Lam 3:20 | KingComments | STEP | Even though Jeremiah thinks the LORD does not hear ( ), he continues to pray ( ). He cannot help but think of the LORD. It simply cannot be that the LORD does not hear. Would it leave Him unmoved when He sees his misery and homeless situation? Would it not move Him when He notices the wormwood and the bitterness that the wretched must take to himself as a bitter, disgusting food? For all the despair, he himself cannot help but think of the LORD ( ). Then new hope comes ( ). The hope was gone, there was despair, but after prayer there is hope again. There is the reminder of what a God he is dealing with, that He is and remains kind and gracious. He takes this to heart. He takes here a purpose of heart. He ‘pulls himself together’. That is why hope suddenly flares up here. Isn’t it the same with us? We can also sometimes fail to see the aforementioned attributes of God for a time. We can become despondent about it, all the more so when we only see suffering and distress and ruin. But when we remember that He is greater than all distress, we will with resolute heart stay with Him (cf. ) because He is the unchanging One. Then hope also returns. It is important, however, to keep in mind the difference between an Old Testament believer and a New Testament believer. The Old Testament believer does not know full salvation through the work of Christ. He lives one moment in the assurance that he has been accepted by God, while the next moment he may have lost that assurance again. The believer who lives after the work of Christ on the cross may live in the full assurance of salvation. That he may occasionally go through a period when this is not experienced by him is something else than doubting salvation. However, it may be that even believers in this day and age do not live in the full assurance of salvation. The cause of this is usually wrong teaching from God’s Word. This is especially the case with those who use the law as the standard for their lives.

‏ Lamentations 3:20

Prayer

Even though Jeremiah thinks the LORD does not hear (Lam 3:8), he continues to pray (Lam 3:19). He cannot help but think of the LORD. It simply cannot be that the LORD does not hear. Would it leave Him unmoved when He sees his misery and homeless situation? Would it not move Him when He notices the wormwood and the bitterness that the wretched must take to himself as a bitter, disgusting food?

For all the despair, he himself cannot help but think of the LORD (Lam 3:20). Then new hope comes (Lam 3:21). The hope was gone, there was despair, but after prayer there is hope again. There is the reminder of what a God he is dealing with, that He is and remains kind and gracious. He takes this to heart. He takes here a purpose of heart. He ‘pulls himself together’. That is why hope suddenly flares up here.

Isn’t it the same with us? We can also sometimes fail to see the aforementioned attributes of God for a time. We can become despondent about it, all the more so when we only see suffering and distress and ruin. But when we remember that He is greater than all distress, we will with resolute heart stay with Him (cf. Acts 11:23) because He is the unchanging One. Then hope also returns.

It is important, however, to keep in mind the difference between an Old Testament believer and a New Testament believer. The Old Testament believer does not know full salvation through the work of Christ. He lives one moment in the assurance that he has been accepted by God, while the next moment he may have lost that assurance again.

The believer who lives after the work of Christ on the cross may live in the full assurance of salvation. That he may occasionally go through a period when this is not experienced by him is something else than doubting salvation.

However, it may be that even believers in this day and age do not live in the full assurance of salvation. The cause of this is usually wrong teaching from God’s Word. This is especially the case with those who use the law as the standard for their lives.