Amen. As we consider God's word, I invite you to stand as we consider these words from Lamentations chapter three, verses 19 through 26. If you're following along in the church Bible, I believe that is found on page 688. Lamentations chapter three, beginning at verse 19. Hear God's word as it speaks to your heart this morning. Jeremiah wrote, Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our Lord will stand forever. You may be seated. In 1488, the Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Diaz became the first European to navigate around the southern tip of Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. And because of the difficulty and danger of the journey, Diaz named the Cape the Cape of Storms. However, the Cape was renamed the Cape of Good Hope by King John II of Portugal because of the opportunity provided with a trade route between Europe and India. And though it remains a treacherous area for any seafaring ship to this day, it is still called the Cape of Good Hope. One cape with two names. One reflects the difficulty of the journey while the other reflects the hope of the destination. And in this we learn that our perspective helps determine what we see. And what we see in our passage from Lamentations is that our perspective changes when we focus not on our circumstances, but on our God. When we focus not on the difficulty of the journey, but on the hope of the destination. The title Lamentations quite literally means the laments. These are the laments. These are the hard cries of Jeremiah after destruction came. The very destruction that he himself had foretold of when the Babylonians came and destroyed the southern kingdom of Judah, the city of Jerusalem, and the center of their worship in the temple. In chapters one and two of Lamentations, Jeremiah wrote from the perspective of the people of Jerusalem. But here in chapter three, the perspective changes as he wrote from his own personal experiences of witnessing the devastating destruction with the fall of the city and the temple that he loved. If you still have your Bibles open, look with me at the way chapter three begins, where Jeremiah wrote. He says, I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his, that is God's wrath. He has driven and brought me into darkness without any light. Surely against me, he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. Notice that Jeremiah acknowledged that God had done this. This was the prophecy that he had been given by God. This was the judgment that God had promised would come. And now it has come to fruition. And for Jeremiah, it was beyond even what he expected. even though he knew it was coming, he still has this visceral reaction to the reality of God's word. And if we were to drop down to verse 15, we read, he, and again, that is referring to God, he has filled me with bitterness. He has sated me or filled me with wormwood. He has made my teeth grind on gravel and has made me cower in ashes. My soul is bereaved or grieved of peace. Jeremiah gives this explicit and detailed description of his internal reaction to all that he has seen and experienced. And just listen to the level of honesty as we read on. I have forgotten what happiness is. So I say my endurance has perished, so has my hope from the Lord. Just let those words strike you and soak into your soul for a moment. Jeremiah says that he has forgotten what happiness is. His circumstances are so overwhelming that he's forgotten what happiness is. Happiness to him seems more like a fanciful dream compared to the nightmarish reality that is before his eyes. He was experiencing the immensity and the intensity of what had unfolded not only around him but within him. As one commentator wrote, there is a difference between lamentation before God and anger toward God. Lamentation means that we are honest about our pain and confusion. Anger toward God is a moral judgment of God where we claim that God has somehow done us wrong or been unjust. It's a blasphemous judgment to be angry with God. But to lament means to pour out our heart, to pour out the struggles of our life before the Lord. And that's exactly what Jeremiah is doing in our text. And as a follower of Jesus Christ, do you realize this morning that one of the greatest gifts that you have is that you too can come before the Lord with such honesty and vulnerability and you can pour out your pain and confusion before him. There is a level of raw honesty and intimacy that God has allowed for Jeremiah and for you and me. as we are able to come before the Lord, when we too experience that sense of being overwhelmed and confused. Another commentator wrote this, laments are not cul-de-sacs of sorrow, rather they are conduits for renewed faith. And that is exactly what you and I see in the evolution of Jeremiah's perspective. In a passage that began with, I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath, and yet is able, with the same level of intimacy and honesty, is able to come out on the other side and write, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. The truth is sometimes we can't get to the mountaintop of the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases until we have humbly walked through the valley of, I am the man who has seen affliction. When you and I are struggling, we will only offer superficial praise until we have first offered sincere lamentation. And so the question we must ask of our text is, So how do we get there? What does that practically look like? That is what Jeremiah reveals