Therefore Have I Hope

The Book of Lamentations sounds like a grim book to read just from the title alone, and for the most part it is. Chapter 3 in particular spends the first 20 verses lamenting Jeremiah's cruel fate, listing all of the ways that it seems the Lord is punishing him and going out of His way to make his life miserable. The last 20 verses continue the lamentations. But in the 20 verses in the middle, despite all of the pain and the afflictions, there is hope. "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 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. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." (Lamentations 3:21-26). When tragedy cuts us off at the knees and drags us down into the gulf of despair and seems to smother any glimmer of a better tomorrow, we may ask ourselves what is the point of hope? Seizing onto any hope may seem especially useless when it seems like we'll barely get it in our grasp before life snatches it away once more. When we're in the middle of the ocean in the midst of a violent storm, sometimes hope slams into us like a piece of driftwood. With the waves crashing over us and the wind howling and the lightning striking on every side and the sharks circling we can look at the piece of driftwood and scream that it is not enough! Or we can hold onto the driftwood and stop treading water for just a moment and find a tiny bit of rest even though the storm still wages. Sometimes our hope is so small but just enough to keep our heads above water. And when we can't even do that, when our strength has gone utterly and we've sunk down to the bottom and are starting to drown, even then, the Lord's mercies, like little tiny air bubbles, will keep us alive a little longer. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. If we could not get out of bed at all today, but we are still alive, it is a mercy. If after months of chemotherapy the tumor hasn't gotten any smaller, but today we are still alive, it is a mercy. If we've been rejected from our hundredth job interview but we have not yet been evicted, it is a mercy. If we walk into a room and are assaulted by the memory of laughter that we will never hear again in this mortal life, but then somehow we pick ourselves back up off the floor, it is a mercy. We may lose sight and lose grip of hope for long stretches of time, but God's tender mercies will keep us from being consumed all the same. They are new every morning. His compassions fail not. Great is His faithfulness. It is good for us to both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.