Lamentations 3:22, 23 - God's Compassion, Mercy and Faithfulness.

Lam.3:22, 23: God's 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]