SEPTEMBER 3, 2014
Hope
To Continue On
Read: Lamentations
3:19-33
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions
fail not. They are new every morning. —Lamentations
3:22-23
The solar-powered
airplane Solar Impulse can fly day and night without fuel. Inventors Bertrand
Piccard and André Borschberg hope to fly it around the world in 2015. While the
plane flies all day by solar power, it gathers enough energy to be able to fly
all night. When the sun rises, Piccard says, “It brings the hope again that you
can continue.”
The idea of sunrise
bringing us hope makes me think of Lamentations 3 from our Bible reading for
today: “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s
mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new
every morning” (vv.21-23). Even when God’s people were in the depths of despair
while the city of Jerusalem was being invaded by the Babylonians, the prophet
Jeremiah said they had reason to hope—they still had the Lord’s mercies and
compassions.
Sometimes our
struggles seem worse at night, but when sunrise comes it brings hope again that
we can continue. “Weeping may endure for a night,” the psalmist says, “but joy
comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5).
Thank You, Lord, for
the hope You send with each sunrise. Your mercies and compassions are new every
morning!
New mercies every
morning,
Grace for every day,
New hope for every
trial,
And courage all the
way. —McVeigh
Each new day gives us
new reasons to praise the Lord.
Insight
For 2 years the
Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem. Conditions within the besieged city were
desperate and deplorable. Starvation during the siege even led to cannibalism
(2 Kings 25:1-4; Lam. 2:20; 4:10). Sadly, Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of
the city and temple (Jer. 52:12-27). In five emotionally charged dirges, or
funeral laments (one for each chapter of Lamentations), he described the
sufferings of the people and the reasons for their suffering. But he also wrote
of hope in the midst of despair (Lam. 3:21-32) and of restoration that would
come (5:19-22).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
