Great is Thy Faithfulness
Lamentations 3:17-33
May 9-10, 2026
Beginning in verse 17, title of our message, Great is Thy Faithfulness. Lamentations is a very short book. In fact, last week was our first message, and today is our last. It's just a very short book. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for your Word. We know that you send it to show us your heart, to reveal to us the way of life and blessing and honor to your name. We ask God that you'll pour out your spirit through your Word, that you will meet us here by pouring out your spirit of life. In Jesus' name, and everyone say, Amen.
Many believe Jeremiah wrote this book. It's a book of lament, which is why it's called Lamentations. Lamenting the destruction of Israel by the Babylonians. It's a book of tears and sorrow written as poetry in acrostic form, meaning that there are 22 verses in chapters 1 and 2, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In chapter 3, there are 66, three verses per letter of the alphabet. It is written that way. Why? So that you can more easily memorize the book. Now, why is that important? Because they wanted to be sure that these tragedies would never be repeated. Learn the lessons so that it never happens again. That's a great reason, of course. There are great lessons for us in this book.
It's not just a historical book. It's very much for us today, particularly in this chapter. It's a very deep chapter, Love, chapter 3, particularly. Spiritual and nature, touching the deepest matters of life. In many ways, the capstone chapter is because it goes from the lowest point of despair to the highest mountain of hope, and the journey from one to the other is filled with very important, deep life lessons. I tell you, it's for us today because if you've ever gone through something, or maybe you're going through something now, you need these principles for the victory to show you the way through a dark tragedy, a difficulty.
There are tremendously important principles that God would give to us to bring hope, to strengthen us going through it. Now, Jeremiah begins this chapter by poetically writing as if he himself personifies the grief of all Israel. Notice how he writes, "I am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of his wrath. He's driven me and made me walk in darkness and not light." Then for the next 18 verses, he just wave after wave of grief, verse after verse, wave after wave, and that's the way of grief. If you've ever gone through a tragedy yourself, a dark night of the soul, perhaps you've lost a loved one, you know this is the way of grief.
It washes over you, comes in waves. Of course, it gets better in time. Still, after several years, waves of grief come over me, thinking about our daughter who was killed. Someone once asked me, "When do you get over it?" My response was, "Well, who says I want to?" She is always in my heart, and she always will be until we meet again in the presence of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Can we give God praise for that? Then, after describing waves of grief, he brings it to really the lowest point, which is verses 17 to 18, and that's where we pick up our story because there is the turning point from that lowest point to the highest mountain of hope.
Let's read it. We begin in verse 17, where he says, "My soul has been rejected from peace. I have forgotten happiness, so I say my strength is perished, and so is my hope for the Lord. Remember my affliction, my wandering, the wormwood, the bitterness.' Then he says, 'Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me." What does he remember? Verse 21 is the beginning of the turn. Now we begin to climb. Now we begin to see hope. Now he begins to show us light. He says, "For this I recall to my mind. Therefore, I have hope that the Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease.
I. Recall This to Your Mind – and Find Hope
For His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. New every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness. For the Lord is my portion,' says my soul. Therefore, I have hope in Him for the Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord. It's good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth." We'll see this. It's interesting. "Let him sit alone and be silent since he has laid it on him. Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there's hope. Let him give his cheek to the smiters filled with reproach. For the Lord will not reject forever. If He's caused grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness."
I tell you, if you've ever been through or going through something now, there are very important principles, starting with this. Recall this to your mind, and then find hope. Noticed how he describes, firstly, the darkest part of the grief in verse 17. "My soul has been rejected from peace. I have forgotten happiness." Now, I know you've experienced this. You're going through something, it is anguish. You're lying in bed. You're just tossing this thing over and over, you can't stop thinking about it, and it just brings anguish and anxiety. There's no peace. Then he says, "It's been so long since I've known happiness. I've forgotten what that's like."
Verse 18 is the real low point. He says, "So I say, my strength has perished, so has my hope. All hope is lost. Peace is gone. Happiness is gone. I have no strength. I have no hope. I am undone." Then, just at the lowest point, just when the night seems the darkest, something stirs in his mind. "This I remember." This is the key. Very important, if you're going through this, to remember. "May your soul remember." Notice he says, "Surely my soul remembers something is stirring. A truth is breaking through."
