December 1: The Lord is Good to Those Who Wait
♫ Music:
Day 2—Monday, December 1
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord.
For if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men.
Lamentations 3: 22-26, 32-33
THE LORD IS GOOD TO THOSE WHO WAIT
Lamentations is a first-person account by the prophet Jeremiah, written as a poem. This book of the Old Testament chronicles the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. at the hands of the Babylonians, a fall which occurred because the people had hardened their hearts and refused to keep the covenant made between them and God.
The people had prostituted themselves to other gods by sacrificing to them in the high places. They had adopted the incomprehensible practice of sacrificing their children to the god Molech by burning them to death in a ceremonial fire. When you hear of these sorts of transgressions it is not difficult to support God’s destruction of Judah.
For eighteen months the people of Jerusalem endured the unrelenting siege of their city. The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, had carefully surrounded the city so that no one could get in or out. People in the surrounding countryside had fled to the city of Jerusalem, thinking that they would be safe from the oncoming hordes of Babylonian soldiers. As the siege drags on and food begins to run out, Jeremiah describes how the people in their desperation begin to turn to cannibalism to survive (Lam 2:20, 4:10).
How in the world can anyone find hope in the middle of this storm of justifiable holy wrath? Jeremiah writes:
my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say,
“My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me. (Lamentations 3:17-20)
Yet, in the midst of this righteous punishment of a deeply sinful people (a punishment that seemingly should wring out any glimmer of hope,) Jeremiah reminds the reader that God is present even in the depths of despair.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
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: 21-23)
Simply put, God is not done yet. The book on the nation of Israel is not closed. The redemption of humanity from our fallen state is not just wishful thinking, but a covenantal promise from a God who keeps His word. Regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in, of our own making or not—God is faithful.
We look out at the dark ominous clouds on the horizon of our own existence with foreboding. We wonder how we can be forgiven of sins when our hearts are so desperately wicked, how we can survive this loss of a loved one, this catastrophic and debilitating disease, or a betrayal by someone we loved and trusted. The reality is we can’t . . . not by ourselves.
It is when we wait upon the Lord with hope—that is, with the expectation that eventually all things will be made new in Him—it is because of this hope we are able to have a perspective that transcends this mortal plane. Our hope is found in the coming of Christ in the flesh, “the author and perfecter of our faith,” and in His life, death and resurrection. This season we celebrate the birth of Jesus; it is through His ministry here on earth that we are able to develop a fuller understanding of God’s eternal plan and promised redemption.
While Jeremiah was not able to fully understand how God was going to fulfill His covenantal promise, he nonetheless knew that God acted out of His overflowing, unwavering love for his people.
When circumstances overwhelm us, “when sorrows like sea billows roll,” we are to look not to the circumstances that buffet us, but toward God’s sacrificial gift of his Son. Then we too can say along with Jeremiah, “The Lord is my portion...therefore I will hope in Him.”
Eternal God
Who holds time in your hand
Who made us in your image
Who, while we were yet sinners, sent Jesus Christ to live amongst us
And die on the cross to free us from sin and death
Who, when Jesus rose and ascended to heaven, sent your Spirit
To be our councilor and comforter
We proclaim your faithfulness
And thank you for your steadfast love
Amen.
Paul Spears, Torrey Honors Institute
The Expectation
Richard Oelze
1936
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Oil on canvas
About the Artist and Art
Die Erwartung (The Expectation) is considered to be the most important work by German surrealist Richard Oelze (1900–1980) and one of the most important paintings in the surrealist movement. By the time this painting was completed in 1936, Oelze had already made a name for himself in surrealist circles. He studied at the famed Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany, from 1921 to 1925. Throughout the ‘20s and ‘30s he travelled Europe, becoming friends with the likes of Klee, Breton, Dalí, and Ernst, all of whom helped influence his surrealist style. His paintings are filled with landscapes of dark and turbulent shapes. Though his post-WWII works are more clearly symbolic of warnings for the future, The Expectation still draws the viewer in to share the hushed anticipation of the ghostly figures in the foreground.
About the Music (Piece 1)
It Is Well With My Soul Lyrics
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Refrain:
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
He liveth, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Lord, hasten the day when our faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall sound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
About the Performers
The Concordia Choir began at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN in 1920. Now under the direction of Dr. René Clausen, the 79-person a capella choir has toured and performed in distinguished music halls not only in the US, but in Europe and the United Kingdom as well.
https://www.concordiacollege.edu/music/ensembles/choirs/the-concordia-choir/
About the Music (Piece 2)
I Waited for the Lord Lyrics
I waited for the Lord, he inclined unto me,
He heard my complaint.
O blest are they that hope and trust in him.
About the Performers
The King’s College Choir was originally formed by King Henry VI in 1441 for his King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. The choir consists of both young singers from the preparatory school as well as undergraduate students from the college. They regularly perform all over the United Kingdom, and have also toured all over the world since the 1980s. Their current director is Dr. Stephen Cleobury.
http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/choir/
About the Composer
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809 – 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family and, although initially raised without religion, he was later baptized as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was recognized early as a musical prodigy and enjoyed early success in Germany and in his travels throughout Europe. He was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist, and his ten visits there – during which many of his major works were premiered – form an important part of his adult career. Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Italian Symphony, the Scottish Symphony, the overture The Hebrides, his mature Violin Concerto, and his String Octet.