New Morning Mercies by Marsela

 

New Morning Mercies

Marsela

Silence and darkness are hardly a comfort. To dwell in them for too long is an assault against our senses and against the very design of our being. We were created with the ability to see and to hear. More than that, we were purposed to see and to hear Someone.

 

In Lamentations 3, we find Jeremiah in silence and in darkness.

“I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven me and brought me into darkness without any light…” (v. 1-2)

“…he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead long ago” (v. 6)

“…though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.” (v. 8)

“…you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through.” (v. 44)

In his affliction, Jeremiah says, “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is. My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD” (v. 17-18).

Today, as you see Jeremiah in silence and darkness, are you reminded of these silent and dark times? Is your soul bereft of peace? Have you forgotten what happiness is? Has your endurance perished? Do you have hope in the Lord?

In many ways, Jeremiah puts words to the groanings of my heart this year.

When I’m overwhelmed with uncertainty about where I’ll be living next month or what I’ll be doing…

My soul is bereft of peace.

When I’m far from friends and family and stuck inside for months on end…

I have forgotten what happiness is.

When I spend another week in bed because my body is too weak from sickness, when medicine after medicine doesn’t help, when I have several sleepless nights because the pain of the rashes prevents me from sleeping, when I can’t seem to figure out why my body has a hard time existing…

My endurance has perished.

When everything within me wants to sin and I feel trapped in this body of death…

My hope from the Lord has perished.

Silence and darkness.

“But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope…”

When Jeremiah is at his weakest, when his soul is brought low by unrelenting acquaintanceship with affliction, the light of promise interrupts his despair.

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (v. 22-23)

His steadfast love and His mercies never run out. They are eternally abundant. There will always be more of God’s love than my sin. There will always be more of God’s mercy than my troubles.

To say that His mercies are new every morning designates both the pattern by which we receive God’s mercies and the manner in which they come to us. Day by day, as surely as the sun rises, so too does our Heavenly Father bestow plentiful and sufficient mercy for the day’s troubles. Whatever today requires of you, your God will supply what is necessary to walk in faithfulness. Do not be anxious for tomorrow, for He has reserved new mercies tomorrow for tomorrow’s troubles. You don’t need to get ahead of yourself, because He is always ahead of you.

There is a daily pattern of His provision of mercy, and these mercies come to us by His victorious power. No matter how dark the night, how long it lasts, or what transpires in it, morning always dawns. Morning light always dispels even the darkest of nights. So too does the steadfast love and mercy of our Victorious King of Kings always triumph over the deepest of sins and the most difficult of troubles. Darkness will come. You will sin and you will have trouble, but His steadfast love forgives and His mercy sustains.  

Do you feel as though you are in silence and darkness today? Where do you need to be reminded that His steadfast love towards you never ceases and His mercies never come to an end?

We know that Jeremiah continued in affliction. Even now, I continue in affliction. So too might you. How can we persevere and endure faithfully and honorably when our hearts are heavy with sorrow and our legs are too weary for another step? Jeremiah tells us, and shows us, that we hope.

Hope is mentioned twice in verses 21-24, first as something that we have and secondly as something that we do. The people of God are people who have hope, and therefore we are people who hope. We can endure faithfully amidst affliction by calling to mind our hope and by waiting in hope.

 

1. Call to Mind Our Hope

Every believer has the hope of the steadfast love of the Father and His mercies eternally available to Him in Christ. Our calling to mind these promises is our claiming of them. What promises of God do you need to cling to during these times? Write them on a piece of paper and carry it with you, ask your family or friends to remind you of these promises, memorize and pray them over yourself. This is how we call to mind our hope when our mind is filled with fear, worry, doubt, or pain.

 

2. Waiting in Hope

The Hebrew translation of the word “hope” that is used in these verses can be defined as a “patient waiting in trust.” Our hoping is inherently a waiting. We know that one day death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. The former things will pass away, all things will be made new, and God will dwell with us (Revelation 21:3-4).

As we hope in this future, we wait for it to arrive. But it is not a passive waiting, it is an active one. Jeremiah tells us, “The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (3:25). Seek God by reading His Word daily. Seek Him in prayer. Seek Him in the community of the saints. Even when it feels like He is far from you, seek Him in confidence that He is with you because He has promised that He will never leave you.

“The LORD is my portion, says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (v. 24)

In our suffering right now, our God has given Himself to us. He is a sufficient portion. Sufficient comfort. Sufficient wisdom. Sufficient love. Sufficient mercy. Sufficient hope.