Seeing More of God’s Mercy
By Robert Haynes
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NET)
[22] The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases
his compassions never end.
[23] They are fresh every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!
We often sing verse 23 paraphrased in “Great is Thy Faithfulness” as “morning by morning, new
mercies I see”. Set in the middle of Jeremiah weeping for the fall of Jerusalem. This all comes
following verses about being subject to God’s wrath. There are many lessons we could take
from this set of verses and those following where Jeremiah emphasizes accepting God’s
discipline and reflecting on it, but I think the main thing I would like to highlight is there will
always be more we can learn about God’s love, compassion, mercy, and faithfulness.
Just as we cannot define what it might take to separate us from God’s love (Rom 8:39), we will
probably never completely grasp the magnitude (both number and extent) of God’s
compassions for us. On one hand, Jeremiah’s expression is poetic exaggeration, but at the
same time, it’s also an understatement. Part of the beauty and wonder of God’s Love is the
difficulty in boiling it down. I imagine that’s not satisfying to people who want absolute certainty
about what the limits are. However, having the capability would paradoxically make it less
meaningful and impactful. If we are receiving the consequence of sin like Jerusalem, there’s
compassion in God’s judgments. If we are living in good conscience of our hope of heaven,
there’s still more for us to learn. No matter what circumstance, each opportunity reminds or
demonstrates another facet of God’s lovingkindness and that of Jesus, the bright Morning Star
(Rev 22:16)