The book of Lamentations contains five poems that describe Jeremiah’s eyewitness account of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army. Although Jeremiah predicted the total annihilation of God’s temple and the beautiful city of Jerusalem, Judah failed to repent and turn back to God. Lamentations is actually a funeral dirge that Jeremiah writes to expresses his deepest grief over the death of Jerusalem, for the suffering of God’s people and their rebellion against God.
Between his words of lament, however, Jeremiah also wrote of God’s love and faithfulness and His unfailing compassion. Jeremiah knew God’s mercy was new every morning, and we see a glimmer of hope, as Judah appeals to the Lord for forgiveness and restoration.
Jehovah is a God of tender compassion, and He is anxious to forgive those who yield to His divine will. God did remember the Hebrew people. Eventually they came back home and the temple was rebuilt. The soul of Judah had sunk low and all but breathed its last. But on the ruins of the past the Lord began to build the future. Judah’s soul revived because of repentant hearts and renewed hope in the Lord. Once shamed by sin, Judah was again lifted up by grace. The God of Second Chances, turned despair into hope and repentance into renewal!
The God of Second Chances still hears our laments today. Lives are falling apart all around us. Maybe your own life is in turmoil. This world is filled with injustice, suffering, pain, and rebellion against God. Do you weep at the pain around you? Are you moved with compassion for the lost world? God can take our despair and give us hope. He can take our brokenness and restore our soul. He can pour out His Spirit on our dry and thirsty land. He can turn our weeping into joy. You can trust the God of Second Chances---
“Because of the “Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion never fails. They are new every morning;great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;therefore I will wait for him.”(Lamentations 3:22-24)