Devotion

The Steadfast Mercies of Our Faithful God

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

In the midst of one of the Bible's darkest books—a book of weeping over Jerusalem's destruction—we find this radiant jewel of hope. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, pauses in his lament to declare a profound truth: God's faithfulness endures even in our deepest sorrows.

Imagine waking each day to fresh mercies, like manna in the wilderness. Yesterday's failures? Covered. Today's anxieties? Met with new grace. God doesn't recycle His compassion—He renews it. Every sunrise is a divine declaration: "I am still here. I am still faithful. I am still yours."

This isn't just poetic language. Jeremiah wrote these words while sitting in the ruins of everything he loved. The temple was destroyed. His people were in exile. Yet he could say, "Great is Your faithfulness." His thanksgiving wasn't based on his circumstances, but on God's unchanging character.

"The LORD is my portion," Jeremiah declares in verse 24. What does it mean for God to be our portion? It means He is our inheritance, our treasure, our all-sufficient supply. When everything else is stripped away—comfort, security, even our dreams—we still have God. And if we have Him, we have everything that matters.

How easy it is to forget this when life is good! We thank God for His blessings while secretly trusting in the blessings themselves. But Jeremiah teaches us to thank God for Himself—to find our satisfaction not in what He gives, but in who He is.

Verses 25-26 call us to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. This is perhaps the hardest thanksgiving of all—to thank God in the waiting. Yet His faithfulness is never more evident than when He asks us to trust Him through the silence.

God doesn't afflict willingly or grieve the children of men (v. 33). Even when discipline comes, it flows from a heart of love. His purposes may be mysterious, but His character is not. He is faithful to complete what He begins in us.

Prayer

Dear Lord, Faithful God, I thank You that Your mercies are new this morning—and every morning. When my circumstances scream otherwise, Your Word whispers truth: You have not failed me, and You never will.

Thank You that even in the darkest valleys, Your steadfast love never ceases. You are my portion, my hope, my exceeding great reward. Teach me to wait for You with thanksgiving, knowing that Your timing is perfect and Your ways are good.

Help me to praise You not only for what You do, but for who You are—the God who cannot be unfaithful, even when I am faithless. Great is Your faithfulness to me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Blessings!

Will Wallace

Principal