[BONUS] New Year, New Mercies (Brady Randall)

Well, good morning.

Happy New Year.

As we dive into God's Word this morning, I want to invite you to pray just for this moment that this would not just be a few minutes that just pass by on a Sunday morning, December 31st, but really that God would speak to you today, whatever situation you find yourself, whatever mindset, whatever you're worried about in the new year, that this would be a time where you invite God, would you show up?

Would you speak to me today?

And would you pray for me that God would give me the words, the words of truth and encouragement and conviction that all of us need to hear today, that God would speak in and through me?

So would you join me in prayer as we dive into God's word?

Father, we invite you into this time, invite you into our lives, our hearts, our minds.

Would you speak through your word today?

Would you encourage us?

Would you convict us?

Would you show us and reveal to us our deep and desperate need for you?

And would you be all that we need even today?

And I pray that you would be with me as I share your word.

Help me to do so with clarity and conviction and boldness and truthfulness.

And I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, ready or not, 2024 is almost upon us.

I wonder how many of us are ready for a new year.

And by ready, I mean, do you have a 2024 calendar yet?

And if you wait about a week, you can get about 75% discount.

So those are, I was in the mall yesterday, you know, you get 50% off, and by the end of this week, I bet they're 75% off.

Some of a new year for some of us means, hey, a new salary or new premiums or new insurance.

I mean, that's all that 2024 means is you just sort of flip the calendar.

But for some of us, we're ready to say good riddance to 2023 of some things.

Maybe some personal things, some personal losses, some financial stuff.

Maybe you say good riddance to Pittsburgh Sports in 2023.

That was pretty lousy.

So just flush 2023.

Maybe some of us had some sickness or COVID 2023.

I'm looking forward to 2024.

And maybe 2024 brings for it some new resolutions.

Just a show of hands.

How many of you plan to make at least one resolution in 2024?

Two, three, four, ten.

Not too many.

Well, you know what?

That's maybe not bad.

Here might be the reason why.

Did you know 92% of people who make a resolution will not be able to keep them?

That's pretty bad odds.

Here's an interesting thing.

Last year, 77% of people who made a resolution also calculated a way of accountability to keep their resolution, and this year only 20% will do that.

So if 92% failure rate was last year, my guess is this year will be even higher if only 20%.

Uh so if there were 10 of us that raised their hands, that's not very good math.

Kay, help me out on that.

That's not good.

You'll let me know.

Hey, if you don't, if you fail to keep your resolution, let me encourage you.

January 17th is National Quitters Day.

So, you know, you can look forward to that.

Two weeks.

You know, if you if you want to do the top three resolutions almost every year are financial health, uh, mental health, and physical health.

So the gyms will be bustling these next two weeks, but you wait till the end of January.

You can find any machine you want on the gym here in 2024.

My guess is whatever 2023 has been for you, um, 2024, my guess is at some point there'll be some things that you're anticipating, or some things that just come to pass that'll be daunting for you, that'll be discouraging.

And my guess is just as I say that, there may be some things right now you're thinking about, yeah, I have this coming up, or you're not yet anticipating what may be discouraging or challenging in 2024.

And my hope and prayer is that as all of us walk into a new year, um, that we would walk into it with hope and anticipation of new mercies for a new year.

That's what we're gonna be talking about today.

We're looking at Lamentations 3.

And I just want all of us, again, to be encouraged with hope that God has new mercies available for a new year.

And you don't have to wait for 2024, but God's mercies, as we're gonna find out today, are new today.

And to do that, I want to just look at Lamentations chapter 3.

Lamentations 3 · chapter mention

And Lamentations is an interesting book.

It's a short book in the Old Testament after Jeremiah.

And many people are like, well, Lamentations, well, what does that mean?

Lamenting, that sounds kind of case said.

That's that's what are we gonna lament today?

And Lamentations is a book of five Hebrew poems lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem.

You say, well, that happened years and years ago.

What do I care about that?

That was a major deal for God's people.