to us as we look at the beginning of our passage and listen in as he first speaks to the world. Have you ever had one of those seasons in your life where you seemed so overwhelmed by something and it seemed to consume all of your thoughts? You wake up in the morning and it's the first thing that comes to mind. Or perhaps it woke you up before your alarm even went off. It's the hamster on the hamster wheel of your mind, and it reminds you over and over again as your day begins. And so you try to counter that, but by busying yourself with chores and school and work or recreation. And as evening falls and the busyness of the day begins to fade, you find those consuming thoughts returning. And so you try and distract yourself by picking up a book or turning on the television or getting on social media. And though they may distract you for a time, eventually the book is put down, the screen is turned off, and that voice returns and it keeps you from falling asleep. You may be physically exhausted, but your mind and heart will not allow you to rest. And even when you do fall asleep, you find such thoughts filling your dreams and even keeping you awake at night. Has it ever felt as though your heart and mind are betraying you and just won't let you forget something and continually calls to mind what is weighing so heavy upon you? Well, that is what Jeremiah is going through and writing of as we pick up in verse 19. He writes, remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Jeremiah is burdened and discouraged. There was an urgency and intensity to life and it was as if his own mind, heart and soul were working against him so that he would never be settled and never be at peace. They were like the toddler who wants something from mom or dad and continues to ask and pull on the pant legs until they get the attention and only seem to get louder and more persistent if ignored. There was a battle going on within Jeremiah. He was being bombarded from within with these unending thoughts, feelings, reminders, what ifs that overwhelmed and exhausted him. And to get personal for a moment, Can you relate to Jeremiah? Have you ever been in his shoes? Are you perhaps this morning experiencing the very same battle going on within your own soul? That sense where it seems like you are your own worst enemy and you can find no rest and no peace and you are overwhelmed and exhausted. I know that this is my first time here for pulpit supply, but I am nevertheless confident that there are at least some of us here this morning that can relate to Jeremiah. So how did Jeremiah combat and defend himself from the bombardment going on within? Well, what do we read in verse 21? But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Let's just stop there for a moment. Notice that Jeremiah deliberately and willfully calls this to mind. In other words, it was an act of the will. It was not something that would naturally happen on its own. He did not wait until he felt like it. Though he actively took the steps and made the choice to change his focus and perspective. So what exactly is the this that he called to mind? Well, what do we read in verse 22? The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. As Jeremiah looked around the city and saw no more walls and no more temple, as he heard the cries of mothers who were separated from their children, as he smelled the charred remains of businesses and homes that were destroyed by fire, he willfully called this to mind about God. And the first thing he called to mind was the steadfast love of the Lord. Now bear in mind, there was nothing around him that would have reminded him of that in that moment. He could only call this to mind because it was something that he had been taught in good times so that they could sustain him in these bad times. And that is, by the way, why we need to continually sit under the teaching of God's word so that we too can be reminded of God's steadfast love. Now the Hebrew word here for steadfast is chesed. You need to have a good head cold in order to pronounce it correctly. Chesed is this covenantal love of God. It's his loyal love for his people. It is a love that is not built upon emotions, but upon promises. It is a love that never ceases and never changes. And there is great comfort found in being reminded of God's steadfast love, because it is not based on your circumstances, and it's not even based on you. It finds its origins in the character of God himself. Now, if you're a Christian here this morning, there has never been a time when God did not love you, nor will there ever be a time when he will stop loving you. There has never been a time when he has loved you less and there will never be a time when he will love you more because he already, right now, loves you with a perfect love. Now you may not have always been aware of his love because your heart was dead in your sins and trespasses until the Holy Spirit awakened and enlivened you to the love of Christ, just as we considered earlier in Ephesians 2. And there may be times when it seems hidden to you because of the circumstances, as it was for Jeremiah. But that does not mean that God's love for you has waned in any way. And don't allow the evil one to convince you otherwise and get a foothold in your heart. