New Every Morning

Lamentations 3:22-24

Introduction:

(NLT) ‘Because of the Lord’s Covenant Faithfulness, we do not perish. His Mercies never end; they are new every morning, how great is your faithfulness oh God, “the Lord is my inheritance, I will put my hope in Him”’.

NKJ – ‘that we are not consumed’

Deuteronomy 4:31 ‘For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the solemn covenant he made with your ancestors’. (NLT)

Mercies – “mercy”—in Hebrew, רחם (racham). For example, Deuteronomy 4:31 declares, “The Lord your God is a God of mercy (רחום; rachum).” Lamentations 3:32 says that God’s “mercies (רחמיו; rachamav) never come to an end.”

Question: But what exactly is mercy? Is it God’s feeling of compassion or pity toward people? Does it denote a divine willingness to relent from punishment?

While “mercy” can carry these meanings, there’s a better way to understand the concept from an ancient Israelite perspective. In the biblical Hebrew language, the word for “mercy” (רחם; racham)

shares the exact same three-letter root as the word for “womb” (רחם; rechem). Based on the close linguistic connection between these terms, God’s “mercy” toward humanity denotes the same kind of divine protection that a baby has in its mother’s womb. 

Israel’s Scriptures use the word רחם (rechem) to describe a woman’s “womb” many times. As early as Genesis, the text says that God “opened the womb (רחם)” of both Leah and Rachel, which allows the sisters to have children (Genesis 29:31; 30:22).

Even God speaks self-referentially in these motherly terms. According to Isaiah 46:3-4, , the Lord calls the people of Israel those “who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb (רחם),” telling them, “Even until your old age… and until [you have] gray hairs I will carry you. I have made [you], and I will bear [you]; I will carry, and I will save” (Isaiah 46:3-4).

God’s mercies can be seen as God carrying us, protecting us and saving us because he is the one, who from the beginning created and will keep us!

Transition: Book of Lamentations: 4 Poems

Poem 1 – The Desolation of Jerusalem – ‘The Lady of Zion

This poem, a lament for Jerusalem’s desolation, uses vivid imagery to portray the city’s suffering and the loss of its former glory.

Transition:

Poem 2 – God’s Justice/ Judgment /Wrath/Ruin – God is

Slow to anger but it does come. Babylon – Wrath’s is God’s judgment / Justice

•        The phrase “God is slow to anger” in the Bible emphasizes God’s patience and long-suffering, highlighting his compassion and grace rather than a quick-tempered nature.

Biblical Context:

•        The phrase “slow to anger” (in Hebrew, “erek apayim”) is used multiple times in the Old Testament, particularly in Exodus 34:6-7 and Psalms 86:15, to describe God’s character.

Meaning:

This phrase doesn’t mean God never gets angry, but rather that he is patient and gives people time to respond to his warnings and calls to repentance.

Examples:

God’s patience is evident in the repeated cycles of sin, punishment, and restoration in the book of Judges.

The prophetic books also demonstrate God’s patience as he continually calls his people to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9 reflects this attribute, explaining that God’s patience is meant to lead people to repentance.

NKJ  2 Peter 3:9 ‘The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us1, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance’.

NLT  2 Peter 3:9 ‘The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent’.

Transition: Poem 3

Poem 3 – The voice of a suffering individual – Jeramiah the weeping prophet.

Jeremiah was a ‘weeping / suffering prophet’, – faced imprisonment, rejection, and physical harm for his prophetic ministry, which often included calling for repentance and warning of impending doom.

Israel was a suffering people/nation’.

Elijah: Elijah, known for his powerful confrontations with the prophets of Baal, also faced threats to his life and had to flee for his life.

Other Prophets: Tradition suggests that Isaiah and many other prophets were martyred for their faith.

Hosea: Hosea suffered a disastrous marriage to a prostitute

Ezekiel: Ezekiel suffered the death of his wife as a providential sermon illustration

Job: Job is an example of endurance and patience in the face of suffering

John the Baptist

Poem Continuation:

Poem 4 – The Miseries of the Besieged City

This poem contrasts the past prosperity of Jerusalem with the present horror of the siege, emphasizing the depth of the people’s suffering.

Lamentations 4:1-

Transition: Poem 5

Poem 5 – The Community’s Lament to the Lord

This poem, a communal prayer, pleads for God’s mercy and restoration, acknowledging the people’s sins and asking for deliverance from their current plight.

‘Because of the Lord’s Covenant Faithfulness, We do not perish. His Mercies never end ; they are new every morning, How great is your faithfulness oh God, “the Lord is my inheritance, I will put my hope in Him”’.

God’s promise(s) are based on His Covenant:

God established 5 Covenants:

1. Noahic
2. Abrahamic
3. Mosaic
4. Davidic
5. The New Covenants

All of God’s covenant are based on the fact that God is:

• Person / nature – covenants always have to have more that one participant.

• He is relational – He Knows, He Understands, He’s Aware

• Trustworthy

Transition: Because of His Covenant we find in Lamentations that it is:

1. Because of His Mercy we are not Consumed
   
   
   1. His compassions / Loving-kindness never ends and cannot fail!

• Faithfulness is steadfast

Transition:

The Suffering Servant: The New Testament identifies Jesus as the fulfilment of the “suffering servant” prophecies, particularly in Isaiah 53.

But we have the ultimate and only ‘suffering servant’ that was established from the beginning of everything at will remain till and through eternity.

Isaiah 53 – Conclusion: There is a ‘newness’ provided for us every day!

Application: If we fall asleep before midnight, then ger up any time after 12:01 AM, it’s a new day.

•        When we stumble

•        When we grumble

•        When we fall

•        Even if we have to crawl,

We are not trapped in poem #2 that calls for God’s judgement, discipline or peril or ruin!

God is present to reset our lives! it’s a new day!