Hope Born out of Humility

Lamentations 3:19-42

19 Remember my affliction and roaming,
The wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul still remembers
And sinks within me.

21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22 Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"

25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.

27 It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28 Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
29 Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.

30 Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32 Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.

33 For He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.

34 To crush under one's feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35 To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
36 Or subvert a man in his cause—
The Lord does not approve.

37 Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That woe and well-being proceed?

39 Why should a living man complain,
A man for the punishment of his sins?

40 Let us search out and examine our ways,
And turn back to the LORD;
41 Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
42 We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.

Here is the hope in the midst of adversity’s despair.  Like the writer of this message from God, we also call to mind our restlessness and troubles of various kinds, and that low feeling leads to looking up to the Lord for hope as we remember Him and the promises of His word for us.  His mercies of goodness and grace are our sustenance as He lifts up our heads.  His compassion never fails us as we experience it as each new day begins and remind us of His faithfulness to feed our hope that springs eternal and which we eagerly anticipate (Romans 8:25).  Because the LORD Himself is our portion to feed on and inheritance to live within, we can confidently hope in Him and His good grace by a certain faith exceeding any mere passing whips of a wish.  God is good to those who patiently wait for and trust in Him according to his word, to those running after Him and waiting on His deliverance from our adverse circumstances and eternal salvation from His just sentence of wrath on our sin alike.  It is good, the prophet says, to have this rock solid certainty of hope as we await His salvation.  Yes, and it is also good to suffer while young to learn patient endurance (Hebrews 10:36, Luke 21:19) and learn humility and reliance on God instead of self-reliance through the trials which test our hearts and minds (1 Chronicles 29:17, 2 Chronicles 16:9, Proverbs 17:3) to trust Him in all things, good and bad.  Hope is born out of learned humility.  Just as Jesus repeated later, we are to turn the other cheek and take the insults instead of fighting back because we know our Lord allows grief to bestow His compassion on us according to His infinite mercy of grace and goodness.  Suffering builds our trust and reliance on God and is the fertile ground for hope to spring eternal.  God does not excessively grieve us in our tests and trials but seeks justice in mercy for us.  All we and others do is according to His providence and sovereignty, and so we can understand as Jeremiah did that both suffering’s woe and blessings’ well-being come from God’s hand of good grace.  Furthermore, we have no right to complain when we suffer for our sin.  Realizing our offenses to the Lord is meant to examine our hearts and deeds that we may continually turn from sin to Him in ongoing repentance (1 John 1:9) in humility and thanksgiving.  Israel lamented because they sinned and had not yet been forgiven and their sin pardoned with their sentence commuted, but now as Christ the Messiah has come we with them find that sentence of death is pardoned forever (2 Corinthians 1:9, Romans 6:11, 22-23)!  We therefore have a most certain hope in Him born out of humility and faith in believing and receiving Christ and His work to deliver us according to his word.