Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning.

Devotion based on Lamentations 3:22,23

In an abandoned city, Jeremiah the prophet can only stare in horror at what he sees. Ruin, destruction, death, and desolation. Nothing is left. Tears well up in his eyes. A numbness settles over his heart.

They deserved it. The people of Israel turned away from the Lord. They made their heathen neighbors their allies and worshiped their gods. God’s prophets warned them, but they didn’t listen. The Babylonian army attacked Jerusalem, broke down its walls, burned down its temple, and hauled many of its citizens off to Babylon.

But, staring at the judgment that he knows he and his people deserve, Jeremiah finds hope. His confession is so beautiful. He says: “Because of the LORD‘s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” The Lord has not given up on them. His love for them is that great.

When everything around us is destroyed, the Lord’s great love is not destroyed. Even when our rebellion comes between us and the Lord, the Lord’s great love is not destroyed. Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not destroyed. His love is a shield and refuge for us in life and death.

And his compassions never fail. Just as you can count on the sun coming up every day, so can you count on God’s love and compassion day after day. God’s compassion is new for you every morning. New to heal the new wounds in your heart and life that each day brings. New to remove the new guilt that burdens your soul. New to soothe the new pains as well as those aches that just won’t go away.

Jeremiah’s mindset was not just a glass-half-full attitude that said, “It could be worse.” It was joy-filled confidence that rejoiced in a living and loving God. In his great love and unfailing compassion, God uses every trouble and tragedy to draw us back to him so that he can calm our hearts, dry our tears, and restore our relationship with him. And because God loved us enough to die for us, he has even overcome death so that we will experience his great love forever.

Prayer: