God Of Hope
BRD REFLECTIONS
Lamentations 3:25-66 and Psalm 59 (NIV)
(Audree Tan, Pastoral Team Member, Prayer & Pastoral Care Ministry)
READ:
Lamentations 3:25-66 and Psalm 59 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
The book of Lamentations follows the prophesy of Jeremiah. We see the grieving heart of the prophet Jeremiah as he lamented openly. He prophesied in 626 BC of Jerusalem’s destruction by invaders from the north. Israel had forsaken God by worshiping the idols of Baal. Lamenting and deeply affected by the destruction he saw, Jeremiah was racked with anguish and pain for Jerusalem. In the midst of it all, he remembered there was hope.
Amidst the 5 chapters of the book of Lamentations, Chapter 3 revealed God’s heart, which is full of mercy and compassion. God’s grace spared the annihilation of a disobedient sinful nation. God’s mercy has spared us all, for He remembered His covenant.
God kept His promise: to give Abraham a great nation, to bring Moses into a land flowing with milk and honey, to establish Joshua, and from David, God’s descendent would come from his line to reign on the throne forever. Though sin will be judged, God in His mercy is still waiting for us to return to Him. A faithful remnant has always remained which will become a great nation again.
In Psalm 59 we hear the prayers of David asking God to deliver him from the men Saul sent to watch over his house, to carry out his assassination. His anguished prayers were God-focused and also full of hope.
9You are my strength, I watch for you; you. God, are my fortress, 10my God on whom I can rely.
APPLY:
Lamentations 3:25-26
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
In my daily Christian life, I will make good the following:
- Hope in God
- Seek Him
- Wait quietly
I am reminded to look forward in hope in all situations, not to be caught in the world amid the busyness of daily life. I choose to hope with the Lord as my portion, with no panicking, no frantically searching for solutions. Instead, I will halt, sit in His presence, place my HOPE in God, SEEK Him, WAIT for Him, remaining calm and praying quietly.
37 Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?
With the tendency to overthink, I often become anxious about the consequences that might follow, even before taking an action.
Worry places the mind in constant turmoil. In Lamentations 3:37 I am assured that unless God has decreed it, nothing more can take place without His permission. I now hold captive my anxieties with assurances from the Word.
DO:
I will give thanks to the Lord for He is good. In times when I feel lost and alone, I will confidently arise and claim hope and victory, for the Lord will pick me up again, as I am reminded in Lamentations 3:31, “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever.”
PRAY:
Dear Lord, I choose to wait upon You in obedience the moment I start my day. I choose You as my sustainable portion, my loving and unfailing father who knows me perfectly. As I seek You in my silent moments, I will quietly wait with a heart of faith and hope, to walk through my day in victory. Teach me to be patient in waiting, knowing You are faithful to those who choose to love You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
