In Eric Bechler's sermon, 'Jeremiah's Hope', delivered at an unknown church, he examines Lamentations Chapter 3, verses 19-36. The sermon highlights the historical context of the Book of Lamentations, authored by Jeremiah as a series of poems lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jewish people. Bechler explains that the Jewish day of mourning, Tisha B'Av, commemorates multiple tragedies in Jewish history, including the destruction of the temples. He delves into the literary structure of Lamentations, noting its acrostic form and its thematic focus: Jerusalem's misery, the Lord's anger, Judah's complaint, Zion's past and present contrast, and Judah's plea for forgiveness. The sermon emphasizes Jeremiah's transition from despair to hope, highlighting the importance of prayer and trust in God's ultimate plan. Jeremiah's lamentation reflects a deep sense of affliction, yet he turns to hope by recalling God's mercies and compassion, which are renewed every morning. Bechler draws parallels with the hymn 'Great is Thy Faithfulness' and encourages believers to find solace in God's unending faithfulness and to bear life's trials with patience and quiet trust in the Lord.

Thanks for joining us at Barnet Bible Church. This week, Mr. Beckler continues his teaching series in the Book of Lamentations. Our message this morning comes from the book of Lamentations in chapter 3. Today we're covering verses 19 through 36.

Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for such a beautiful day. Lord, we see a world that's somewhat going crazy. And Lord, as we study your Word, we see in Jeremiah's time, their world going crazy. The city destroyed, the temple destroyed, and the people exiled.

Lord, great distress and great grieving. But Lord, through all of that, we see hope. Lord, we see hope today as well. We rejoice to see every believer coming to faith. We rejoice to see every young child born in Christian families Or we see your word spread throughout the world We rejoice we have hope We love you God and we thank you for your words and pray that you would bless our time today.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen. In our last time in the book of Lamentations, we went through the first part of chapter 3. And before we continue, I would again like to spend a few minutes reminding you of some of the special details associated with the Book of Lamentations, read through a short overview of each of the five chapters, and finally, to give just a brief summary of what we've already covered as we've gone through the book of Lamentations. Some background. Jeremiah, of course, is recognized as the author of the book of Lamentations.

These are his lamentations, his expressions of grief written in a form of five poems. As he watched firsthand the destruction of Jerusalem and the people of Judah exiled to a far distant land. It actually used to be considered part of the book of Jeremiah just at the end of the scroll. The book of Lamentations is read publicly by the Jewish people even today, each year on the Jewish day of morning. This day is called Tisha Ba'av.

It's a fast commemorating the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in both 586 BC and 70 AD. Tisha Ba'av means the ninth of Av. Nine, of course, is pronounced in Hebrew as Teshah, and Av is the fifth month of the Jewish calendar. It actually corresponds to late July, early August. We're approaching that particular date on our calendar.

Well, what makes the 9th of Av unique and why is it associated with the Jewish day of morning? If you look through history, there were a multitude of tragedies experienced by the Jewish people on this particular date, the 9th of Av. If you ever look it up on Google, you might be surprised at all the bad things that have happened on that specific date to the Jewish people. Clearly, it should be a day of mourning for them. Another point of interest most people are aware of in Psalm 119, that Psalm is an acrostic, meaning that in Psalm 119, we have eight verses for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

The book of Lamentations is similar to that. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and chapters one and two and four have 22 verses, one verse corresponding to each letter of the alphabet. Chapter three that we're in today has three verses per letter in the alphabet, giving us 66 verses. Chapter 5 also has 22 verses, but it doesn't follow the structure of an acrostic. Why did Jeremiah use an acrostic, such as we find here?

Perhaps to aid in memorization, perhaps to indicate completeness in the poems, perhaps it was to force himself to complete his process of grief from the beginning to the end, from A to Z, from Aleph to Tav. Now, quickly, a quick, basically just looking at the theme of each of the chapters in the Book of Lamentations. Chapter 1, Jerusalem's misery and desolation. Chapter 2, the Lord's anger against His people. Chapter 3, Judah's complaint and basis for consolation.

Chapter 4, the contrast between Zion's past and present. And finally, in chapter 5, Judah's appeal for God's forgiveness. Also want to do just a quick review over what we've covered so far. In chapter 1, the main points that we discussed were the great suffering of God's people through the destruction of Jerusalem in the temple and the exile of her people, Through the abandonment of her friends and allies, not only offering neither comfort nor support in her time of distress, but becoming her enemies. Through this great suffering, Judah acknowledged her great rebellion against God, that she deserved the punishment God had afflicted her with.

