Lamentations 3:22,23 - Gods Great Compassion, Mercy and Faithfulness.

Lam.3:22, 23: God's Great Compassion, Mercy and Faithfulness.

Lam 3:22, 23 (KJV)  It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not
consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning:
great is thy faithfulness.

The wonder to Jeremiah is not that some are lost, but that any
are saved. All would be consumed were it not for God's mercies. . .
."Mercy" and "compassion" alone stay the hand of God's righteous and just
indignation. Nor is this to be construed as an initial occurrence only. Each
morning His mercies are fresh, verifying God's great faithfulness to us
(v. 23). Man's only hope rests on this truth. [Believer's SB]

The loving-kindnesses of God--life, health, food, shelter,
clothing, human affection and companionship, and countless other
blessings--are renewed every day of man's life with such constancy that one may
easily take them for granted and forget that each one is a gift, a
manifestation of the steadfast love of Him who is the Giver of every good and
perfect gift. [SDA Commentary]

Here at the heart of this book we find one of the greatest
confessions of faith found anywhere in the Bible. Jeremiah had been dwelling
on his sorrows and the sorrows of his people, but then he lifted
his eyes to the Lord--and this was the turning point. In the midst of
sorrow and ruin he remembered the mercy of the Lord. "His compassions
fail not." We have failed Him, but He cannot fail us. "Great is Your
faithfulness."
The faithfulness of God is a tremendous encouragement in days
when people's hearts are failing them for fear. If you build your
life on people or on the things of this world, you will have no hope
or security; but if you build on Christ, the Faithful One, you will
be safe forever. He is faithful to chasten (Ps. 119:75);
Lamentations itself teaches this lesson. He wants to bring us to the place of
repentance and confession (Lam. 3:39-41). He is faithful to forgive when we
do confess our sins (1 John 1:9). He is faithful to sympathize when
we have burdens and problems (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:14-16). We never need
fear that He is too busy to listen or too tired to help. He is
faithful to deliver when we cry out for help in temptation (1 Cor.
10:13). He is faithful to keep us in this life and unto life eternal (1
Tim. 1:15; 1 Thes. 5:23-24). We can commit our lives and souls into
the hands of the faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:19) and know that He
will do all things well. . . .
In times of trouble we need to imitate Jeremiah who looked away
from himself to the Lord, and who waited on the Lord in patience and
faith (3:24-26). Too often we look at ourselves and our problems and
become so discouraged that we quit. Instead, we must "look away unto
Jesus" (Heb. 12:1-2) and let Him see us through. It is difficult to
wait on the Lord. Our fallen nature craves activity, and usually what
we do only makes matters worse. Jeremiah waited on the Lord,
trusted in His mercy, and depended on His faithfulness. He knew the
truth of Isa. 40:31 (NKJV), "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall
run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." [Wiersbe's
Expository Outlines]

Memory is frequently the bond slave of despondency. Dispairing
minds call to remembrance every dark foreboding in the past, and
dilate upon every gloomy feature in the present; thus memory, clothed
in sackcloth, presents to the mind a cup of mingled gall and
wormwood. There is, however, no necessity for this. Wisdom can readily
transform memory into an angel of comfort. That same recollection which in
its left hand brings so many gloomy omens, may be trained to bear in
its right a wealth of hopeful signs. She need not wear a crown of
iron, she may encircle her brow with a fillet of gold, all spangled
with stars. Thus it was in Jeremiah's experience: in the previous
verse memory had brought him to deep humiliation of soul: "My soul
hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me;" and now this
same memory restored him to life and comfort. "This I recall to my
mind, therefore have I hope." Like a two-edged sword, his memory first
killed his pride with one edge, and then slew his despair with the
other. As a general principle, if we would exercise our memories more
wisely, we might, in our very darkest distress, strike a match which
would instantaneously kindle the lamp of comfort. There is no need for
God to create a new thing upon the earth in order to restore
believers to joy; if they would prayerfully rake the ashes of the past,
they would find light for the present; and if they would turn to the
book of truth and the throne of grace, their candle would soon shine
as aforetime. Be it ours to remember the lovingkindness of the
Lord, and to rehearse his deeds of grace. Let us open the volume of
recollection which is so richly illuminated with memorials of mercy, and we
shall soon be happy. Thus memory may be, as Coleridge calls it, "the
bosom-spring of joy," and when the Divine Comforter bends it to his service,
it may be chief among earthly comforters. [Spurgeon, Charles H.,
Morning and Evening, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)
1995.]

The way to change one's attitude in the midst of suffering is to
recall the goodness of God (Martens). [Jamieson, Fausset, And Brown
Commentary]