Column by Sumter Pastor Joey Durham: Rely on God and you won't be disappointed
Today, I want to bring this thought to your heart, "Great is Thy Faithfulness!" My text is Lamentations 3:21-26, where we see, "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. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." (KJV) This chapter is the heart and soul of the book of Lamentations. It is surrounded by the awfulness of sin with judgment and death in the preceding and succeeding chapters. Yet in the midst of all this, the divine message of hope is given in God working all things after the counsel of His own will and His ultimate good purpose for His people.
Let's consider the fact that Jeremiah had been mistreated by some of his own countrymen who were killed in the siege when Nebuchadnezzar conquered the land of Judah and destroyed the city of Jerusalem. Many of Jeremiah's own people hated him, scorned him, plotted to kill him, and even threw Jeremiah into a pit because he preached to them the Word of God, yet he grieved and mourned their demise and wept over the devastation that the sin of his own people had brought on Jerusalem.
Today, the believer should never look to finite individuals or institutions to provide solutions to the problems of life. As the hymn writer penned the words of this beloved song, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness! I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name! On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand!" That is where Jeremiah went to provide himself, not just with answers for the problems he had, but with comfort and hope for the future. Jeremiah relied upon the Lord and no one else and was not disappointed.
Dr. Joey Durham is pastor at Open Bible Baptist Church at 180 Old Manning Road in Sumter. You can contact Pastor Durham at durham.joey@yahoo.com or call the church office at (803) 481-9315.