HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1094
LA MEN TAT I O N S 3
Hope in the LORD’s Faithfulness
1 I am the one who has seen the afflictions
that come from the rod of the Lord’s
anger.
2 He has led me into darkness,
shutting out all light.
3 He has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
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He has made my skin and flesh grow old.
He has broken my bones.
He has besieged and surrounded me
with anguish and distress.
He has buried me in a dark place,
like those long dead.
He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.
He has bound me in heavy chains.
And though I cry and shout,
he has shut out my prayers.
He has blocked my way with a high
stone wall;
he has made my road crooked.
He has hidden like a bear or a lion,
waiting to attack me.
He has dragged me off the path and torn
me in pieces,
leaving me helpless and devastated.
He has drawn his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
He shot his arrows
deep into my heart.
My own people laugh at me.
All day long they sing their mocking
songs.
He has filled me with bitterness
and given me a bitter cup of sorrow
to drink.
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• Failure
LAME NTAT IO NS 3 :2 3
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Judah had failed God and now lay in
ruins. But in the midst of this desolation
Jeremiah saw a ray of hope: the faithfulness of God to help us start over. Each
dawn brings a fresh supply of time and
opportunities. With each day also comes
a new supply of God’s faithfulness. He
is faithful to keep us from failing and to
set our feet on the right path. We also
have a daily supply of God’s lovingkindness that supports us and gives
us the strength to succeed. With each
dawn, we should offer fresh thanksgiving
to God for these assurances of our
ultimate success.
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He has made me chew on gravel.
He has rolled me in the dust.
Peace has been stripped away,
and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
I cry out, “My splendor is gone!
Everything I had hoped for from the Lord
is lost!”
The thought of my suffering and
homelessness
is bitter beyond words.*
I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!*
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”
The Lord is good to those who depend
on him,
to those who search for him.
So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
And it is good for people to submit at
an early age
to the yoke of his discipline:
Let them sit alone in silence
beneath the Lord’s demands.
Let them lie face down in the dust,
for there may be hope at last.
Let them turn the other cheek to those
who strike them
and accept the insults of their enemies.
For no one is abandoned
by the Lord forever.
Though he brings grief, he also shows
compassion
because of the greatness of his
unfailing love.
For he does not enjoy hurting people
or causing them sorrow.
If people crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the land,
if they deprive others of their rights
in defiance of the Most High,
if they twist justice in the courts—
doesn’t the Lord see all these things?
Who can command things to happen
without the Lord’s permission?
Does not the Most High
send both calamity and good?
Then why should we, mere humans, complain
when we are punished for our sins?
3:19 Or is wormwood and gall. 3:22 As in Syriac version;
Hebrew reads of the Lord keeps us from destruction.