"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. But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies."
Introduction
This short passage from Lamentations 3:21–23, 32 moves from sorrow to a firm reminder of hope. The speaker deliberately recalls God’s character—His mercies, compassions, and faithfulness—as the ground for hope even in the experience of grief. The lines capture a biblical spirituality that faces pain honestly while resting in the covenantal reliability of God, who renews mercy each morning.
Historical-Cultural Context and Authorship
Lamentations is a collection of laments traditionally read as the communal response to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile (587/586 BCE). Jewish and Christian tradition often attribute the book to the prophet Jeremiah because of thematic and linguistic affinities with Jeremiah’s prophecies, and because early Jewish tradition linked Jeremiah with these elegies; modern scholarship treats Jeremiah as a plausible but not certain author, seeing Lamentations as arising in the immediate aftermath of Jerusalem’s fall.
Chapter 3 is notable in Hebrew poetic form: it is an acrostic poem using the Hebrew alphabet (each section begins with successive Hebrew letters), a structure that marks disciplined lament and ordered mourning. The wording here uses key Hebrew theological terms that enrich the sense: chesed (חֶסֶד, often translated "steadfast love" or "mercies"), rachamim (רַחֲמִים, "compassions" or womb-like mercy), hadash (חָדָשׁ, "new"), and emunah (אֱמוּנָה, "faithfulness" or faithfulness/reliability). The Masoretic Text preserves these lines; some differences appear in the Septuagint and later textual traditions, but the central theological claims are consistent across witnesses.
Lamentations was read liturgically in ancient and medieval Jewish communities, particularly on days of national mourning such as Tisha B'Av; Christians have used these verses in seasons of penitence and remembrance (for example in Holy Week and funeral rites), finding in them pastoral resources for holding sorrow and trust together.
Explanation and Meaning of the Text
"This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope." The speaker intentionally remembers—memory is presented as a spiritual discipline. Recollection of who God is becomes the pivot from despair to hope. It is not mere optimism but a reasoned trust grounded in God’s character.
"It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." The Hebrew chesed (mercies or steadfast love) and rachamim (compassions) point to a God whose loyal, covenantal love sustains life. Even in judgment or disaster, God’s mercies prevent total annihilation; the language stresses continuity: God's compassion does not come to an end.
"They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." The imagery of renewal each morning (hadash) evokes daily provision and repeated grace. Faithfulness (emunah) here is not abstract reliability alone but the concrete, lived-out fidelity of God toward His people. The daily newness suggests that hope can be renewed repeatedly; God’s faithfulness is the basis for waking expectancy, even when circumstances remain painful.
"But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies." The text does not deny that God permits or even brings grief—often understood as corrective or disciplinary within the covenant—but it insists that such grief is accompanied by compassion. The phrase "multitude of his mercies" emphasizes abundance: discipline is not the final word; mercy remains overwhelmingly greater. Theologically, the passage balances divine holiness and justice with divine mercy, teaching that suffering can awaken reliance on God’s abundant compassion rather than erode it.
Pastorally, the passage invites a practice: when you feel overwhelmed, name what you know of God’s character and recall God’s past mercies. That remembrance becomes the seedbed of hope and the pathway through lament toward trust.
Devotional
When grief presses in, let the memory of God's mercies rise deliberately in your mind. Make a small practice of recalling one concrete way God has shown kindness—yesterday’s answer to prayer, a friend’s faithful presence, a moment of unexpected peace—and let that memory steady your heart. The text invites us to wake to God’s mercy each morning, trusting that His compassion is not exhausted.
Allow yourself to feel the sorrow without pretending it is absent, and bring it to the God whose faithfulness is great. If discipline or hardship has come, receive the truth that it can be encompassed by God’s abundant mercy. Pray for the grace to remember, to hope, and to rest in the daily renewal of God’s steadfast love.