We can praise God because He is faithful! It’s Sunday morning here in Texas and as you’re reading this I am in church worshipping God, overwhelmed by His goodness and His faithfulness. As I look back at my life, I can see God’s fingerprints all over the many seasons I have sojourned on Planet Earth. I know that I can count on God because God does what He says He will do. At the same time recognizing God’s faithfulness brings me comfort, it also causes me to tremble.
In the collection of songs entitled Lamentations, the writer grieves the separation of the Israelites from God, marked by the fall of Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians in 586 B.C. He also highlights God faithfulness, reminding readers of God’s promises revealed in the Mosaic book of Deuteronomy. While the author is not clearly identified in these writings, scholars historically believe that the prophet Jeremiah penned most, if not all, of the five laments recorded in what is perhaps the most tragic book in all Scripture.
But even amid the destruction and devastation, the writer sees a glimmer of hope.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)
We can praise God for His faithfulness. He will do what He says He will do. We can take God at His word, whether it be blessings or curses. The Lord is steadfast; He does not waver.
In Lamentations, we are reminded of the steep price of sin, in spite of all its glimmer and glow. The enticements and entanglements of sin carry with it the heaviness of sorrow, grief, misery, unfruitfulness, and pain.
We live in tumultuous, turbulent times. Lamentations is a stark call to us to commit ourselves anew to the Lord, whose love is steadfast and true. Even though we waffle in our commitment to Him, God remains faithful to us. Nowhere is the Lord’s faithfulness expressed greater than at the Cross.
The Devotional Guy™ 