Note that their sin against God was not singular, not a one-time event. Judah had rebelled against God and his commands for centuries. As in chapter 1, chapter 2 also begins with the word how. But we find that it's used differently. Rather than a question of how could this happen, it is used in the sense of look how the Lord is punishing His people.

Jeremiah focuses on 26 actions the Lord undertook against Judah, 26 actions that come from God's fierce anger. God was correcting Judah for the sins she had committed against him. God was correcting Judah out of love with a view to restoring them. Furthermore, we read about Jeremiah's intense grief over Jerusalem's destruction. Jerusalem was the center of Jewish life.

It was a religious center, it was a political center, the financial center, the center for everything Jewish. Now, it's utterly destroyed, including the temple. God's temple is gone. To make matters worse, it seems there's much rejoicing by all of Israel's enemies. They clap, they mock, they taunt.

They offer no compassion, no comfort. Rather, they pile on even more bitterness. Jeremiah brings his lament to the main point in verse 19 where he calls Israel to pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord. This is prayer. When we feel we've been destroyed, conquered by the wicked, or even just attacked, what's our best response?

It's prayer. Our best response is to pour out our hearts to the Lord, even when we can't put words to what we feel, and the best we can do is groan. God hears it, and God understands. And we need to trust Him, to trust that He will work it out for His glory and our good, that He will answer these prayers, these groanings, in a way that will bring Him glory. As we look to chapter 3, I broke it down into three sections.

Last time, we covered Jeremiah's affliction. This time, we're covering Jeremiah's hope in verses 19 through 36. And next time we'll cover God's justice in verses 37 through 66. Last time that we met in the first part of chapter 3, we see Jeremiah's affliction. He saw that the punishment God inflicted upon Judah by the rod of his wrath, God chose a rod to deliver his wrath to discipline his people.

He used the Chaldeans or Babylon to punish Judah. Jeremiah focuses on the distress in terms of his body wasting away, broken, surrounded by bitterness and woe, set in the grave, abandoned, and long forgotten. Jeremiah paints a picture of being chained and imprisoned, locked away. There's no way out. No one to hear his cries for help.

When Jeremiah comments that he has forgotten prosperity, it had been so long since he had had any that he has forgotten it, not expecting to see it again, in fact, acting like he had never had it before. Finally, Jeremiah concludes that not only his strength is gone, but all hope has perished. Because the misery he has witnessed and experienced, his heart has failed him. He has given up hope, the hope of safety and prosperity, the hope of enjoying divine favor, and the hope in the Lord. So it is here that we pick up today.

It's here that Jeremiah has given up hope. After all he's witnessed, after all the grief he has experienced, he states in verse 18, my strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. With God as your adversary, what strength is there? What hope is there? Who is left to help you if not God?

In today's section, we'll look at Jeremiah's hope. We'll look at the verses in groups of three, verses 19 through 21. Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood in the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." In our first verse today, the King James version has the translation as remembering my affliction and misery.

We get the sense of Jeremiah continuing to dwell on his affliction and misery when he says remembering or while I remember and is still in a place of hope. In the ESV and most other versions or translations, they offer a different rendition. It's rendered remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. In this translation, it gives us a sense that Jeremiah is starting to call out to God. It's the beginning of a prayer for God to remember all that they have suffered, and his soul is humbled and cast down.

John Gill comments on both interpretations, remembering my afflictions and my memory, the miserable affliction of him and his people, the remembrance of which, and pouring upon it continually, caused the despondency before expressed. We may also look at it rendered imperatively, Remember my affliction and my misery. The Vulgate Latin and the Syriatic versions and the Eben Ezra observes that the words may be considered as a request to God, and so they seem to be. The prophet and the people he represents were not so foregone into despair as to cast off prayer before God, but once more looked up to Him, beseeching that He would, in His great mercy and pity, remember them in their distressed condition and deliver out of it, For none could do it but God himself. In verse 20, my soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me.

My soul is cast down or bowed down within me from remembering all the affliction and misery. It is from this rock bottom experience we begin to see Jeremiah turning to hope. He states in the next verse, this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. Perhaps Jeremiah was thinking about David crying out to God in Psalm 42 and placing his hope in God. He reads in Psalm 42, 5, Why art thou cast down, O my soul?

