GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS (Pt One)

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS (Pt One)

Lamentations 3:21-26

Intro: The book of Lamentations is a series of dirges, or songs of mourning, that were written against the backdrop of the Babylonian invasion and destruction of Jerusalem.  In the verses of this book, we can see the awful sufferings endured by the people of that city at the hand of their enemies.  Still, even in the midst of all the pain and the turmoil, God had His man in Jerusalem to record the events and to bring honor to His Name.

      The writer of the book of Lamentations is believed to be Jeremiah.  He was known as the Weeping Prophet.  A study of Jeremiah’s life reveals a portrait of unending sadness and deep depression.  Allow me to give you some of the background for this precious man of God.

1.  Received an unwanted call to minister - Jer. 1:5-6.

2.  Called to a ministry of preaching nothing but judgment - Jer. 1:9-10.

3.  He was forbidden to marry so that he might give himself more fully to his ministry of proclaiming the impending judgment of God - Jer. 16:1-13.  As a result he was very familiar with loneliness.

4.  He was a man of deep sadness and he wept openly about the sins of his people - Jer. 9:1.

5.  He endured depression as the result of his message going unheeded for so long.  He even came to the point where he tried to get out of the ministry, Jer. 20:9.  His pain is understandable, because in a ministry that spanned some 50 years, there is no record of even one convert.

6.  He suffered imprisonment by King Zedekiah because the king did not approve of Jeremiah’s preaching - Jer. 32:5.  Even while the Babylonians are invading the city in fulfillment of his prophet    declarations, Jeremiah is sitting in the dungeon - Jer. 32:2.

7.  After Jerusalem falls and many have been killed or taken captive, the prophet does not gloat or take an “I told you so” mentality.  Instead, he becomes broken with the remnant and enters into suffering with them - Lamentations 1-5.

      After enduring a life like this; after being rejected, hated, mocked, imprisoned, ignored; after seeing his beloved Jerusalem ransacked, desecrated and destroyed; after experiencing the horror of war, the brutality of the enemy and the pangs of hunger, Jeremiah was still able to stand forth amid the rubble of the city and the bodies of the dead and lift his voice in praise to God for His great, unfailing faithfulness to His people. 

      How was this possible?  Despite his trials and his troubles, Jeremiah had gotten a good grasp on the reality of just Who God is!  Jeremiah knew that whether things went well, or whether everything fell apart, God would still be God and that God would be eternally faithful to His people, Ill. Lam. 3:21!  Jeremiah was still able to find hope in a hopeless situation because he believed in the faithfulness of His great God.

      Like Jeremiah, we all go through times when life seems to fall apart at the seams.  When these times come we also need the blessed assurance that God is faithful!  Thankfully the Bible gives overwhelming evidence of the unchanging faithfulness of our great God.  Ill. The word “Faithfulness” in verse 23. This is word which means “firmness, fidelity, steadiness, steadfastness.”  This word pictures God as One upon Whom we can depend.  We can be sure that as we face the storms, trials and valleys of life, God will ever prove Himself to be steadfast and faithful to you and me.  To put it very simply, you can count on the Lord!

      I would like to take this passage and point out three precious words in these verses that tell us why Jeremiah was able to proclaim: Great Is Thy Faithfulness.  Notice what these words teach us about the great, unfailing faithfulness of the God of the believer.