The destruction of the temple, the walls, God's people, all the things that were up, God brought them down as a result of their idolatry and the result of forsaking God.

This was a major, major deal.

And it was most likely written by the prophet Jeremiah, who was considered the weeping prophet.

And lamenting is doing just that.

The people are beside themselves, they're crying out to God, they're confused.

How did this happen?

Why did this happen?

Look at what has happened to us now.

And for us to get an understanding of how bad things were, I want us to think about at least two things.

One is in October, um, Israel was attacked by the Hamas.

Think of that on like a much, much greater scale, where everything was destroyed.

Or think about September 11th, what happened in our country in 2001, and think of that not just New York City, but global scale.

All the financial institutions down, all the churches ransacked, women raped in the streets, the the priests, the preachers that were all done away with.

This was a terrible, terrible scene.

And John Bloom, who's a writer, he summarizes this well.

Just it's important to understand the background before we understand the hope that comes out of Lamentations 3.

And by the way, Lamentations all was fairly hopeless except for chapter 3, which we're going to look at today.

But chapter 3 is not all that hopeful unless we realize the backdrop of how bad things were.

Um and so this is this is what had happened.

Um, the Jerusalem's beloved walls, strongholds, and palaces, which were all symbols of God's strength and stability, were torn down.

They saw priests massacred in the temple, sacred buildings burned to the ground.

They had seen infants die of starvation in the arms of their mothers.

Listen, parents eating the remains of their own children.

Okay, can you imagine that?

Parents eating the remains of their own children, young women brutally raped, once free men enslaved and humiliated.

They saw bodies lying in the street, having been slaughtered, and they knew all of this, by the way, was the Lord's doing.

What he promised to do as a result of their unfaithfulness, and this is what we would have read a chapter earlier in 2, verse 17.

The Lord has done what he has planned, he has fulfilled his word, he has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes.

In other words, he raised up this wicked nation at the time, Babylon, to come in and do just what he had promised if Israel forsook their God.

And now this is the result of what has happened.

This is the result of their disobedience and idolatry.

And yet, in the midst of all of this, God offers a glimmer of hope in chapter three, which we have read today.

And I see a theme of hope in chapter three, and I'm just gonna look at what I'm gonna say is four encouragements that if you and I can do and hold on to, these are four encouragements that you and I can have hope in a new year, in a new season today.

And here's the first one, and I'm just gonna call this encouragement remember with hope when you're in a difficult situation.

And this comes in verses 19 and 23.

He uses the word remember.

Listen to verses 19 and 20 that you can see on the screen behind me.

He says, I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.

I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.

If you've ever been through trauma or counseling, or the loss of a relationship, or the loss of a loved one, um, one of the things that a trained counselor will try to help you do is to go back and remember even the really bad, hard things in order to grieve it in order to find healing.

And many of us that's difficult to do.

And I without being sexist, sometimes men have a more difficult time with that, sharing our feelings, processing.

But there's something really, really important and healthy about having to remember and grieve the bitterness and the difficult things in order to go on to have healing.

And so God's infinite wise counsel to his people and to you and I is to remember even the hard things.

And in scriptures, sometimes you uh I would say our American culture it has difficulty lamenting.

And lamenting is a genre that's all throughout the Bible.

You see it in Lamentations, lamenting, you see it in the book of Psalms, uh, you see it in Job, and this is God's people just crying out to God, like this is bad.

God, where are you?

Where were you?

Why am I experiencing?

Why is all this happening, this destruction?

And that's something really healthy about bringing it out and lamenting over the fact that there's pain, and even in this case, if the pain was self-inflicted.

And that's really important.

If you and I are going through something or some trauma or some turmoil, there's something really healthy, even if it's self-inflicted, to remember how did I get to this point?

And so in the first part of chapter three, he's remembering his affliction, his wandering, his bitterness.

And so, can I encourage you that you might find some safe people or a safe person to do some of this processing with?

Whether it's a friend, whether it's a trained counselor, a spiritual advisor, a pastor.