And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. In verse 6, Oh my God, my soul is cast down within me. Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites from the hill of Mizar. And in verse 11, Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me?

Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God." A commentary from Kyle and Delich summarizes this section as follows. The expression, if my soul duly meditates thereon or remembers the deep suffering, it becomes depressed within me. It forms the foundation of the request that God would think of his distress, his misery, and in Lamentation 321, I will lay this to heart, recall my mind, connects itself with the leading thought set forth in Lamentations 319, the reason for which is given in the subsequent verse in verse 20, that my soul is only bowed down within me over the thought of my distress, and must complain of it to God, that he may think of it and alleviate it. This will I lay to heart and set my hope upon. Therefore, because God alone can help, will I hope." So what is your response during times of affliction and misery, during times when your soul is bowed down within you?

Do you think your strength and hope are perished from the Lord? Do you despair? Matthew Henry comments, the struggle between unbelief and faith is very often severe. But the weakest believer is wrong if he thinks that his strength and hope are perished from the Lord. Even the weakest believer.

Paul tells us in Romans that being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience and experience hope. Hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us, Romans 5, 1-5. Resolve to have hope just as Jeremiah has done. God is faithful.

He has given us peace. He has filled us with his love. Jeremiah turns the corner and now expresses hope in verses 22 through 24. We read, It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassion fail not. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Therefore will I hope in him." Jeremiah turns his thoughts to God, how merciful God is. Even in tragedies such as just took place, God did not consume all of Judah or the people of Jerusalem. He left a remnant. How compassionate God is.

His compassion's fail not. He says, they, his mercy and compassion are new every morning. Just as the sun breaks through in the morning sky, God's mercies and compassion come to us in the dark times of our lives. God has a never-ending store of mercies and compassion. They will never fail.

They will never run dry. Finally, Jeremiah states how faithful God is. John Gill comments here, they are new every morning. That is, the tender mercies or compassions of God are which prove that they fail not. There are instances of them every day, not only in a temporal, but in a spiritual sense.

They are ever new, fresh and vigorous, constant and perpetual. Such are the love, grace, and mercy of God, though of old, yet daily renewed in the manifestations thereof, and which make a morning of spiritual light, joy, and comfort. And whenever it is morning with the saints, They have new discoveries of the love of God to them. And these indeed are a bright morning to them, a morning without clouds. Verse 23 ends with, great is thy faithfulness.

We sang that just before. It's a wonderful hymn. We're all familiar with it. There are many hymns that are a product of a tragic or dramatic events in the life of the author. The author of this hymn is Thomas Chisholm.

For him, however, it was the response to a lifetime of illness and of struggles, the daily grind, the daily battles. And instead of anger or despair, he looked to God and praised him for his faithfulness through this hymn. Years after he wrote this hymn, he reflected back, he says, quote, My income has not been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years, which has followed me on until now. Although I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant-keeping God and that he has given me many wonderful displays of his providing care for which I am filled with astounding gratefulness. Great is thy faithfulness.

This also is a reflection that Jeremiah gives. Great is thy faithfulness. He proclaims that the Lord is my portion. Therefore, will I hope in him. Again, David's words in the Psalms come to mind.

In Psalm 16, 5, the Lord is the portion of my inheritance, and of my cup thou maintainest my lot. In Psalm 73, 26, my flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Finally, in Psalm 119.57, Thou art my portion, O Lord. I have said that I would keep thy words. But what does it mean to say the Lord is my portion. The idea comes from God assigning an allotment or portion of the promised land to each of the tribes of Israel except for the tribe of Levi.

They were not to receive a portion of the land, but rather God was to be their portion. We see this in Numbers 18-20 and Deuteronomy 10-9. In Numbers, it says, and the Lord said to Aaron, you shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel." And in Deuteronomy, Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance.

In the New Testament, believers are called co-heirs with Christ. They are described as adopted in the family of God. We see that in John 1-12, Romans 8-17, and Ephesians 1-5. We've been sealed by the Holy Spirit ensuring our eternal inheritance and ensuring our portion in the Lord. We see that in Ephesians 1, 12 through 14.

