New Mercies Every Morning

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness. Lam 3.22-23

These two verses are so peaceful, so trusting of God. It seems that the writer must be experiencing the mercies of God, new ones appearing every day. But they are from a prayer in the middle in the book of Lamentations. The writer of Lamentations is probably Jeremiah, and it is written just after the destruction of Jerusalem and the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by Babylon. It is truly a dark and discouraging time. Lamentations is a funeral dirge for the destruction.

Jeremiah’s sorrow is particularly deep. He spent over 40 years calling the people back to God, pleading with then to change so that this destruction could be avoided. He has watched this misery approaching, knowing that it could be avoided, but the people will not return to God. Now he sees the result – a destroyed city, the Temple looted, most of the people taken captive, and the remainder left to disease and starvation.

Jeremiah reflects on the destruction of the city and his despair is bottomless. The only hope he has, the only thing he can look forward to, is the renewed mercies of God. Jeremiah knows that God is always faithful and compassionate. Even in the darkest times, God has a way for his people to go, and in the end will be a blessing. For the people of Jerusalem, the promise God gave them was He would restore the Temple and the people would return to the city. But because they had disobeyed for so long, it would take 70 years of captivity before this would happen. Jeremiah found this hope in the mercy of God to be the surest relief for his sorrow. His prayer is a reminder of the blessings of God, even at the darkest time.