New Mercy

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Early in 2016, as I was speaking with my son, Zach, and his fiancé Kelly, about their soon-to-be wedding, I asked them if they had a favorite “go-to” passage in the Bible. At the same time, they said, “Lamentations 3:22-23.” I chuckled and asked, “Who even reads Lamentations?”

As a matter of fact, Lamentations 3:22-23 contains one of the most beautiful promises in all of God’s Word. I stole a line from it and added it as an additional vow for their wedding. “I will offer you new mercies every day” has been included as a vow for every husband and wife I’ve married since Zach and Kelly’s wedding.

These two little verses in Jeremiah’s poetic book of laments, written shortly after Jerusalem fell to Babylon in 586 BC, reveal volumes about the character of God. These verses also model, for us, how a life lived in grace ought to look. In context, Lamentations is a series of five poems of mourning for Jerusalem’s fall. However, the last half of Chapter 3 implies that the grand purpose behind Jeremiah’s written tears is to produce hope in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose faithfulness and mercy are without ceasing.

God’s ”steadfast love” (Hebrew-chesed) is unending. There is no real English equivalent for the word chesed. Many translations use “steadfast love” to render chesed into English in Verse 22. Others use “loyal love, lovingkindness, faithful love,” or even “grace.” I’ve always felt that the phrase “covenantal love” captures the essence of the word.

When Susan and I were married in 1988, we signed a Ketubah (the Jewish marriage contract) immediately before the ceremony. To this day, when I do or say something dumb, Susan will laugh and say, “I guess I can’t go anywhere cuz I signed that piece of paper at the wedding . . .”

Chesed is an “I signed the contract” kind of love. God is a husband to His people (Jeremiah 31:31) and is eternally in a covenant relationship with them. His love, grace, and mercy know no end.

In Verse 23, Jeremiah repeats Verse 22 by saying God’s mercy reboots with every sunrise because His faithfulness is great. Imagine the blessing we have as His followers—His mercy for us when we miss the mark is as unending as our #missingthemarkness. And always remember, we tend to be terrible archers.

For you and me, this is an excellent image of going to bed angry (which, by the way, we should never do), and somehow, during the night, the Lord refills our mercy meter. Pray that He would allow you to wake up daily with arms open and full of fresh mercy for the people around you.

Father God, today we are incredibly humbled by Your covenantal love . . . by Your longsuffering ways. We’re humbled even more that You have an unending supply of mercy and grace for us when, in actuality, we really don’t deserve one iota of it. Amid the struggles of everyday life, we take shelter under the wings of Your faithfulness. Thank You, Lord, that the well of Your love never runs dry. And Jesus, we ask You, in turn, to never let ours run dry either. In Your matchless name, Amen.