Well, John Gill comments, the Lord is the portion of his people in life and in death, in time and to eternity. All he is and has is theirs. They are heirs of him and shall enjoy him forever, and therefore shall not be consumed. He is a portion large and full, inexpressibly rich and great, a soul satisfying one and will last forever. And happy are those who, from their hearts and with their souls, under testimony of the Spirit of God to their spirits, and through a gracious experience of Him, can say, He is their portion, an exceeding great reward.

As the Church here did, and these may say with her as follows, Therefore will I hope in him for deliverance from all evils and enemies, for present supplies of grace, and for the enjoyment of future glory and happiness." We see Jeremiah closing in verse 24 with the same words he used in verse 21, Therefore have I hope. Despite all the terrible stuff that has just happened, I will place my trust in you, God. I will wait on you. My hope is in you." So how do you respond again to struggles and the trials of your life? Are you focused on God's mercies and compassion that are new every morning?

Do you see and declare as Mr. Chisholm did the unfailing faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God? Is your life a picture of one who has the Lord as his portion? Jeremiah continues, Jeremiah continues, The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." In these three verses, the Hebrew text begins with the word good. It may have been done to draw attention to what's being stated here. It's not meant good in terms of God's attribute of perfect goodness, but rather, per Matthew Poole's commentary, what becomes men and is their duty or what is profitable and will turn to good account to them. I'll read again the verses as they appear in my Interlinear Bible. Good is Yahweh to those who wait for Him to the souls who seek Him.

Good it is that one should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh. Good it is for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. Again, think of all that Jeremiah has witnessed, all the grief, all the death, all the destruction, all the lamentations we've been reading from him. This is the result of centuries of rebellion against God. Yet for those who wait for the Lord, for those who seek him, the Lord is good to them.

God never forsakes his people. He could have destroyed all the Israelites, But he didn't. He left a remnant. In verses 26 and 27, Jeremiah focuses on that it is good for a man to behave or act in a certain way, to hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. He doesn't say hope and wait.

He says quietly wait. And as we learn to be patient, we all need more practice at that. I know I do. We need to wait and be silent. Being patient assumes a level of silence, that silence can indicate an internal peace.

Ellison comments, silence implies both an acceptance of God's will and a refusal to complain to men. Another commentary states, Hence it is also good for man to bear a yoke in youth, that he may exercise himself in calm waiting on the help of the Lord. In the present context, the yoke is that of suffering, And the time of youth is mentioned as the time of freshness and vigor, which render the bearing of the burdens more easy. He who has learned in youth to bear sufferings will not sink into despair should they come on him in old age. He siteth alone and keepeth silent, because he hath borne it upon him.

He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smideth him. He is filled full with reproach. John Gill comments here, he sitteth alone. He retires from the world and the man of it, who takes upon him the yoke of Christ.

Though he is not alone, but God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are with him, and he is with the saints, the excellence of the earth, and has communion with them. And so he is that under the afflicting hand of God bears it patiently and does not run from place to place complaining of it, but sits still and considers the cause, the end, and the use of it." When I read that in the commentary, I really like that last phrase, to consider the cause, the end, and the use of it. When you are under that afflicting hand of God, again, how do you respond? Do you complain? Do you get angry at God?

Do you get angry at the world? Do you hear yourself thinking, it's not fair? God is sovereign. Perhaps you are off the path, and God is getting your attention to bring you back to the fold, to restore that fellowship with him. Perhaps he's using in difficult circumstances to grow you closer to him, to further you in your sanctification.

It's something to consider rather than to complain. When we read of Jeremiah putting his mouth in the dust, we get the picture of him prostrate before the feet of the Lord, face down in humble submission, waiting quietly. If your mouth is in the dust, you're probably not speaking. But is one thing to bow before the Lord our God. It's another thing altogether to take afflictions well for man.

Barnes notes on the Bible comments, many who submit readily to God are indignant when the suffering comes through men. Another commentary says many take patiently afflictions from God, but when man wrongs them, they take it impatiently. The godly bear resignedly, the latter, like the former, as sent by God." The reference here is Psalm 1713 and Matthew 539. Psalm 1713, arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down, deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword." In Matthew 5.39, But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Jeremiah continues in verse 31-33, For the Lord will not cast off forever, but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitudes of his mercy.

For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Despite the tragedies Jeremiah witnessed firsthand, the affliction, the misery, we're not going to continue forever. The Chaldeans would go away. The people of Judah were exiled to Babylon. The Lord caused this to happen, and it would have an ending.

