The first eighteen verses of this chapter deal with the wrath of the Lord.  In verse 1, we read the words of Jeremiah, “I am the man who has seen affliction because of the rod of His wrath.” (NASB)  Jeremiah speaks representatively of the people of God, so the wrath that he speaks of was experienced by the nation of Israel.  He had not deserved that wrath; the wrath and affliction came upon a sinful people, but he identifies himself with them.  He shared all their afflictions, but they hated him.  In EVERY VERSE from 1-17, there is a different description of the wrath of God upon him.  In verse 17, Jeremiah sadly writes, “my hope is perished from the LORD.”

Hope is revived in Jeremiah as he turns his eyes off himself and onto the Lord.  He prays in verses 19-20, “Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.  Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.” (NASB)  As he humbly bows before the Lord, owning the sins of the nation as his own, he says in verses 21-23, “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 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.”  What a remarkable discovery and truth.  It is ONLY by the by the mercies of the Lord that we are not destroyed, or consumed.  Ephesians 2:4 tells us that God “…is rich in mercy.”  We read in Deuteronomy 4:31, “(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee…”  The mercies of our faithful God are “new every morning.”  We go to bed and night with the mercy of God and wake in the morning to fine those mercies are renewed for the day ahead of us.  May our hearts respond as the psalmist’s did in Psalm 107:1, “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

We then read in Lamentations 3:24, “The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”  The Lord is the portion of his people in life and in death, in time and to eternity.  He is ours and we are His!  As believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:17)  We shall enjoy His presence and learn of Him throughout eternity!  Therefore, we can say “I will hope in Him.”  We can hope in Him for deliverance from all evils and enemies, for present supplies of grace, and for the enjoyment of future glory and happiness.  Dear fellow believer, when we trusted in Christ as our savior, He did so MUCH MORE than save us from our sins!  May we rejoice in Him.  May we praise Him.  May our hope truly be in Him!  (220.10)