Because of the Lord’s great love (Hessed) we are not consumed…his compassions (rakh’am) are new every morning. Lamentations 3:22

Yesterday was a mess. The world was a mess. You were a mess. You were disappointed with people. You were disappointed with yourself. And maybe today you’re still stuck living among the same cast of characters and living through the same drama. But today the sun came up, and the serene smile of dawn bathed the world in golden sunlight. Sleep can be a great reset. Today we start anew. Today is pregnant with the resources of God to recreate the world with his Spirit. Same world, new compassions.  

None of us deserve God’s “Hessed,” his loving-kindness, or his “rakh’am” his compassions. Interestingly enough, in other contexts the same word for compassion is also translated “womb.” Here’s a way to read it. God’s loving-kindness is actively recreating the world out of his compassionate womb. Here’s our verse in context. The Israelites had just been punished for their disobedience. Things could not have looked any worse. Yet, God promised they would not be totally consumed, or destroyed. Pay attention to what the writer declares at the end of Lamentations 3:22-24:

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

At times my wife and I have had to severely punish our children for their defiant or destructive behavior. After ushering them out of the room and addressing their behavior, and after corrective measures were taken, I would sit down on their level and look them in the eye and reaffirm how much we love them. The behavior needs to change, but our relationship and the position of love out of which that relationship flows will never change. In Lamentations the writer is reminding himself of God’s original commitment to the Hebrew people, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” He says it in different words of course, “The Lord is my portion.” No matter how badly you’ve screwed yesterday up, the author says, God promises you will always have him, he will never abandon you or forsake you.

So I am reminding you, dear reader, “The Lord is your portion…and his compassions will never fail. They are new every morning.” Whatever you did yesterday. Don’t wallow in shame and embarrassment those won’t help you transform into the image of love. Whatever the world did to you yesterday, don’t live in  resentment, fear, or disillusionment. Those don’t have the power to reshape you into the image of perfect love either. “Wait for him.” That’s the key. That’s how you access God’s resources for you today. The Lord is recreating the world today. He is my portion. In him I have all I need. Today, I will lean into him.  

Tags: resources, love, compassion, relationship, mercies, lamentations 3:22; wait