Nor does this mean that God has rejected his people. God would once again show compassion to his children. In fact, Jeremiah wrote of this in a letter to the exiles, where he called them to build houses, plant gardens, build families, strive for peace. In Jeremiah 29 verses 4 through 7, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon. Build ye houses, and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

Take ye wives and beget sons and daughters and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters that ye may be increased there and not diminished and seek the peace of the city whether I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." Even amidst the chastisement of God, he is still a God of mercy. He does not delight in seeing his people suffer, yet he does not permit men to suffer, yet he does permit men to suffer. He chastises them to accomplish his sovereign purpose in their lives. When we spank our children, we do this because of disobedience. In our house, it was only for disobedience.

And We tried hard to follow first and require first time obedience and obedience with a happy heart. It's not obedience if you have to repeat yourself. And it's not obedience if your child obeys and is grumbling and complaining or has an attitude about it. Remember, we don't spank in anger. We don't spank because we love to see our children in pain or crying.

We do this out of love. We do this out of a desire for restoration. Once again, God gives us an object lesson with our families that help us better understand how He deals with us. When we disobey or when we rebel, God is going to spank us, chastise us. He's going to do this because he loves us, because he wants to restore us to a right relationship with him.

God is a God of mercy. In our last group of verses, I read, to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, to turn aside the right of man before the face of the Most High, to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not. In this group of verses, they each start with an infinitive, to crush, to turn aside, to subvert. They seem to be connected to the last phrase in verse 36, the Lord approveth not. They are acts that God would not do.

Again, John Gill comments, the Lord approveth not. As he does not do these things himself, he does not approve them in others, that they should use captives cruelly, trample upon them like mire in the streets, or as the dust of their feet, particular regard may he maybe had to the Jews in Babylon, used ill by those that detain them. For though it was by the will of God that they were carried captive, Yet the Chaldeans exceeded due bounds of their usage of them and added affliction to their affliction, which the Lord approved not, but resented. We see that in Zechariah 1, 15, and 16. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease, for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward this affliction.

Therefore, thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies. My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Previous to today's section, Lamentations has been a continual expression of grief and misery by Jeremiah for the people of Judah. Today, however, we see how at the deepest moment of despair, Jeremiah cries out to God. He begins to hope and to trust in God, to see the mercies and compassion of God.

He declares, Great is thy faithfulness is the message of hope for all of us. While working on this, I was reminded of an old hymn written by John Newton and wanted to close with reading it. You'll probably be familiar with it. Though troubles assail, and dangers affright, though friends should all fail, and foes all unite, yet one thing secures us, whatever betide, The scriptures assure us, the Lord will provide. The birds without barn or storehouse are fed.

From them let us learn to trust for our bread. His saints, what is fitting shall ne'er be denied. So long as it is written, the Lord will provide. His call we obey like Abram of old, not knowing our way, but faith makes us bold. For though we are strangers, we have a good guide, and trust in all dangers the Lord will provide.

When Satan appears to stop up our path and fills us with fears, we triumph by faith. We cannot take from us, though oft he has tried, the heart-charing promise the Lord will provide. He tells us we are weak, our hope is in vain, the good that we seek we ne'er shall obtain. But when such suggestions our faith thus have tried, this answers all questions the Lord will provide. No strength of our own, no goodness we claim, our trust is all thrown on Jesus, dear name.

In this our strong tower for safety we hide, the Lord is our power, the Lord will provide. When life sinks apace and death is in view, the word of his grace shall comfort us through. Not fearing or doubting, with Christ on our side, we hope to die shouting the Lord will provide. Amen. Let us pray.

Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your holy written word that we might read it, that we might study it. Lord, we might learn more loving and gracious God that we have, that we follow, Lord, that we serve. Lord, we see also in your word how sinful and how wicked we are, how short we fall of how you would have us live. Lord, as we study our study today, I pray that you would help us in our times of despair and our struggles, Lord, that we would not complain, that we would not grumble, Lord, that we would turn to you, that we would wait silently, quietly for you. Lord, we know you're sovereign, and we know all things are according to your will.

Lord, help us in difficult times, in chronic illnesses, in sufferings. Lord, help us to rest in you. Take our portion in you. Lord, to always turn to you no matter what. Help us not lose faith.

Help us not falter. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.