A. May your soul remember
Now, verse 21, "For in this I recall to my mind." Now, this is the breakthrough. See, the mind is where so many people are defeated. It's how they are considering it, how they're perceiving it, how they see the thing. The mind is where people are defeated, and the mind is where victory can break through. See, in other words, it's not only about what happens. There's a lot of things that happen. There are tragedies. There's difficulties. There's challenges. It's not just what happens, it's how you see it. It's how you interpret it. It's how you process through it in your mind that either will bring defeat or victory.
It's about how you interpret the events, the tragedies, and the difficulties. There are many biblical examples. For example, there's Asaph in Psalm 73. From his view, the way he saw it, it troubled him. He says that he saw the prosperity of the wicked. He says, "I was envious of the arrogant, and it bothered me." This is how he saw it. It's not right. This is not right. They don't seem to be troubled like other men. They're not plagued. They can openly defy. He said, "When I considered this, it was troublesome in my sight." Then he says, "Until I came into the sanctuary of my God, and then I saw, then I perceived their end. Then I saw it from God's perspective, God's view."
Now, one day they're going to come to an end. One day, they're going to have to stand and give an account of their lives. Then he says, "But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. Whom have I in heaven but you? The Lord is my strength, and the Lord is my portion. This, he says, "He is my glory." It's a wonderful thing. He shifted completely because he saw it differently. How do you see the thing? How do you perceive the thing? It will defeat you or give you victory if you can see it from the perspective of the Lord. For example, there's Joseph in the Book of Genesis. He's a young man, and God gives him this vision of grandeur that one day he's going to arise in a great position of authority, and even his brothers would bow down to him. Wow, what a wonderful vision, he couldn't wait to share with his brothers. They were not so excited to hear this vision, and so they decided to do something about this dreamer. One day, they had an opportunity. They seized him, threw him into a pit, and then some Midian traders who were coming by, so they sold him as a slave. Brought to Egypt, then purchased by this man Potiphar to be a slave in his house. He was an officer of Pharaoh.
Then it went from bad to worse. Then at one point, Potiphar's wife betrays him, and then the result of that, he's thrown into prison. Now, can you imagine what if Joseph perceived it from the view of anger and bitterness? What if he would have looked at all this and would have said, God, what is this? You give me a vision, and then what? Trouble upon trouble upon trouble? God, this isn't right. It's not fair, and I'm not going to follow you anymore. No. He saw it from the view of God. How you see the thing matters immensely.
How you perceive it, how you understand it. In fact, later on, of course, as we know the story, God used these very tragedies to bring about that vision, that greater purpose of his life. Later on, he, in fact, becomes one of the great ones, only Pharaoh is above him. The brothers do come to Egypt, of course, to find help from the famine. They don't recognize him at first, but they bow down to him. Then he reveals himself. Then he says the words that give the right understanding of perspective. "Look, you meant it for evil. That's how you saw it. You meant it for evil, God meant it for good." God meant it for good. The way that you see the thing matters immensely.
Notice, for example, in verse 39, where he gives this perspective. Notice, he says, "Why should any living mortal or any man offer a complaint in view of his sin?" If we were honest about our sins, we would have nothing to complain about. What's interesting is that the New Testament gospel of Jesus Christ gives a wonderful perspective on that. If we could see our sin from God's view, we would understand what a glorious good news is this gospel, for God offers to take your sin and remove it from the pages of your heart and write it on the cross of Calvary, so that Jesus pays for your sin and pays for them in full, so that your sins can be forgiven and you can be reconciled to God. I'll tell you what, that gives a completely different view of the thing.
B. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses never cease
From that perspective of grace, it causes your heart to be humbled, and it causes you to be very, very thankful to God for what He's done for you with Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's give the Lord praise right. Notice then, he says, "For this I recall to my mind. This is the key to the breakthrough." What is it? He recalls that the Lord's lovingkindnesses never cease. Kindness, God's kindness, expression of his faithful love never ceases, never fails, and it never will. This he remembers. It calls to his mind. In spite of our ugly sin, in spite of our wayward hearts, his love never fails, it never has, and it never will.