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. It cannot and it will not end ever. Now, do you realize that this morning? That is what Jeremiah deliberately reminded himself of in the midst of all that was going on. Do you need to be reminded of that this morning? Jeremiah went on and reminded himself that the Lord's mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Now for the original reader, they would have gotten the reference that Jeremiah was making. Just as the Israelites in the wilderness received manna falling from heaven that would sustain them for each day and came to them new every morning, Jeremiah was saying that God's mercies come to us each and every day to sustain us. And just like the Israelites were instructed not to collect more than what they needed for that day, but were to trust that God would provide for them the next day, so too we do not lean on yesterday's blessings to sustain us for today. We trust that God's mercies will be new today and tomorrow and for every day thereafter. Now, mercy, by definition, is where we do not get what we deserve. And we don't always hold in mind what we truly deserve. Rather, we focus on what we think we are entitled to in this life. And when our focus is on our presumed entitlements, we are often let down and grow ungrateful. But when you and I focus on what we deserve as rebellious sinners, and yet what we receive as redeemed sons and daughters, it is not hard to find Jeremiah's words to be true here. And notice that God's mercies are new every morning, and yet they are constant. They are like a river flowing with an unending stream. Health, family, jobs, money, possessions, earthly comforts and consistencies may be gone by the time the sun comes up tomorrow. But do you know what will meet you tomorrow? God's mercies will meet you freshly as the day begins. That is why anxiety and worry can be so debilitating to the Christian heart because they seek to blot out what God has already done and to question the faithfulness of God on which has not even happened yet. They want us to forget his mercies that were new yesterday and to blind us to his mercies that will be fresh tomorrow morning. Jesus said in Matthew 6, 31 through 34, Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things. And your heavenly father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things doesn't say some of these things or most of these things, it says all of these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow. Instead of worrying, we, like Jeremiah, are called to deliberately focus on the fact that God's steadfast love, his fresh grace, and new mercies will meet us every single morning. Jeremiah willfully and deliberately spoke to his heart, his mind, his soul, and even his senses that were screaming at him and overwhelming him, that were saying, well, did you see that? Did you hear that? Well, what's gonna happen next? Well, what are we gonna do? What else could possibly go wrong? What if that happens? What if this happens? As they played out all the worst case scenarios that could possibly take place. And notice that Jeremiah did not deny the reality of all that had taken place. He didn't bury his head in the sand and neither should we. He simply is saying all of that may be true, but this is also true about God. I may not see how they intersect or know all the details of how everything is gonna work out, but I do know that they do intersect. And I know that God will work out all the details. He will hold me fast. You see, acknowledging one truth does not mean that we have to forfeit something else that is also true. One truth does not cancel out another truth just because we don't see from our limited perspective how they intersect. And so when faced with two truths, what is gonna hold your perspective? What is gonna hold your focus? Will it be the steadfast love of the Lord that never ceases and that His mercies never come to an end and they are new each morning? Or will it be something else? If your life was a cape, would it be called the cape of storms? Or would it be called the cape of good hope? Same treacherous storms may come, But are you focusing on the difficulty of the journey or on the hope of the destination? As you and I read on, Jeremiah changes his audience from speaking to the world to speaking to God. As we then look at the remainder of verse 23 where Jeremiah wrote, great is your faithfulness. Do you see that change? No longer was he speaking about God as he was earlier. Now, with fresh reminders of God's heart and character, he turns to God and is able to confess, great is your faithfulness. Now, Jeremiah said this not because God needed to be reminded of it, but because Jeremiah's confusion about God was beginning to clear. No longer was he focused on the circumstances that surrounded him, It was on the God who was with him in the midst of the circumstances that surrounded him. Jeremiah was beginning to see that he was not alone and that God had not abandoned him. And that all that he saw in the immediate was not an indicator of eternity. His present circumstances were not the end of the story. And Jeremiah already knew that, did he not? the very same Jeremiah who penned our text, penned the words of the 29th chapter of the book that bears his name where he wrote. For thus says the Lord, when 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord. And I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. with reminders of God's steadfast love and unending mercy before him. Jeremiah was able to look back on the promises of God and say, great is your faithfulness. You said it, you'll accomplish it. I may not know the how, but I do know the who, and you will accomplish it. To say that someone is faithful means they are