Here is one such section:
“He (God) has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood. He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.’”
Isn’t this an apt description of grief? Lacking peace, forgetting what happiness is, flagging endurance, and hopelessness?
Jeremiah continues:
“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.”
This prayer is directed to God that He would remember the many trials that have been already endured. Asking this causes Jeremiah’s soul, the very core of his physical, mental, and spiritual being, to bow down in humility, reverence, and submission to God’s sovereignty and providence in the midst of such anguish.
The tone of the next verse, though, changes dramatically:
“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.’”
Reminding God of His actions reminds the one praying of a few things as well: God will never forget or forsake us, and He brings new kindnesses to us each and every day.
When we are engulfed by feelings of despair, there really is no better remedy than to recount the mercies of God. It is no small matter to “...count your blessings, one by one.” Doing so causes us to remember the faithfulness of God even when we are overcome by lamentation. Each morning we need to wait in confident expectation to see how God’s love and compassion will be revealed to us during the course of the day.
God is the source of our hope. When everything else fails, He alone remains faithful.
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