His compassions never fail

The prophet Jeremiah was witnessing God’s judgment for his people’s sin and rebellion. Even though God had sent prophet after prophet to deliver messages calling on the people of Judah to repent and return to him, they ignored him. Because the people ignored those warnings, the day of judgment came. The Babylonians swept into Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and its walls, tore down the temple, slaughtered thousands, and carried many of its people into captivity.

Photo Mark Schroeder wearing green vest with cross — WELS President Mark Schroeder

Those who were left behind saw the ruins of their once-beautiful city. Jeremiah lamented, “The LORD . . . has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces. . . . The LORD determined to tear down the wall around Daughter Zion . . . and did not withhold his hand from destroying” (Lamentations 2:5-8). The people themselves suffered grievously. Jeremiah continued, “My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment from within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city” (Lamentations 2:11).

For more than two chapters, Jeremiah describes in detail the results of God’s judgment. But then, suddenly, unexpectedly, the tune of lament turns into a song of faith and praise. Jeremiah says, “I remember my affliction and my wandering. . . . Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 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. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him’ ” (Lamentations 3:19-24). Jeremiah knew that God had promised a Savior, and he believed it.

As our new year begins, we look back on all the times when we, like the people of Judah, turned our backs on God and rebelled against him. We think of the times when we gave in to temptations that Satan threw at us; the times when we forgot God’s promises; the times when we failed as parents, as workers, as friends. We recall with shame how often our prayer life became spotty and our worship life was distracted. And we can’t forget those times when we heard the voice of God in his Word calling us to repentance and our hearts were deaf to his pleas.

But then, God in grace softens our hardened hearts and leads us to echo Jeremiah’s words: “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” He points us to the cross of Jesus where he reminds us of how God’s own Son rescued us from sin, our own failures, and the punishment that we deserve. And, with compassions that are new every morning, he brings us the joy of knowing that God has welcomed us repentant sinners back as his children.

Those compassions are not just new every morning. They are new every year. Just as God’s mercy was with us throughout the past year, so we can begin a new year with the opportunity to rejoice in God’s ever-new love for us in Christ, knowing that even when we fall, a gracious God is there to bring us back and restore us. Even though we don’t know what the coming year will bring, we do know this: His compassions never fail. That gives us every reason to be happy, joyful, and confident in this new year.

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