immovable, trustworthy, dependable, Faithfulness is an absolute and objective characteristic. Meaning, what do you call a husband who is only faithful 99% of the time? Unfaithful. To say that God is faithful is to assert that he is faithful 100% of the time and therefore he can be trusted. Now do not misinterpret these words. As we read these words, we might presume upon them emotions that are not carried in the text. There is nothing in this text that would lead us to believe that they were spoken with jubilant happiness or joyful exaltation. These words may have been spoken to the Lord with tears streaming down his face, with a lump in his throat and an ache in his soul. They may have been spoken no stronger than a whisper. Lord, I'm going to trust in the immovability of your faithfulness when everything else around me is shaking and falling apart. Can you pray that prayer this morning? Can you make such a profession of your heart? Can you turn to God and simply and sincerely say, great is your faithfulness? Can you sing from your heart, great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changes not, thy compassions, they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I hath needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Can you sing that this morning? Can I? Jeremiah then went on the offense in the midst of this internal battle, as we then see a radical transformation, as he then speaks to himself. Comforted and confronted by the faithfulness of God, How did Jeremiah's internal world respond? What's our text say? He says, the Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore, I will hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Now, do you realize what you and I have just witnessed? What has just taken place in our text? His soul surrendered to the truth and to the reality of God. His soul that continually remembered and was bowed down is a soul that is now able to say, the Lord is my portion, therefore I will have hope. The intensity and urgency of the shouts and screams of his heart, mind, soul, and even his senses have grown quiet and calm. Like the toddler whose ever-increasing volume and continual persistence subside because they have been acknowledged and addressed by mom or dad, so too Jeremiah's internal world, And notice that it was not because his outward circumstances somehow changed, it was because his internal world had been changed. Where he was able to see not only the storm, but the destination too. It's a remarkable transformation that you and I are able to witness in Jeremiah's internal world. Remember what we read in verses 19 through 20. Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall, my soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. At the beginning of our passage, his soul continually called to mind all the afflictions of life. But after this encounter with God and his word, Jeremiah's soul began to find hope in the Lord. The urgency and the intensity of the moment had given way so that he was able to say, the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. The remarkable thing that took place in Jeremiah's heart, and you and I have had the privilege of witnessing it, but more personally, has something remarkable taken place in your heart today by the work of the same Spirit and the same Word that is at work in this time and in this place this morning. Because of your encounter with God and His Word, Has your hope in the Lord been restored? Are you able to sing, great is thy faithfulness, even if there's tears coming down your eyes, even if there's a lump in your throat and an ache in your soul, even if it's only with a whisper? Has the urgency and the intensity of your heart given way? So that you can join with Jeremiah and say, the Lord is my portion. Therefore, I will hope in him. You and I stand on the precipice of another week. And as we each face that week, we're able to do so with a choice. Will we focus on the difficulty of the journey or on the hope of the destination? Let us pray. Father, we thank you. You've been so faithful. And bringing us through another week. And though we have a tendency to mark time through days, weeks, months and even years gone by. We know that you do not measure time with such markers. For you have an eternal perspective, as Peter tells us, with the Lord one day is as a thousand years. and a thousand years as one day. Father, help us to grasp your eternal perspective by realizing that each day is a chapter that is unfolding in your story of redemption, that is moving us forward to that glorious day when we will live eternally with you. And until that blessed day, may you be our portion. May we hope in you. May we wait for you. May our souls seek you. And may we wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. For we have good hope in the destination. Because we know that Christ who began a good work in us will bring it to completion. And that moment of completion means that we will be with you. No longer beholding you by faith, but by sight. and the glories and wonder and beauty of the new heavens and the new earth. Father, even as these prayers are prayed, I pray for each individual person here this morning, because they, like Jeremiah, may be experiencing the urgency and intensity within their own heart and soul. And Father, I do not claim to know all the details of each life, But we do trust that you do, and we pray that you would cause each of us, by your mercy and grace, to be able to sing, great is your faithfulness. We ask this all in Jesus' name together.