See, when you remember a truth, you take hold of that truth, then it becomes yours, like I believe. Then you take hold of this truth, and you know that God is speaking a better word to your soul. God is speaking a word. Now you take hold of that word. Now that word abides upon your soul. Now it's breaking forth. Now it's bringing light. Now it's bringing forth hope. Therefore, verse 21, that's why I have hope. See, this is why I mentioned this Wednesday, but it's important. This is why it's so important that you and God have a history together.
See, when God has walked with you through the perils and difficulties and valleys and challenges of life, when you've walked together and you've seen God move in the troubles, you've seen God move in the difficulties, and He's proven Himself to you over and over and over, then when you enter into another dark time or another valley or another tragedy, that you can then recall it to your mind. I know my God, and I know how He moves. He's done it before, and he'll do it again. See, this is very important. You and God have a history together.
I tell you, I'm getting old enough. I've walked many years on this earth, and I have seen God do it over and over and over. I can give you story after story after story. God has done it. God has saved. God has brought forth favor. God has done it over and over and over. I know he's done it before, and every time I enter a new challenge, I say, I know He'll do it again, and he'll do it for you. Do you believe this? Can we give God praise for this? Right? "This I recall to my mind, verse 22 and 23, that his compassion, God's heart of compassion, never fails. That his mercies are new every morning."
C. His mercies are new every morning
Every morning, he's breaking through the darkness. A light is breaking through in his soul. He remembers the mercies of the Lord are new every morning. You can begin again. God does not hold a grudge. He offers forgiveness and hope, and grace. You can begin again. Dawn is breaking upon the soul. This is such a wonderful truth that one of the greatest hymns of the church is based on Lamentations 3. Many of you will recognize one of the greatest hymns, I think, ever written for the church out of Lamentations 3. You'll recognize it, I think.
Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not,
I'm not going to sing the whole thing for you.
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness,
Great is thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
Oh, it's beautiful. You want to just declare it. You want to just sing it from your soul. Remember, never forget, call it to your mind. All that I have needed, thy hand has provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. It's beautiful. It's like, I recall this through my mind. When you're going through it, recall it to your mind. Remind your soul. It's a very important principle of even speaking to one's own soul. Do you speak to yourself? Do you know that it's a sign of intelligence to talk to yourself? I know. I looked this up on the internet, and it's true.
You see examples of it. David, for example, would speak to his own soul. Why so downcast, O my soul? Why so downhearted within me? Trust in God, man. He's speaking to his own soul. When you're going through it, there's anxiety in it that you can speak to it. This I recall to my mind, the compassions of the Lord do not fail. His loving-kindness never ceases. His mercies are new every morning. That hope, see there's something beautiful about mercies new every morning. There's something beautiful about that morning. There's a bigger picture. This hope is not for this life only. This hope is eternal. When this life is over, there will be that bright, early, that morning that begins eternity after the darkness of this world has faded from sight. Oh, what a glorious morning. I was thinking of a story I read. Dr. Criswell, who was a pastor of a church in Dallas, wrote of a time that he was on a flight and happened to sit next to a well-known theologian. They were going to the same conference. He struck up a conversation, only to discover that the man had recently lost his son to death. He describes what happened.
He says, "My boy came home from school with a fever. At first, we thought it was one of those childhood things, but it was a very virulent form of meningitis. Doctors said that they could not save the boy, that he would die. We set up a vigil next to his bed. He said, The day came, it was the middle of the day. The little boy, whose strength was going from him and vision and brain were getting clouded, said, the middle of the day. He said, "Daddy, it's getting dark, isn't it?" He said to his son, "Yes, son, it's getting dark, very dark." He said, "Daddy, it's time for me to go to sleep, isn't it?" He said, "Yes, son, it's time to go to sleep."
