Our Portion

“The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.” (Lamentations 3:24)

The prophet Jeremiah wrote his lamentation over the destruction of Jerusalem which is properly titled Lamentations. His hope that all would in the end be for the good, writes that even though his soul was afflicted and his eyes saw the hopelessness of the situation, he had this hope. In this chapter of Lamentations, Jeremiah sets down his feelings of hopelessness and misery, the result of the wrath of God because of the sin of Jerusalem. “I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.” Lamentations 3:1)

In verses 2-21, Jeremiah laments his personal misery, conveying the misery of the people also. But in verse 22, he reaffirms that in spite of the misery that surrounds them, it’s because of the Lord’s mercy and compassion which He pours out every morning, they haven’t died nor been killed. It’s because of the Lord’s faithfulness to His Word. “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Nothing is left. All is destroyed. He only has the Lord. I look around at the wealth in our lives, our families, our friends, our homes and the things we treasure in them. They are the things our hearts treasure, protect and guard. Yes, family and friends included because when Jerusalem was destroyed, families and friends were killed or were captured and taken as slaves. We should care for our families and friends, pray for them and their protection. But even they draw our hearts away from the Lord. “And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:36-37) In Jeremiah’s shoes, he had nothing left, only the Lord. When all is gone, the Lord is still with us. There is hope. We must be able to say like Job, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain mine own ways before Him.” (Job 13:15)

David wrote “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” (Psalms 42:11) Although we don’t know specifically in which trouble David wrote this, many think it may have been in Absalom’s betrayal, David expressed his wonder of why he was depressed. He had the Lord and He was all he needed. Although we may lose everything, we have the Lord and He is more than enough. He is sufficient for joy, for health and for life in the now and eternally.

Although Jerusalem was destroyed, the Lord gives Jeremiah hope for the future for Jerusalem . “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.” (Jeremiah 30:17) God gives Jeremiah another prophecy. “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.” (Jeremiah 33:6-7)

One thing we must remember is that God is good. When tragedy or trouble come, God is not the author of it. In the Old Testament, the Redeemer and Savior hadn’t come to pay the debt to satisfy the wrath of God for sin. But with the death and resurrection of Jesus, we don’t suffer the wrath of God for sin. Jesus told us who is the author of evil. “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) He is the liar that would deceive even the elect children of God. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9) The devil deceives the whole world. That’s why the world is a mess. And that is why we don’t want anything to do with the world.

Like Lot and like Jeremiah, we hope in the Lord. We have a hope that is based on His promises. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” (Hebrews 10:23). We hope for a better end regardless of what happens on earth, an end with the Lord eternally. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:11-14)