CAC LIVING WATER DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR FEBRUARY 19, 2022 : TOPIC – WHAT TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU ARE DOWNCAST
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Saturday, February 19, 2022
WHAT TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU ARE DOWNCAST
Read: Lamentations 3:18-24
Lamentations 3:18-24 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions 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.
MEMORISE: Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23)
EXPOSITION
God punished Judah for her sins, including spiritual adultery, sexual sins, murder, breaking faith, to mention but few. The punishment was so severe, as the Babylonians dealt with them ruthlessly. Jeremiah identified himself with Judah’s experiences. He described his outward affliction (Lam. 3:19a) and inward turmoil (v. 19b). The more he regurgitated and continually thought of those horrible experiences, his soul bowed down within him. He got depressed.
Note that three times between verses 19 and 23, he expressed the idea of ‘remembering’; In verses 19 & 20 he remembered all that were going on around him. Consequently, the negative things he remembered took a toll on him. It was getting on him, emotionally and psychologically. In verses 21 to 23 however, he remembered something else that changed everything: ‘This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope’. What are those things he chose to remember? He remembered “The Lord’s mercies,” he remembered God’s “compassions” and he remembered God’s “Faithfulness,” All these were sufficient for him to get out of the dungeon of despair. The word for “mercies” or “great love” in verse 22 is “hesed” in Hebrew, and has the idea of loyal love. That means once God has chosen a people, He sticks with them.
What are those things that distress and depress you each time you think over them? Perhaps, they are not just things that are happening around you now, but they happened long time ago, maybe as you were growing up, and each time you remember them, your soul is downcast! If that is the case, when such situations arise try to remember those 3 things that Jeremiah remembered and gave him hope. God’s steadfast love that never ceases, His mercies that never end, and His faithfulness that is ever great! Waiting on Him never ends in disappointment (Isaiah 40:31).
PRAYER POINTS:
1. Give God praises for His love, mercies and faithfulness toward you.
2. Ask God to give you a renewal of mind that focuses not on the negative things around you, but on who He is to you.
3. Pray for the bereaved that they would find divine help and fortitude to bear their losses.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Numbers 16 – 18