Um, that's one of the reasons, by the way, that funerals and memorial services can be a really healthy thing for people.

Because it's super sad the loss of a loved one, maybe if it's unexpected.

But what often happens naturally during a funeral service, or especially in family moments before and afterward, is there's the retelling of stories.

There's the laughter, there's even the tears that are shed over some of the painful things.

And the reliving and the remembering is helpful in the process in order to experience hope.

And what I love about this is the way God has designed our bodies when it comes to uh trauma and crying over hard things.

This is really interesting to me that scientifically, when you and I cry, and if you've ever had a hard, long cry, you sort of know this to be true.

It's sort of like nobody likes to throw up, but you feel better afterward.

Okay?

If you've had a good long cry and you feel a little better, God has designed our bodies just that way.

So, for example, researchers have found that crying activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps our body rest and digest.

And crying for longer periods of time helps our bodies to release endorphins, which help ease physical and emotional pain.

And oxytocin uh release can give you a sense of calm or well-being and can help you to self-soothe.

And if you've ever literally been sobbing and you take in short breaths of air, did you know that doing so actually can uh cause the temperature in your brain to cool off?

And a cooler brain is better than a warmer brain when it comes to soothing ourselves.

And I just think that's fascinating.

The way that we're just sobbing naturally in our body, we can't help it.

Having a long cry actually does something to soothe us, and that all that to say, God has designed us to lament, to cry, to remember.

There's something important about remembering, but don't just remember the bad.

Also remember with hope, because there's a shift in verse 21 to chapter 3, and this is what we read in verse 21, which you can see on the screen.

Yet, after all this bad stuff, yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.

And then look at verse 22.

Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

The word for love there is the word Hesed.

It's used about 250 times in the Old Testament.

It's the word that means God's loving covenantal faithfulness, his love, his never stopping, never-ending, I'm gonna pursue you, go the extra mile, sort of love.

And so it's because of the Lord's great love and that his compassions never fail.

Verse 23, his mercies are new every morning.

Great is your found, uh, great is your faithfulness.

So the foundation of the Christian faith is not my hope, it's not your hope, it's not our goodness, it's not how well we've kept our resolutions, it's not how poorly we've kept our resolutions.

The bedrock of the Christian faith is the utter faithfulness of God.

And so as we remember with hope, we remember the faithfulness of God.

And what I what I think is so incredible is that you and I will fail, but God never fails.

And the only reason you and I can have hope is because we have a God who has kept and will keep his promises, even keeping his promises of all the bad that would happen that he predicted and said, This is gonna happen if you forsake me.

He continued to tell the prophets, tell my people this is what's gonna happen.

And it happened.

But he says, Yet remember this with hope.

In the midst of this hell on earth, remember the faithfulness, the compassion of God.

Great is your faithfulness, God.

That's where my hope is.

That's where your hope is.

Because of the unfailing, shakable, unshakable faithfulness of God.

Great is your faithfulness, and I love this, and this is so important for someone like me.

It says, your mercies are new every morning.

Now, why is that important for someone like me?

I'm an I can be, I can get anxious when I look into the future.

And you may be looking at 2024, and there's there's some things that I'm anxious about.

Me, and I got this going on with my family.

There's some financial things, there's some health concerns, there's some relational things that are on the rocks.

And so you might get anxious.

And so what I sometimes do is I get anxious, well, are God's mercies going to be sufficient tomorrow and in a couple months from now?

And here, notice the promise.

The promise is not that God gives you tomorrow's mercies today.

His promise is he gives you today's mercies today, and to remember that God will give you tomorrow's mercies tomorrow.

This is the way that author John Piper said it, and you can see this on the screen as well.

He said, Our task today is to live by the mercies given for today and to believe that there will be new mercies for tomorrow.

Today's mercies do not include strength for tomorrow.

They include faith that tomorrow's unseen mercies will be sufficient for tomorrow.

So we must not compound today's load with fretting over tomorrow's.

We must not doubt God and say, I have no more strength, so tomorrow will be impossible to live.

