A New Morning a New Year

The themes of newness I thought was an appropriate one for the beginning of a new year. New Year is the time people make resolutions, usually to eat more healthily and take more exercise, but, whatever the resolution, it will not succeed if we try to do it in our own strength without God.

One definition of mercy is ‘The withholding of a just punishment’. This is also called compassion. Throughout Lamentations you can hear the compassion God has on His people in their darkest moment. So, for us when everything looks bleak, God is here with His new mercies every morning. Not only are they new, they are steadfast. God continued to love Jerusalem throughout His time of disciplining them. God disciplines those He loves. His love will see us through this whole year and many more.

The ‘great love’ we see in Lamentations 3:22 incorporates all the facets of God’s character, grace, mercy, goodness and forgiveness, but also the great love to stop Jerusalem from being totally wiped out by Babylon. God’s love was so great that He not only restored to His people the land that was once theirs, but He also blessed them again. That is, I think, great hope for the start of a new year.

Lamentations 2:23 tells us that, as well as God’s mercies being new every morning, His faithfulness is great. It’s so great in fact that He keeps His covenant with Abraham’s descendants. It reminds us that God’s mercy never runs out. ‘Even youths grow tired and weary’ (Isaiah 40:30), but God is always faithful to His people. And that is better than any New Year’s Resolution. Make a resolution to live by God’s new mercies every day.

Prayer: Father God, I thank You that Your mercies are new every morning, and that I can depend on You in every situation. You love for me is more that I could possibly comprehend. So, teach me not to try and understand it. Teach me to have the faith of a child to receive Your mercy. Amen.