a.
Close your eyes.
b.
Picture yourself standing in the smoking rubble of the ruin of the World Trade Towers right after the dust settled on September 11, 2001.
c.
Say to yourself, “The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
d.
Do not feel that this exercise crazy? There is a good purpose for it.
1)
How much more did the author of Lamentations overcome to find hope in this truth?
2)
He is at Ground Zero in Jerusalem, his home city is gone, his people are gone, he has seen inexpressible horrors, and he knows that the Lord did it!
3)
If this truth rescued him from despair, how much more can it rescue us from the situations that we face?
8.
Jeremiah made a sudden reversal from despair to hope and the recognition of the preeminence of God's mercy. I am struck by the suddenness of Jeremiah’s abrupt (rapid, quick) reversal.
a.
I am inclined to believe that the author experienced the presence of the Lord in response to his prayer.
b.
He was in a situation that was beyond all logic. To come to him as an “instructor” and say, “Cheer up, God is merciful,” would hardly bring a change of attitude.
1)
Such truths as these require the manifested presence of the Lord to cause this to be carried out.
2)
In other words, it was not logic that brought these amazing thoughts into his head and caused such a turn for hope.
3)
It was his apprehending the presence and character of the Lord that made it sink in.
D.
Chapter 4 - National Confession.
1.
Chapter 4 does not have the energy of the previous chapters.