Where did Jeremiah find hope in such bleak times? (Lamentations 3:21–24)
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Lamentations 3:21 - 24
ESV - 21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.
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Asked July 22 2019
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
I would say that Jeremiah was able to find hope by comparing the existing situation -- as bleak as it was -- with the worst case imaginable (which he expressed in Lamentations 3:31) of God totally abandoning His people and casting them off forever. Jeremiah recognized the reality of Judah's sin, and the deserved nature of the judgment that they received from God for it. However, his remembrance of God's past faithfulness to His people (Lamentations 3:22-33) (which would include His ongoing promises to give Judah -- as Jeremiah himself recorded God as having said in Jeremiah 29:11 -- a future and a hope) gave him confidence that it would be that same divine mercy that would cause Him to rescue Jeremiah and avenge his sufferings (Lamentations 3:55-66), as well as to refrain from completely forsaking Judah, despite the judgment that they were undergoing.
Al Mark
If you read through the book of Jeremiah, you will find sections where God pronounces judgments on Judah and on the nations around her. However, God includes along with that judgment hope for the future, so Jeremiah's source of hope is the Lord Himself. In the 32nd chapter of the book of Jeremiah, he is instructed to buy a plot of land just as the armies of Nebuchadnezzar are laying siege to Jerusalem. This purchase was a sign that the land would be lived in again, though on the outside, there was only a bleak view of destruction. 13 "In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 14 'This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.' Jer 32:13-15 In the Old Testament, the prophets frequently illustrated God's words with a visual enactment of the vision that God wanted to present to the people. Jeremiah wore a yoke of iron, Isaiah's two sons were named after future events to come, Hosea married an unfaithful prostitute, etc.
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