Good morning!
Text: Lamentations 3-5; Isaiah 29.
When I was in seminary, one of the instructors I had in a counseling course was both a pastor and a clinical psychologist. He was on staff at a large church, and also part of the private practice of a very prominent scholar and author. In class, he described how modern secular people might respond to the man Jeremiah (author of Lamentations) and try to “treat” all the sadness we are now reading about. He said they would be baffled by Jeremiah’s surprising deliverance found in Chapter 3. It is indeed amazing. Jeremiah writes of aguish to anguish, of his emotional pain as if his teeth were grinding on gravel (3:16), that his soul is “bereft of peace” (3:17), and saying, “I have forgotten what happiness is.” My pastor/ psychologist/professor said, “Oy vey! This guy is seriously, clinically depressed!”
And then, like the new dawn, we discover the cure for depression…
21 But this I call to mind,and therefore I have hope:22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;23 they are new every morning;great is your faithfulness.24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,“therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24)
Feeling blue? Feeling down? Captive to negative thoughts and feelings? Bring to mind the goodness of the Lord, his steadfast love, and let the strains of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” lift your heart. He is indeed the answer!
in Him, Mike