The Memory That Saves

Hope is not a feeling; it is a choice. The prophet writes this from the middle of a national catastrophe. Jerusalem is destroyed. The people are in exile. His own soul feels like it has been shattered into pieces by God Himself (Lam. 3:1-20). The darkness is total. Then, he stops. In the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, he makes a deliberate turn. He says, “But this I call to mind” (Lam. 3:21). He chooses to change his focus from his suffering to his God. He does not pretend the pain is not real. Instead, he places a greater reality alongside it. The reason they have not been completely wiped out is God’s mercy. His compassion has not failed. This is not a one time event. It is a daily reality. God’s faithfulness is so vast and reliable that His mercies are new every single morning. The prophet grounds his hope not in a change of circumstances but in the unchanging character of God.

Your circumstances can feel overwhelming. The pain can be so real and the darkness so thick that it feels like God has forgotten you. Your feelings will tell you that you are alone and that this trial will never end. This is precisely where God invites you to make a choice. It is the choice to remember. Like the prophet, you must deliberately call to mind what you know to be true of God. His steadfast love for you in Jesus Christ never ceases. It is not dependent on your feelings or your situation. His mercies for you are not leftover from yesterday; they are fresh and new for you this very morning. He has not run out of compassion for you. You can trust this truth more than you can trust your pain. God is your portion. He is your inheritance and your sustenance when everything else has been stripped away. Therefore, you can place your hope in Him. He is faithful. He will not let you be consumed. What one truth about God’s unchanging love will you deliberately call to mind today?

Today, when despair whispers, intentionally speak this truth aloud: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.”

Father, my feelings often overwhelm me and I forget your goodness. Help me to deliberately recall your mercies that are new for me this morning. You are my portion, and in you alone I place my hope. Amen.

Lamentations is structured as an acrostic poem. Each of the first four chapters uses the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet to begin its verses, showing a complete and ordered grief.