that in the middle of Lamentations there was a break to recognize that God hadn’t totally abandoned his people. God’s love for us, for all people everywhere, hasn’t run out. It can’t run out because every morning that love is renewed.
In the middle of our struggle, it will do us well to remember that God’s love does not fail. It is renewed every morning and there is too much love for it to run out during the day.
Ross T Lucas 