Thy Strong Word — Lamentations 3:1-24: The Lord Will Not Cast Off Forever

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This chapter is a deeply personal and poignant narrative set against the backdrop of Jerusalem’s destruction. In this episode, we’ll be covering the first 24 verses. It contrasts starkly with other chapters by focusing on individual suffering and endurance. The speaker vividly describes intense personal afflictions, symbolizing the experience of God’s wrath. Yet, amidst this despair, the chapter shifts to themes of hope and faith, highlighting God’s enduring mercies and faithfulness.

Rev. Tyler Hauptmeier, Pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Doniphan, NE, joins host the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Lamentations 3:1-24.

Embark on a journey through the Book of Lamentations, a deeply moving poetic reflection on the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. This book is a profound expression of grief, portraying the desolation of a city and a people who have experienced immense suffering. Each chapter brings its unique perspective, from the vivid portrayal of Jerusalem as a lonely, grieving widow to the poignant pleas for mercy and reflection on the unyielding justice of God. The imagery is stark and emotive, encapsulating the pain of exile and the consequences of turning away from God. Yet, amidst the mourning, Lamentations also offers glimmers of hope and the possibility of redemption. It’s a powerful exploration of human sorrow, divine justice, and the enduring faithfulness of God, even in the darkest of times.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Lamentations 3:1-24

Great Is Your Faithfulness

3 I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
into darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.

4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
he has broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me
with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.

7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8 though I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.

10 He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11 he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me
as a target for his arrow.

13 He drove into my kidneys
the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
the object of their taunts all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with wormwood.

16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness[a] is;
18 so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”

19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[b]
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

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Footnotes

Lamentations 3:17 Hebrew good

Lamentations 3:22 Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, we are not cut off

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org