Ⅲ
“It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness that we are not consumed, / For His compassions do not fail; / They are new every morning; / Great is Your faithfulness”—Lam. 3:22-23:
Ａ
Jehovah appeared to Jeremiah, saying, “I have drawn you with lovingkindness”—Jer. 31:3:
１
Jehovah’s lovingkindness is precious, everlasting, and higher than the heavens and leads to Christ as the cornerstone for God’s building—Psa. 36:7,9-10; 108:4; 118:1-4,22-29; 136:1,26.
２
Psalm 103 speaks of God’s history in His lovingkindness and compassions in His forgiving of sins, healing, redeeming, and caring for His people.
３
The psalmist said to Jehovah, “In the abundance of Your lovingkindness / I will come into Your house”—5:7:
ａ
Anyone who had the privilege of entering into the temple on Mount Zion had to be under God’s lovingkindness.
ｂ
Actually, to enter into the temple in itself was an enjoyment of the abundance of God’s lovingkindness.
ｃ
Considering Jehovah’s lovingkindness in the midst of His temple indicates that we touch His lovingkindness in the church.
４
Psalm 101 unveils how Christ will reign over the earth with lovingkindness and justice.
Ｂ
The people of Israel had failed, but God’s compassions preserved the remnant of Israel for the carrying out of His economy—Lam. 3:22-23:
１
Compassion is deeper, finer, and richer than mercy—Rom. 9:15; Psa. 103:8.
２
Compassion refers to God’s inward affection originating in His loving essence—2 Cor. 1:3; James 5:11; Luke 6:36.
３
Christ came to the earth because of the merciful compassions of God—1:78.
４
Jehovah’s compassions “are new every morning”—Lam. 3:23:
ａ
Verse 23a indicates that Jeremiah contacted the Lord as the compassionate One every morning.
ｂ
It was through his contact with the Lord that he received the word regarding God’s lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness.
Ｃ
Jeremiah said to Jehovah, “Great is Your faithfulness”—v. 23b:
１
God’s compassions do not fail, because He is the faithful One—Psa. 57:10.
２
God is faithful to His own word; He cannot deny Himself; He cannot deny His nature and His being—2 Tim. 2:13.
３
In His faithfulness God has called us into the fellowship of His Son, and He will keep us in this participation and enjoyment in His faithfulness—1 Cor. 1:9.
４
The faithful God who has called us will also sanctify us wholly and preserve our entire being complete—1 Thes. 5:23-24.
Ⅳ
“Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; / Therefore I hope in Him”—Lam. 3:24:
Ａ
Jeremiah’s word concerning Jehovah being our portion and our hoping in Him bears a New Testament flavor—Col. 1:12, 27:
１
Jeremiah enjoyed Jehovah as his portion, and he put his hope not in himself nor in anything else but only in Jehovah—Lam. 3:24:
ａ
On the one hand, Jeremiah realized that God is a God of lovingkindness, that He is compassionate, and that His word is faithful.
ｂ
On the other hand, Jeremiah realized that we still need to contact the Lord every morning, put our entire hope in Him, wait on Him, and call on His name—vv. 23-25, 55.
２
When the psalmist went into the sanctuary of God and had a divine view and perception of his situation, he could say that God was his portion forever—Psa. 73:17, 26:
ａ
In God’s sanctuary the psalmist was instructed to take only God Himself as his portion, not anything other than God—v. 26.
ｂ
God’s intention with His seekers is that they may find everything in Him and not be distracted from the absolute enjoyment of Himself.
Morning Nourishment
Lam. 3:24 Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; therefore I hope in Him.Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.
Psa. 73:26 My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.
I believe that [Lamentations 3:22 and 23] came to Jeremiah as he was contacting the Lord in the morning, reviewing all the afflictions of his people. While Jeremiah was reviewing these afflictions, he must have regretted the sinfulness of Israel. At this juncture the word of Jehovah came to him, that no matter how much He had punished Israel, He had not utterly consumed them. Jeremiah and many others remained. This was God’s lovingkindness. Realizing that he and all the others who remained with him were under God’s compassions, Jeremiah praised, saying, “For His compassions do not fail” (v. 22b). The people of Israel had failed, but God’s compassions did not fail. His compassions had preserved the remnant of Israel. Referring to Jehovah’s compassions, Jeremiah went on to say, “They are new every morning” (v. 23a). This indicates that Jeremiah contacted the Lord as the compassionate One every morning. It was through his contact with the Lord that he received this word regarding His lovingkindness, compassions, and faithfulness. God’s compassions do not fail, because He is the faithful One [v. 23b]. The faithfulness of God refers to His word. His faithfulness is also related to His covenant. Because He had made a covenant with Abraham and confirmed it with Isaac and Jacob, God had to be faithful to keep His word. (Life-study of Lamentations, pp. 6-7)
Today’s Reading
[Psalm 73:2-16 is] a record of the sufferings and puzzles of the God-seeking psalmist. Verse 2…indicates that the psalmist was nearly stumbled by the situation concerning the prosperity of the wicked (vv. 3-12)….This pious seeker of God was suffering, but if he had told others about his situation, they would have been stumbled and would have said, “Whoever keeps the law will be prosperous.” However, here is one who kept the law, yet was not at all prosperous.In verses 17 through 28 we see that the psalmist obtained the solution in the sanctuary of God….Where is God’s sanctuary today? First, God’s sanctuary, His habitation, is in our spirit. Second, God’s sanctuary is the church. Thus, to go into the sanctuary of God, we need to turn to our spirit and then go to the meetings of the church. Once we are in the sanctuary— in the spirit and in the church—we will have another view, a particular perception, of the situation concerning the wicked.
Having gone into the sanctuary of God, the psalmist could perceive that the wicked were set in slippery places to be cast down into ruins (v. 18). This caused the psalmist to say, “How they are made desolate in a moment! / They are utterly consumed by terrors. / Like a dream when one awakes, You, O Lord, / Upon arising, will despise their image” (vv. 19-20).
Verse 25 reveals that God’s pure seeker would have God as his only possession in heaven and his unique desire on earth. God was the psalmist’s unique goal. The psalmist did not care for anything except God and gaining Him. In this matter, Paul was the same. In Philippians 3:8 Paul said that he counted all things as refuse in order to gain Christ….In Psalm 73:26 we have the answer to the psalmist’s question concerning his suffering and the prosperity of the wicked. The one who does not care for God may gain many things and seem to prosper. However, the one who cares for God will be restricted by God and even stripped by God of many things….This is what happened to Job. (Life-study of the Psalms, pp. 353-355)
Further Reading: Life-study of the Psalms, msgs. 11, 30, 38-39, 43; CWWL, 1984, vol. 5, “The All-inclusiveness and Unlimitedness of Christ,” ch. 1