That's not true.

You will not be asked to live tomorrow on today's strength.

His mercies are new every morning.

Jesus said the same thing, by the way.

He said, Don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have enough worries of its own.

And so remember, God's mercies are new this morning.

And so that's the first thing is remember with hope.

Remember the bad.

Remember how we got where we are, as hard as that might be, process that, and then remember with hope the faithfulness of God.

And here's the second encouragement, and that is that you and I can wait with hope.

Verses 24 and 29.

Here's what we read in verse 24.

I say to myself, the Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.

So notice there's a mindset of having to wait for the Lord, and again, that's that's not a good thing, a good sounding thing for someone like me to just simply wait.

Waiting sounds useless, it sounds pointless, it sounds slow, it sounds like I'm just sitting on my hands.

But listen to verse 25.

Again, the Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.

Now you're gonna hear a lot of promises.

We've heard some in chapter 3.

Great is the Lord's faithfulness, God's mercy is new each morning.

God is faithful, God is for you.

But notice that these promises are not for every person, they're not for every Israelite, they're not for every person today, but they can be for anyone whose hope is in him, as we read in verse 25.

To the one who seeks him.

Some of you may be going through something so difficult, or you may again, and it may cause you to wonder about God, it may cause you to shake your fist at God.

But it very well could be that God has brought or allowed or allowed you to live with the consequences of whatever has happened in order that you might come to a place to say, I have nothing but I know I need God.

And what may happen is that you may look back on this season of your life or that season of hardship and say, That's where I ended up finding Jesus.

When I realized that God was all I had, but I found out that God was all I needed.

And that sometimes God wants to bring us to rock bottom so that we can discover that He is the rock on the bottom.

And so we wait with hope.

Listen again to 26 and 27, this theme of waiting.

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

Now, I don't like to wait quietly.

Uh when uh when a flight is unexpectedly delayed, when the doctor's appointment is delayed, when something isn't happening quickly enough, I don't like to wait quietly.

I like to wait with grumbling.

But what good does that do?

I read a I read just the other day uh from Pastor Garrett Kell.

He said, grumbling is a protest against God's providence in our life.

That struck me.

Because when I'm grumbling about the way things are, that's saying, God, this isn't actually as you want things to be.

And so sometimes grumbling is protesting against the situation that God has allowed or ordained or put forth in your life.

And so to wait quietly is to wait expectantly.

It's to wait knowing that our waiting is not in vain, that God, in the midst of our waiting, is doing something.

If you were at one of our Christmas Eve services, the text we spoke on was the idea where it says, Um, when the time, Galatians 4, had fully come, God sent his son Jesus.

In the midst of all this waiting, where it seems like God is distant, God's not showing up, nothing's happening, God is doing something as you wait on the Lord.

I love the way that Paul put it in um, well, let me first jump to 28 and 29.

It says this let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him.

Let him bury his face in the dust, there may yet be hope.

And so as we're waiting and we're sitting and we're bearing, we're noticing that the waiting is not in vain, that God is doing something in the midst of it.

And here's what we read in 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

Paul says, Therefore we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, so we wait with hope.

So, an encouragement for the new year for new mercies is that we remember with hope.

We wait actively with hope, and here's the third thing we see, and that is that we remember that God afflicts with hope.

That there is hope in the midst of God's.

God's affliction and this one is hard for many of us.

Here's what we read, and we see this is in verse uh 31 to 39 that there is purpose in the hard things.

There's purpose in the hard things.

Can I tell you that to me, the providential sovereignty nature of God is the most encouraging part about God that I know?

Here's what I mean: the fact that God is in control, that God is on the throne, that nothing happens without God's permission or his command, that is the most encouraging truth that I know.

Because what that means is that nothing that happens is random or by chance, that God is in control of all of it, even the hard things.

And this is what we're many people have a difficulty with.

Here's the way that we read it in verse uh 37, uh 31 to 32.

For no one is cast off by the Lord forever.

Though he brings grief, notice the Lord is the one bringing grief, he will show compassion.

