Lamentations 3:22–23 — New Every Morning: Great Is Thy Faithfulness

In Lamentations 3:22–23 (KJV), a prophet sitting in the ruins of Jerusalem finds one thing that has not burned: the mercy of God. His compassions do not fail; they are new every morning, and His faithfulness is great enough for today.

“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, KJV

These words were not written on a bright day. Jerusalem had fallen to the armies of Babylon; the temple was ashes, the streets were silent, and the people had been carried away captive. The prophet had seen it all with his own eyes. Yet in the middle of his lament he stops and says, “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope” (Lamentations 3:21, KJV). His hope did not come from what he saw around him. It came from what he remembered about God.

Notice what he remembered. He did not tell himself that the trial was small; he told himself that the mercy was greater. Every breath we draw this morning is a gift we did not earn. If God dealt with us as our sins deserve, none of us could stand; but He deals with us through the merits of His Son. The hand that allowed the chastening also held back the destruction, and the heart that was grieved by sin was already planning to restore.

In that hour the kingdom that burned Jerusalem looked as if it would rule for ever. It did not. In the prophecy of Daniel 2, given in the very court of Babylon, God showed that every earthly empire has its appointed end and that only His kingdom shall stand for ever. Empires rise and fall; the compassions of the Lord do not. What threatens you today is temporary. His mercy is not.

“They are new every morning.” God does not hand us today what was left over from yesterday’s grace. As the manna fell fresh each dawn in the wilderness, so there is fresh pardon for the sin confessed, fresh strength for the duty, and fresh comfort for the sorrow of this one day. We are not asked to carry tomorrow’s burden with today’s strength. We are invited to come each morning to the throne of grace, where our High Priest waits to give mercy and “grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, KJV).

“Great is thy faithfulness.” Our faithfulness wavers; His never does. The promise does not rest on the strength of our hold upon Him, but on His hold upon us; and He will never let go of the soul that keeps coming to Him. And the prophet draws the conclusion for us: “The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him” (Lamentations 3:24, KJV). When everything else is taken, the Lord Himself remains, and He is enough.

Before the cares of this day crowd in, recall His mercies to mind, name them one by one, and take from His hand the grace that is new this morning.