god’s faithfulness lamentations 3:23. introduction
TRANSCRIPT
2. God is faithful
• Deut. 7:9• “Know therefore that the LORD thy
God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations”
Ps. 89:1-2
• I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
1 Cor. 10:13
• There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
• God’s faithfulness helps Christians to endure the trials of life and know that our home in heaven is secure if we continue faithful• Our text from Lam. 3 speaks of God’s
faithfulness
3. Background of Lamentations
• In this book Jeremiah writes about the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon• Over 150 years earlier the Northern
Kingdom of Israel had fallen to Assyria • Now Judah – because of idolatry – was
taken into captivity by the Babylonians
• The final siege of Jerusalem lasted some 18 months • Many of the people were sent off
into captivity• The city lay in ruins for many years
• Lamentations records Jeremiah’s feelings as he surveyed the remains of this once great city• Lam. 1:1; 3:8-9, 18, 19-23
• Jeremiah changed his outlook when he remembered God’s faithfulness• He remembered that God was
always present• Lam. 3:22-24
I. God’s faithfulness: The answer to disasters
• God’s faithfulness is mankind’s answer to the world’s problems and disasters• Look at the Prodigal son of Lk. 15
Rom. 8:35
• Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom. 8:37-39
• 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. • 38 For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,…
• 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
II. How to have this assurance when trials come
• 1. Wait patiently• 3:25– “The LORD is good unto them
that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him”• Patience is not a popular quality in
our impatient world
• 2. Sit silently • 3:28– “He sitteth alone and keepeth
silence, because he hath borne it upon him”• We need to meditate on God’s
faithfulness – it will give us strength to persevere in the trials we face
• 3. Submit willingly• 3:29-30• 29 “He putteth his mouth in the dust;
if so be there may be hope. • 30 He giveth his cheek to him that
smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach”
• When problems overtake us – we tend to react without trusting God’s strength• We try to overcome our despair and
discouragement with our own strength – when that fails we become more discouraged
• A trust in God will answer life’s trials• As we struggle with adversity in life
we need to remember that God’s mercies have never stopped
Lam. 3:31-32
• 31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:• 32 But though he cause grief, yet will
he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
Conclusion
• God’s faithfulness is new every day• We may become faint and weary but
God will not• The greatness of God’s faithfulness
allows us to renew our strength