He said he had a way of folding his hands under his head. He turned his head to the side, rested them on his hands. He said, "Goodnight, Daddy. I'll see you in the morning." He closed his eyes, stepped into heaven. The professor just looked out the window for a long time, finally turned back, and he said with tears, "I can hardly wait till the morning." There's something beautiful about the understanding of that bright morning. This dark world is going to fade from sight, and that glorious morning when we see him face to face and we hear those words, "Well done, well lived, my good and faithful son, enter into the joy of your master." Amen. Amen.
II. The Lord is Your Portion
Then he gives us this pillar. Notice this next great pillar of faith in verse 24. "For the Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I have hope." There it is again. This is why I have hope. What does he mean when he says the Lord is my portion? Well, when Israel entered the land that God promised them, they apportioned, divided the land by tribe. The larger ones got larger amounts, et cetera. The priests did not receive a portion or an inheritance. God says, "No, for the Levites, I will be your portion. I will be your inheritance. I submit to you that the Levites got the better part."
If that is their inheritance, they have the privilege and the honor of having this great treasure that God himself would be their portion, their inheritance. It's like what Asaph wrote in Psalm 73. "Whom have I in heaven but you?" Then he says, "Besides you, I desire nothing on this earth. You can take everything else away, but if I have God as my portion, I have everything my soul desires. He is the greatest treasure of my heart. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart. God is my portion forever." That great treasure is God himself, and that great treasure is greater than any darkness, greater than any tragedy of life.
I was thinking of, for example, many of you know the story of Fanny Crosby, and that she was blind. Interestingly, she was not born blind. She was born with perfect sight. Something happened when she was very young, and an inflammation on her eyes, but the doctors wrongly applied a mustard poultice, and it burned her eyes, blinded her. She was blind the rest of her life. She wrote later, she says, "It seemed intended by the providence of God that I should be blind all my life, but I thank God for it. If perfect earthly sight was offered to me tomorrow, I would not accept it because something happened in her heart and in her soul. Her soul understood what many people do not understand.
In fact, she would go on to write more than 8,000 hymns and poems, some of the most powerful in the church. In her blindness, she experienced the presence of God in a beautiful and powerful way. She is the one who wrote, Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Watching and waiting, looking above, which is a great line. She's blind. Watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story. What is your story?
A. Wait for the Lord for He is good
She says, "The story of my life is that God has done such a work that Jesus is mine, a foretaste of glory divine. He is my portion. God is the strength of my heart. This is my story, and this is my song. This is when my soul sings." God has given me a song to sing. God has given me a story to tell. How about you? Notice then what comes next in verse 25. The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. Notice, wait for the Lord, for He is good. What are you waiting for? You're waiting for God to move. You're waiting for God to answer the cry of your heart.
You're going through something, and you pray. You cry out to God in it, and you're waiting for God to do something, to bring an answer, to bring His favor, to open a door, do something. You're waiting for God to move. Now, this is a great theme. We've seen it throughout our study of the Scriptures, waiting. Waiting, but waiting, it means to wait patiently, eagerly, but patiently. Psalm 130:5-6, "I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word I do hope, for my soul waits for the Lord more than the watchman waits for the morning." What a picture is that? You can imagine the watchman. He's got the night watch, the most difficult watch, the darkest of the night.
Oh, how he waits and longs for the light of the morning to come. It's like that. Oh, I'm waiting and waiting. With eagerness, I'm waiting. God, I know that you've done it before, and I know you'll do it again, but I wait, and I wait for the Lord patiently. Psalm 27, "Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage." Yes, wait for the Lord. Don't be impatient. If you look to God to be your help in time of trouble, then wait for it. Do not move until you have waited for the Lord and He shows you the way. Wait, don't move. Notice this in verse 25, seek the Lord while you wait.
B. Seek the Lord while you wait
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. See, in other words, you're not just waiting in idleness. No, while you're waiting, you're seeking Him in the waiting. This is a very, very important principle of life. I cannot emphasize it enough. You're waiting, you're waiting, you're praying, you want God to move, but while you're waiting, you seek Him in the waiting. For there, something's happening in the waiting. You are renewing your heart. You're renewing your soul. You're drawing nearer and nearer. While you're waiting, you're abiding in the glory. You're abiding in the nearness of God.