So great is his unfailing love.

For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.

So notice God is the one who brings grief, and it's up even further in verses 37 to 38.

These are difficult verses for many people.

It says this: Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?

Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?

Now, those are astounding verses.

Sometimes many well-meaning Christians try and let God off the hook for where he doesn't claim to want off the hook.

And so what this says is that God either ordains or allows or allows sinful choices to add up, that he brings, in a sense, calamities.

Now, let me also be clear: God does not sin, he is not the author of sin.

Sin breaks the heart of God.

Even the things that God permits break the heart of God, that this world is not as it should be.

But also, make no mistake about it, God is working all of these things in the background for his purposes.

And that means that nothing happens outside of his permission or command.

And I look at the story of Job, all those bad things that were happening to Job, what Job didn't realize was that Satan came and asked God's permission to destroy his family, his body, his wealth.

And yet, what did Job say?

He didn't realize it was Satan at the time, but he said, Though you slay me, God, though you have brought this about in some sense, whether by permitting it or commanding it, though you slay me, yet I will still trust you.

And what why this is so encouraging to me is that this means that everything that happens to me or to you, that everything God sends or allows is needed, and nothing that God withholds is actually needed, or else he would have given it to us.

Again, that may that that's not always helpful when we're in the middle of something hard.

It's like, oh yeah, that makes me feel better, that God knows about this, he brought it about.

But think about it, what's the alternative?

God doesn't know about it.

This got caught God by surprise.

Now what are we gonna do?

But if God's on the throne and that all things happen, the way that Paul says it in Romans 8.28 is that God works all things, even hard things for our good to those who love God and are called according to God's purposes, but don't miss God's heart even in the bad things, verse 33.

He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.

Pain is not his heart's delight.

Sometimes what comes out of the pain is for our good.

That's his delight, but he does not willingly bring affliction or pain.

And I love the way that Dane Ortland, who wrote a book called Gentle and Lowly, and by the way, if you want to, we're having a book study starting next Wednesday night on this book.

But I love the way that he talked about the heart of God, the heart of Jesus.

Here's what he said.

You can see this quote behind me.

He says, the one who rules and ordains all things brings affliction into our lives with a certain divine reluctance.

He's not reluctant about the ultimate good that is going to be brought about through the pain.

That is indeed why he is doing it.

But something in him recoils within him in sending the affliction.

The pain itself does not reflect his heart.

And notice in the scriptures we hear that God's wrath and anger is provoked.

In other words, his disposition is long-suffering and patient, but his righteous anger has to be provoked because he's long-suffering.

And here's the way that we can understand this.

If you've ever been disciplined as a child, or you've ever had to discipline a child, you know how this works.

It may pain you to bring discipline.

Because you see the child, they're crying, they may not understand it, it doesn't feel good.

It hurts you to have to discipline the child, to hear the screaming match, to not allow them to do what they wanted to do that would be fun.

So it breaks your heart, it breaks their heart.

But you know you have to do it because it's in their best interest.

Because if you let them get away with it, they're not going to learn the lesson.

And so God afflicts, brings affliction, but it grieves the heart of God.

But we can take hope and have hope because we know that God does not afflict randomly, he afflicts with hope.

And so, therefore, remember with hope.

Remember the hard things, where we are, how we got here.

Remember the faithfulness of God.

Wait with hope, knowing that God's mercies are new every morning, and remember that God afflicts with hope all the hard things.

God's not surprised.

And then finally, here's the fourth thing, and that is you and I can return to the Lord with hope.

We see this in verse 40.

It says this let us examine our ways and test them.

And let us return to the Lord.

The rest of the chapter goes on to say that the Israelites have been punished, they're crying out to God, and yet he didn't listen.

He did exactly what he said he was going to do.

He brought about the punishment that he said that he would.

And yet, if there's any hope, the only way forward is if the Israelites and you and I examine our own ways and test them and return to the Lord.

This is our way to respond.

