Lamentations is truly filled with the vivid horrors of Judah’s destruction. It’s much easier to talk about it when we weren’t there, we don’t see the effects of Babylon’s siege. Yet, in clear terms the suffering of the people is explained in Lamentations. It’s described as worse than the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Lam. 4:6). It wasn’t instant, it was slow and torturous. Children are starving as their mothers are neglecting them and even some mothers on the brink of starvation ended up boiling their children (4:4,10). It was a horrible time in which the author concludes, “Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field” (Lam. 4:9). While Jerusalem was under siege people were starving and suffering in ways that were unimaginable. With this in mind, a quick death was better than one filled with slow, drawn-out suffering.
In the midst of this horror, how could one find hope? How could any source of joy be found? How could anyone have an ounce of positivity left in their lives? The only hope was found in appealing to God’s unchanging nature.
“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’”
Lamentations 3:21-24 ESV
While the outward situation changed significantly and there was suffering all around, God hadn’t changed. The suffering of the people was the direct consequence of their sins. Yet, in the midst of this, there is still the truth that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. God still had a future and hope for Israel, He was still a loving God, and He still was good even in the midst of the suffering. Why? Because He doesn’t change.
I think I can say confidently that none of us are going through hardships today at the level experienced by those in Judah at that time, and yet we can find the same encouragement in the consistent nature of God. God is love (1 Jn. 4:8). It’s not something He does, it’s who He is. His love sometimes comes in discipline, sometimes it comes in blessing, but we can trust that He is always good and that He is faithful, and truly His mercies are new each and every day. Therefore, in Him, we can hope, no matter what comes our way.
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