What has been the deepest, darkest experience in your life, the time when you felt the worst emotions, perhaps to the point of utter despair?
For Jeremiah and his contemporaries in Judah, it was the destruction of Jerusalem. The death of the city was absolutely crushing.
The Israelites’ magnificent temple was reduced to ashes, the city walls were pulled down, the main part of the populace had been either killed or deported, and only starving elders, women, and children remained (Lam. 2:10–12).
Only one truth kept hope alive—the knowledge of the mercies of the Lord (3:22–24). God’s mercy (Hebrew chesed; see Deut. 7:9) involved His undying love and loyalty toward His people. Having committed Himself to Israel through His covenant with them, the Lord could be expected to follow through on that commitment.
He might discipline His wayward people, allow them to be ravaged by their enemies, and even let their temple and the Law be destroyed (Lam. 2:9), but He would never ultimately forsake His people.
Neither will God forsake His spiritual children today. His mercy and grace have been extended to those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1), and nothing can separate us from His love (8:31–39).
As a result, we can have hope (5:1–5; 1 Pet. 1:3–5), even in the midst of the gloomiest circumstances (2 Cor. 1:8–11).
[Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible commentary, 1999]