And this is not a one-time thing, but I do want to say this that maybe in this new year, December 31st, 2023, this could be the day that you recognize your need for a savior.

That the only reason that you and I can have hope in 2024 and beyond is in a Savior who took us at our lowest point and our worst point.

And he's offered the way to be forgiven and have eternal life with God forever, if we return to the Lord to say, God, I can't do it, I can't earn my way, I can't make my way to heaven, but you made your way to me when I was at my lowest point, that God promises that you can respond to God today by admitting your need for a savior, to say, God, I am a sinner and I'm in need of a savior.

And if you trust and believe that Jesus died in your place, that Jesus was good and perfect for you, that he took the punishment that we deserve on the cross, if you believe and trust that God is your Savior, you can have eternal life today.

But the only reason that you and I can have hope is because of Jesus.

And you say, Brady, I've done that.

I've trusted, I'm a follower of Jesus, but this is not a one-time thing.

That consistently, this is a great opportunity at the last day of 2023 to examine our lives and our hearts where we've been and to say, God, I want to return and I want to have hope in a new year because of you.

It's a free invitation, and you can receive forgiveness.

And the only way that we can return with hope is through Jesus.

And I want to tell you, Jesus is a man who is acquainted with sorrow and grief.

Jesus' life was not full of peace and tranquility at all times.

I mean, he had peace in God.

He was God, but he lived through some difficulty.

He didn't always have a place to lay his head.

He wept with those who wept.

He was a man of suffering.

So God knows what it's like to suffer.

And can I tell you, the only hope in 2024 is not because you flipped the calendar, it's not because you kept your promises, it's not because you kept all your resolutions.

The only reason that you and I can have hope in 2024 is because of Jesus Christ, that he lived the life we were required to live, that Jesus died the death that we deserve to die.

But the only reason that you and I can have hope is because the tomb was empty.

Because God got out of the tomb.

God rose from the dead in the person of Jesus, and right now the throne of God is occupied, that God is in control, that God is reigning as we speak, and he is coming back again.

That's the only reason you or I could have hope in a new year.

And so in this dark world, remember that Jesus is a light that shines in the darkness.

Life is hard, but God is good and faithful.

That summarizes lamentations, by the way.

Life is hard, but God is faithful.

My guess is that summarizes many of our lives, or it will.

Life is hard.

Some hard things that we've walked through that we will walk through again.

Life is hard.

In this world, we will have trouble, Jesus said.

But take heart, Jesus said, because I have overcome the world.

And so remember, God's mercies are new this morning.

So return to the Lord with repentance and joy.

We're going to celebrate communion here in just a moment.

And we're going to do so by singing a song that comes from this text called Great Is Your Faithfulness.

It's a hymn that's been around for many years, but it's just a reminder that you and I can come to the table, not as perfect people, but we can come to the Lord's table today as forgiven people.

And communion is not for everyone.

Communion is for those who know they need a Savior.

And so if you've come to a place of repentance and trust in the Lord, you are welcome to the table.

And I just invite you, as we sing this song and a moment of reflection in this last day of the year, that you would examine your ways, but that you would return to the Lord, maybe for the first time, or you would return again.

And that's the way that we can experience hope in this new year.

So as the band comes, let me pray as we receive and celebrate communion this morning.

Father, I pray and I give you thanks that you are God who offers us hope even in the midst of bleak and dark things.

Father, I pray if there be someone here today that wants to come to you and experience hope for the first time by receiving you as the Lord and Savior of their lives, that they would do just that today.

That we would respond by admitting our need for a savior, receiving forgiveness and trusting in you.

Father God, I pray for those who have gone through or will go through hard things in this coming season.

And that they would remember that they could still have hope.

They would wait with you for hope.

They would remember that you afflict with hope, but with a purpose, and that we can return and have hope only through the person of Jesus Christ.

Lord, I thank you that as we celebrate communion, we remember the only reason we can have hope is because your body was broken, your blood was spilled, so that we could come to you for new life and forgiveness.

And so we thank you for these things, and we pray it all in Jesus' name.

Amen.