“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;” – Lamentations 3:22 ESV
Unlike us, God’s love doesn’t waver. We are tempted to withhold love, let it decrease or favor one person over the other; but God loves equally and justly all of the time. It doesn’t matter if we mess up, even repeating the same sins we’ve confessed and tried to defeat. Though we suffer consequences and disciple in our walk of faith, God’s love for us never changes.
What Does 'The Steadfast Love of the Lord Never Ceases' Mean?
Lamentations was most likely written by the prophet Jeremiah while the Jews were in exile in Babylon, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem (NIV). Their home had been taken from them and destroyed. At a time when they had the most cause to lose hope, God reminded them of His never-ending love for them. The entirety of the phrase reads:
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)
The NIV translation reads:
“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
This verse means God’s people then, and we now, can put our hope not in the shifting circumstances of our lives and this world, but in the rock-solid love of God that never changes. “The ‘hope’ that the writer expresses here is not created by denying or minimizing suffering and misery,” the Expositor’s Bible Commentary explains, “Rather, these are transformed when the mind is turned to God. The vital word in verse 22 is 'great love,’ the covenant love and loyalty of the Lord that leads to ‘compassion.’” God’s love is unwavering, and His faithfulness is unchanging. God is unchanging. Who He is, regardless of our behavior or circumstances, never changes.
Just by waking to a new day, we have overcome the night to live another day, under God’s sovereign reign. The VOICE paraphrase reads:
“How enduring is God’s loyal love; the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion. Here they are, every morning, new! Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day.”
God is truth and life. He is the Author of our breath and determines our purpose before we are born. Nothing is a mystery to God. He goes before us and behind us, and remains with us. We can’t see into the future to the end of our suffering, but we can put our hope in God, through Christ. Great love, in Hebrew, describes the “Lord’s repeated acts of loving faithfulness to his covenant promises” (NIV)
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