Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have 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. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lam. 3:19-24
Loving Father, another day and another fresh batch of your mercies greet us, even before sunrise. You overwhelm us with your kindness, settle us with your gentleness and nourish us with your grace-full-ness.
Today we join Jeremiah in calling to mind your great love and your great faithfulness. In fact, we can “call to mind” even more of your love and faithfulness than Jeremiah could, for our place in the history of redemption is to be much preferred over his. Jeremiah lived looking forward to the coming of Jesus and the fulfillment of the promises of the new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34). But we live on this side of those blessed events. We should be much quicker to praise you, trust you and rest in your love.
Because of what Jesus has done for us, we’re not consumed with guilt, frozen in our shame and paralyzed with fear. For on the cross, he took the judgment we deserved. Jesus became sin for us, and in him, you have declared us to be perfectly righteous (2 Cor. 5:21). Thus we look at Jesus and loudly proclaim, “The Lord Our Righteous Savior” (Jer. 33:16 NIV)—the Lord, my righteousness! Because of Jesus, you have forgiven all our wickedness and you will never remember our sins against us (Jer. 31:34). Once again, Father, make this rich theology our impassioned and fresh doxology. The gospel is true! Hallelujah, the gospel is true!
Father, it’s only because of the gospel that we also join Jeremiah in lamenting our wanderings. Your grace frees us not only to rest in your love but also to recognize and repent of our waywardness. With humility we still sing, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” O, how we need the gospel every day, every hour, every minute.
Don’t let us wander far, Father. When we lose sight of Jesus, make the gall more galling, make the bitterness more bitter, make downcast feel even more downcast. We don’t want to ever get used to feeling disconnected from you. Keep us from boasting in wisdom, strength or riches. We only want to boast in knowing you. (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
Because of your steadfast love and never-failing compassions, we proclaim, “The Lord is my portion” (Lam. 3:24). We will wait for you, our God. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ majestic and merciful name.