哀歌三章二十二至二十三节说，“我们不至消灭，是出于耶和华的慈爱，因祂的怜恤不至断绝；每早晨这些都是新的。你的信实，极其广大。”我信这话是耶利米在早晨接触主，回想他百姓一切的困苦时临到他的。耶利米在回想这些困苦时，必定为以色列的罪恶懊悔。这时耶和华的话临到他说，无论祂怎样惩罚以色列，祂并没有完全消灭他们。这是神的慈爱。耶利米领悟他和所有与他一同存留的人，都在神的怜恤之下，就赞美说，“因祂的怜恤不至断绝。”。以色列人失败了，但神的怜恤不至断绝。祂的怜恤保守了以色列余民。耶利米继续题到耶和华的怜恤，说，“每早晨这些都是新的。” 。这指明耶利米每早晨都接触主。
在二十三节下半耶利米宣告说，“你的信实，极其广大。”神的怜恤不至断绝，因为祂是信实者。神的信实是指祂的话。祂的信实也与祂的约有关。因为神与亚伯拉罕立了约，并与以撒和雅各坚定了这约，祂就必须信实的遵守祂的话。
在二十四至二十五节，耶利米继续从他的深处说，“我心里说，耶和华是我的分；因此我仰望祂。那等候耶和华，心里寻求祂的，耶和华必恩待他。”耶利米享受耶和华作他的分，并且他不仰望自己，不仰望人，也不仰望别的事物，只单单仰望耶和华。一面，耶利米领悟神是慈爱的神，祂是怜恤的，并且祂的话是信实的。另一面，耶利米领悟，我们仍需要每早晨接触主，完全仰望祂、等候祂。
在耶利米的时代，以色列人的光景不好。似乎神并不是这么仁慈，这么亲切、怜恤并信实；反而看来正好相反。我们在类似的光景中时，该怎么办？我们和耶利米一样，需要领悟神仍然是我们的分，我们该仰望祂、等候祂、并呼求祂的名。然而，即使我们这样作，也不该期望光景会立刻改变。我们需要继续等候主。
五十五节说，“耶和华阿，我…呼求你的名。”我珍赏本篇信息中所强调的三件事：仰望主，等候主，并呼求祂的名。
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The Third Lamentation (2) — Lam. 3:55-57
Lamentations 3:22 and 23 say, “It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness that we are not consumed, / For His compassions do not fail; / They are new every morning. / Great is Your faithfulness.” I believe that this word came to Jeremiah as he was contacting the Lord in the morning, reviewing all the afflictions of his people. While Jeremiah was reviewing these afflictions, he must have regretted the sinfulness of Israel. At this juncture the word of Jehovah came to him, that no matter how much He had punished Israel, He had not utterly consumed them. Jeremiah and many others remained. This was God’s lovingkindness. Realizing that he and all the others who remained with him were under God’s compassions, Jeremiah praised, saying, “For His compassions do not fail” (Lam. 3:22b). The people of Israel had failed, but God’s compassions did not fail. His compassions had preserved the remnant of Israel. Jeremiah went on to say, “They are new every morning” (Lam. 3:23a). This indicates that Jeremiah contacted the Lord as the compassionate One every morning.
In verse 23b Jeremiah declared, “Great is Your faithfulness.” God’s compassions do not fail, because He is the faithful One. The faithfulness of God refers to His word. His faithfulness is also related to His covenant. Because He had made a covenant with Abraham and confirmed it with Isaac and Jacob, God had to be faithful to keep His word.
In verses 24 and 25 Jeremiah continued, saying from the depths of his being, “Jehovah is my portion, says my soul; / Therefore I hope in Him. / Jehovah is good to those who wait on Him, / To the soul that seeks Him.” Jeremiah enjoyed Jehovah as his portion, and he put his hope not in himself nor in the people nor in anything else but only in Jehovah. On the one hand, Jeremiah realized that God is a God of lovingkindness, that He is compassionate, and that His word is faithful. On the other hand, Jeremiah realized that we still need to contact the Lord every morning, put our entire hope in Him, and wait on Him.
In Jeremiah’s time, the situation of the people of Israel was not good. It did not seem that God was so loving, kind, compassionate and faithful. Rather, it looked just the opposite. When we are in a similar situation, what should we do? Like Jeremiah, we need to realize that God is still our portion and that we should hope in Him, wait on Him and call upon His name (Lam. 3:55). However, even though we do these things, we should not expect the situation to change immediately. Since there may be no immediate change, we need to continue to wait on the Lord.
In Lam. 3:55 of this lamentation, Jeremiah said, “I called upon Your name, O Jehovah” (Lam. 3:55a). I appreciate the three matters we have emphasized in this message: to have our hope in the Lord, to wait on Him and to call upon His name.