This is what it means to seek the Lord. Something happens when you're seeking the Lord. When you're abiding in the nearness of God, something happens in your soul. While you're waiting, God is building something. God is renewing something. God is showing you something. God is preparing you for something. If you seek the Lord in the waiting, it will keep you in peace. Oh, how easy it is to have anxiety, but it will keep you in peace if you wait and seek the Lord in the waiting. Isaiah 26:3-4. Notice the steadfast of mind. Here it is again. The steadfast of mind you will keep in perfect peace because He trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord we have an everlasting rock. This is what you then recall to your mind. You speak these words to your heart. You begin to speak words of hope and strength and peace. Begins to hold firm and guard your heart and your mind. It's like Philippians 4:7, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, with thanksgiving, bring this request to the Lord, and then the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension." People will look at you and say, this peace that you have is amazing. This peace is right. "Is beyond comprehension, and it will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus."
Notice what he means in the next few verses, starting in verse 26. "It's good to wait silently for the salvation of the Lord. You're waiting. It's good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and be silent since He has laid it on him." Now, I love verse 27 because it speaks a great truth, a very deep truth. If a person can learn this when they are young, they will have a tremendous understanding of life. It's this, learn to endure well. Waiting with hope, knowing, recalling to your mind that His mercies are new every morning, that His compassions never fail. Learn to endure well.
Wait. Don't be impatient. Don't get agitated in your heart. Don't complain. Don't get angry. Don't let your heart become bitter because it's taking longer than you thought that it should. In other words, wait with a good heart. Wait. Endure well, waiting and seeking and recalling to your mind these great truths. As I was preparing this message, I felt like God wanted me to say to anyone who's going through perhaps a troubled marriage, don't give up. Learn to be patient. Endure well while you wait for God to move, but seek God in the waiting. If you seek God in the waiting, something's going to happen in your heart and in your soul.
I tell you what, if God moves on your soul, God's got something to work with. God can do great things. I've seen Him do it in many, many marriages. I've seen Him do it in many, many lives. He's done it before, and He will do it again. Seek the Lord, do not give up. Weeping may last for a night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. If there's grief, He says, "Ah, He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. Wait for His mercies are new every morning." Then the grand conclusion in verses 40 and 41. "Let us examine our hearts, probe our ways, and let us return to the Lord. We lift up our hearts. We lift up our hands toward God of Heaven."
That's an expression of revival. That's an expression of returning to the Lord. It's like Lamentations 5:21, the great capstone of it all, "Restore us to you, O Lord, to you, and then we will be restored. Renew our days as of old." This is revival. You lift up your heart, you lift up your hands, and you return. There is where hope is found. There is where life is found. God will renew, God will rebuild, God will restore. This is what God does. He's done it before, and He will do it again. Lord, we love you and thank you for wonderful truths such as these.
God, I want to pray for anyone here today going through it, that you would show them great truths that they could recall to their mind and therefore have hope. Church, as we're praying, if that's you, you're going through something today, would you say to the Lord, I will wait. I believe that you will move. You've done it before, and I know you'll do it again. I will wait, but while I wait, I seek more of you. I want more of you. Restore my soul first. Do a work on my soul. God, I seek you for this thing, whatever this thing is. I trust it to you. I will wait. I will wait for you to move, but I will seek you while I wait so that you will do a great work on my soul. Rebuild, restore, renew, and do this in me.
Is that your heart? Would you just raise your hand to the Lord as an expression of that prayer? God, I will wait, and while I wait, I will seek your face. I will believe that your mercies are new every morning. You have done it before, and I know you'll do it again. Lord, thank you for everyone who's lifted their hands to say, God, we believe. We will seek your face. We will return to you with all our hearts, and we will remember such great truths as these. The Lord's loving kindness never fails. His mercies are new every morning. Great is Thy Faithfulness. We give you glory and honor for it all in Jesus' name. Everyone say, "Amen, and amen." Let's give the Lord praise.