His mercies are new every morning.
Jeremiah finds hope in the middle of a ruined city.
The episode in a glance.
- 01Lamentations was written after Jerusalem's destruction.
- 02Hope here is not naive — it's earned in the rubble.
- 03Mercies are new every morning — daily, not stockpiled.
- 04Great is your faithfulness — the line that became a hymn.
Read along.
Jeremiah wrote Lamentations sitting in the rubble of Jerusalem. The city was destroyed. The temple was burned. People were starving. And in the middle of that book of grief, he writes this:
'The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.'
This isn't naive hope. It's hope from a man who has just watched everything fall apart. Which makes it weightier, not lighter.
'New every morning.' Mercies don't stockpile. You don't get a year's supply on January 1st. You get today's. Tomorrow there will be more.
'Great is your faithfulness' — the line that became a hymn. Sung most often by people who, like Jeremiah, are not in a season of ease but are still convinced that God has not stopped being God.