Lamentations 3:21

Lamentations 3:21 says, This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.  Like Jeremiah, when things seem to be going all wrong, if we recall God in our mind, then we have hope.  Verse twenty-two adds, It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  Jeremiah said that it was because of God's mercy that they were not consumed and did not fail, and this will always be true.  Verse twenty-three continues, They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  I believe that hope was what Jeremiah was saying was new every morning, and our hope should be new every morning as well because of the mercy of God.  Verse twenty-four states, The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  Jeremiah said God was his portion and that he would hope in Him.  We should say the same thing as followers of Christ.  We should want no more than what God provides for us.  Verse twenty-five adds, The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.  Even in all the defeat that Judah had experienced, Jeremiah said that God was good to those who wait on and seek Him.  If we are missing the goodness of God, it may be that we aren't waiting on or seeking Him.  Verse twenty-six continues, It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.  Jeremiah said this and it still hasn't changed.  It is good to quietly hope for and wait for the salvation of the Lord, which is the only place salvation can come from.  Verse twenty-seven says, It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.  We probably don't want to hear about wearing a yoke, but Jesus said that His yoke is light, and the sooner we can come under His guidance, which is what a yoke is for, the better off we are.  Verse twenty-eight adds, He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.  I believe this means that we should neither boast or complaiin about serving God.  Verse twenty-nine continues, He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.  I believe this is another call for humility on the part of those who serve God.  Verse thirty states, He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.  This doesn't mean that we speak badly, or give cheek as we might say, to those who strike us, but that we turn the other cheek.  Verse thirty-one adds, For the Lord will not cast off for ever:  Those who had defeated Judah believed that they had defeated the God of Judah as well, but Jeremiah said that was not going to last forever.  God always has and always will be victorious over evil.  Verse thirty-two continues, But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.  When we are disobedient to God, as the people of Judah were, we may suffer punishment from God, as they did, but He prefers to show us mercy.  The choice is ours, to either accept His merciful gift of salvation or to suffer His punishment for our sins.  Verse thirty-three declares, For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.  Jeremiah tells us that it is not God's will to punish us, but He will if we don't come to Him by faith in salvation provided by Jesus Christ.  Verse thirty-four adds, To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth,  God does not crush us for no reason, nor does He expect those that He might work through to correct His people to do so.  Of course, our sin gives Him a reason, but He still chooses to reach out to us in mercy.  Verse thirty-five continues, To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,  Verse thirty-six concludes, To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.  God will never endorse the oppression of people, and those who do so will merit His judgment.