This morning as I read the Old Testament book of Lamentations, the Lord spoke to me in many ways.
I saw an example of true repentance in Jeremiah, the author of Lamentations.
I saw a prophet cry out for his people in love.
I saw desperation for the Lord.
I saw true praise and adoration for the Lord.
I saw hope.
As I read, I my attention became focused on verses 22-24:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” Lamentations 3:22-24 (ESV)
I am so very thankful and praise God that his mercies are new every morning. I can begin each day fresh because His mercies are new every morning.
I need that.
I need His mercies to be new every morning.
Because I mess up.
I mess up every day.
But my many mess ups don’t have to defeat me because the Lord extends his hand of mercy to me each and every morning!
The second part of verse three says, “great is your faithfulness”. This reminded me of the great hymn written by Thomas O. Chisholm. As I began to sing this song to the Lord, I soon realized that I couldn’t remember all of the words and it wasn’t in the hymnal I use with my devotions.
So, I googled “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and found lyrics I have been searching for!
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
The last line contains great meaning and importance for me. I have been searching for the song with the phrase “ten thousand beside” and couldn’t find it.
When I was pregnant with the girls, my Sunday School teacher referred to the twins in a lesson as our “ten thousand beside”. I remember how the Lord spoke to me through her about how they were such a blessing.
During a difficult day with them several weeks ago, I was reminded that they are true blessings from the Lord and were my special “ten thousand beside”.
Lately, it has been my prayer to have a gentler kinder spirit, especially towards my children. It can be so easy as I spend my days alone with them to become frustrated and agitated.
Sin is easy.
This has become one of those things that I mess up with so often. That I am constantly asking forgiveness for and accepting his new mercies for each morning.
He has given me special gifts to care for and disciple.
To love and guide.
To hug and kiss and love on.
To cherish.
To show kindness to.
To be gentle with.
The Flourishing Mother had a great post this week about being kind to our family. In it, she outlined several ways to put on kindness and pursue gentleness with our children. They were given to her at a conference by Susan Kemmerer. I think they are practical and worth repeating here.
Putting on kindness:
1. Practice kindness.
2. Recognize that whatever comes from my mouth is born in my heart.
3. Allow no corrupt talk, in any form, to come out of my mouth.
4. Learn to love kindness.
5. Recognize the difference between childish immaturity and sin.
Pursuing gentleness:
1. Smile at your children.
2. Demonstrate constant affection toward your children.
3. Never speak in tones of sarcasm.
4. Do not raise your voice.
5. *Practice* speaking gently.
6. Adorn yourself with gentleness and a quiet spirit.
7. Utilize your husband as an accountability partner in helping you grow in gentleness.
Using these as I guide I am going to prayerfully commit to practice kindness and gentleness to my three blessings…to my Ten Thousand Beside!
LifeatTheCircus says
What a great reminder for us all! I have been convicted lately of my need to stop and play and enjoy them more and multitask a little less, at least for part of the day. Thanks for sharing your devotional with us all.
Shanna says
Beautiful post! “Great is Thy Faithfulness” is my favorite hymn, and the last verse is very special to me. Very interesting about the “ten thousand beside” – obviously you know why! I have always been drawn to those words as well, and I totally relate to your struggles.
Dawn says
Relating to all that you described in this post and I’m relieved to know that even though we seek and search to please the Lord, he uses lessons in raising our own young (whom love and trust us;0/ …the irony of it all is that these are the lessons in which form and mold our characters for Heaven and they are “fail proof”?!
You know what I mean…I’m blessed to know this thank you for sharing this!