“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”
These are some of the most comforting words in the Old Testament. They are also found in one of its saddest books.
Lamentations was written in the aftermath of Jerusalem’s destruction. The city had been devastated by the Babylonian army. The temple had been destroyed. Many people had been killed, and others had been carried away into exile.
The book doesn’t rush past any of that pain. It gives voice to grief, loss, fear, and even questions about God’s judgment. That’s why the book is called “Lamentations.” It’s a book of sorrow, but not all sorrow.
Then, right in the middle of it, we hear these words about God’s mercy.
That context is important.
It would be easy to talk about God’s mercies being “new every morning” as though it simply meant that every sunrise gives us a fresh start. Yesterday was difficult, but today is a new day. Things might get better.
There is truth in that, but Lamentations is saying something much deeper.
The writer wakes up in a ruined city.
The circumstances have not suddenly improved.
What remains is God.
The writer remembers that the Lord’s steadfast love has not come to an end. God’s people have been unfaithful, but God is still faithful. They have exhausted their own resources, but they have not exhausted His mercy.
We need that reminder because we sometimes imagine God’s mercy as something we can use up.
Maybe yesterday was not your finest day. You lost your temper again. You returned to a sin you had promised yourself you would avoid. You neglected someone who needed you. You wasted time, spoke carelessly, or let worry consume you.
Then morning comes, and the accusations are still there…But so is God’s mercy.
That doesn’t mean our sin doesn’t matter. The devastation described in Lamentations makes it impossible to treat sin casually. God’s judgment is real. Yet our sin does not get the final word for those who belong to Christ.
Jesus bore that judgment for us. At the cross, He received what our sin deserved so that we could receive what we did not deserve: forgiveness, reconciliation, and life with God.
Because of Christ, you do not begin each morning trying to convince God to give you another chance. You begin as someone whose hope rests in His faithfulness. You begin as a baptized child of God.
Some mornings will still begin with grief. The problems will still be there when you wake up and you may still feel anguish or stress. God’s promise is not that each new day will be easier than the one before it.
The promise is that His mercy will still be there.
And tomorrow morning, it will be there again.
Let’s pray…
Heavenly Father,
Thank You that Your steadfast love does not depend on my faithfulness. Forgive me for the sins and failures I carry from yesterday, and help me to trust the forgiveness Christ has won for me. When I wake to difficulties that have not gone away, remind me that Your mercy has not gone away either. Keep me in Your grace today and every day.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
