◄ What Does Lamentations 3:26 Mean? ►

Jeremiah was to witness to the children of Israel being sold into slavery, and was told that the city of God would be destroyed and the Temple of the Lord would be raised to the ground. But despite his earnest prayer for his people, his message of repentance was rejected. He is rightly called the weeping prophet for he witnessed the rod of the Lord being used to discipline God's rebellious people. In this passage, Jeremiah is discovered lamenting the hopelessness of the situation that he and a tiny godly remnant were experiencing.

Despite all the suffering, pain, hurt, and distress that the prophet Jeremiah faced in life's school of affliction, the Lord was teaching him many lessons about the great faithfulness of the Lord and His never-failing mercies, which are new every morning. He learned the importance of trusting the Lord and waiting on His timing, despite the distressing circumstances he faced and the human insults that had for so long been hurled upon him.

Jeremiah had faithfully proclaimed God's message to the nation, but their rejection resulted in indescribable tragedy. Nevertheless, through it all Jeremiah came to understand that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and His mercies never come to an end. He discovered that divine chastening is an evidence of God's perfect love towards His people, even though the intense pain it often produces is deeply distressing. He came to the point where he could confess that it in the midst of the most distressing circumstances: "It is good to trust the Lord and to wait quietly and trustingly for deliverance from God." 

Christians today are facing some of the worst conditions that evil man can inflict on those that proclaim the glorious gospel truth. But the lessons that Jeremiah learned through his school of affliction are ones that we need to learn in the circumstances that we are called upon to face today: that it is good to trust in the Lord and to depend on Him.

It is good to remember the faithfulness of the Lord, which is new every morning. It is wise not to despise the chastening of the Lord or be weary of His correction, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises every son whom He receives. It is good, very good: "To wait quietly for deliverance from the Lord."

Heavenly Father, thank You for the many lessons that You are teaching me through the things I may be called upon to suffer in this life. Help me to learn all the lessons You desire to teach me, knowing that Your mercies are new every morning and that Your love and faithfulness never fail. I pray that I may trust You implicitly in all the difficult circumstances of life that I am called upon to face. Help me to wait quietly for Your sure deliverance. To You be all praise and glory, AMEN.