What do you do when all hope feels lost? How do you keep your head from sinking below the rising tides of despair and sorrow? Where do you find comfort that is unbroken, steadfast, and immovable?

During my times of greatest discouragement, I have found an empathetic friend in the prophet Jeremiah.

The Scriptures show us that Jeremiah was no stranger to mourning and loss. In the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, which is traditionally credited to Jeremiah, we get a glimpse into this prophet’s suffering. Yet even in his deepest moments of pain, Jeremiah declared a truth that has granted me, and many others, an unshakeable hope: God remains faithful.

By taking a closer look at the book of Lamentations, you can hold fast to this same hope, too!

Forty Years of Warnings

Called at a young age to a life of unique, consecrated obedience to the Lord, Jeremiah’s ministry to Judah was riddled with betrayal and hatred from the very people he tried to serve.

Despised by city officials and his own fellow Israelites, Jeremiah was sought out as an enemy and imprisoned, beaten, and ridiculed (Jeremiah 20:1-2; 37:14-16). His oracles and warnings were ignored and cast aside, with King Jehoiakim going so far as to personally destroy Jeremiah’s scrolls that held such messages (36:20-26). At one point Jeremiah was left in an empty cistern to die, spared only by God’s mercy and the brave response of a royal official (38:4-6).

For forty years, Jeremiah faithfully shared with his people all that God had told him to declare. But they did not listen.

And then, Babylon invaded.

Surveying the Fallen City

Can you imagine the despair Jeremiah must have felt in that moment? Envision trying to minister to your neighbors for nearly your whole life without ever seeing any semblance of change in them. Consider deeply caring for people who refused to give you the time of day. And think about how useless your life—and even your faith—might have seemed as they, the people of God, were carried away as slaves.

Jeremiah had been carried away in captivity to Egypt before the invasion occurred (43:1-7). He had to watch from a distance as his beloved city was overturned. He was left feeling hopeless in the wake of disaster. And wouldn’t you feel the same?

No words can quite capture the sorrow of the “Weeping Prophet” like those he wrote in the book of Lamentations, which he penned just after the fall of Judah.

The book begins with an eerie first verse:

How lonely lies Jerusalem, once so full of people!

Once honored by the world, she is now like a widow;

The noblest of cities has fallen into slavery.

Lamentations 1:1 GNT

Reading this first chapter, you can almost see the smoke clouds still billowing from Babylon’s attacks. Jerusalem was more than just a city. This Holy City was where God’s Spirit dwelled. It sat on the land promised to Israel’s forefather, Abraham. This city had been beaten and emptied of its people, who were taken as slaves to a nation nearly a thousand miles away. Whatever glory and honor Jerusalem once held was shattered.

This is certainly a bleak scene. And, understandably, Jeremiah is momentarily overcome by the weight of this heartache.

Mourning in Light of God’s Faithfulness

If I faced these circumstances, I don’t think I would be quick to respond in any way that remotely resembles worship. When I experience heartache, my mind rarely drifts to the faithfulness of my God. I’m more likely to repeat what Jeremiah writes in Lamentations 3:17: “I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are.” Sometimes, I even feel too hurt to lift my eyes to the God who has allowed my suffering to take place.

But, unlike me—and maybe you too—Jeremiah the Lamenter does not stop at grief. Instead, though it may seem that he has every reason to doubt God, the prophet continues looking to him. And in so doing, Jeremiah begins to call to mind a truth that gives him hope:

The LORD’s unfailing love and mercy still continue,

Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.

The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him,

So it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us—

And it is best to learn this patience in our youth.

…The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever.

He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.

He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain.

Lamentations 3:22-27, 31-33 GNT

Jeremiah, never mincing words, holds fast in full assurance to the faithfulness of the Lord God. This God does not fail, does not faint, and does not forsake. Just like he can depend on the sunrise each morning, Jeremiah finds assurance in the unbroken promise of God’s steadfast love and mercy. And with this remembrance, Jeremiah shows us a powerful reality about grief and the goodness of God.

What We Can Learn from the Weeping Prophet

In sharing these profoundly beautiful words against a bleak backdrop of the destruction of his beloved city, Jeremiah shows us how we can navigate suffering in our own lives by turning to the faithfulness of God illustrated in the Bible. Here are three truths we can learn when we turn to God’s Word.

God’s Word teaches us that grieving is not wrong.

Violence, crime, loss, natural disasters, illnesses, death, and the daily struggles of life are evergreen. We are never far removed from the reminders of the world’s broken state.

And yet we are not alone. Scripture tells us that God laments the suffering and sins of this world and its people (Genesis 6:6; Psalm 78:40). Even more amazing, the very Creator of the world and everything in it, who is intimately aware of our pain, steps into our great losses with us (Psalm 34:18).

Jeremiah, following God’s own example, laments. And in so doing, he teaches us how to do the same. There is a reason Lamentations and the psalms of lament continue to be read and sung in Jewish and Christian communities to this day. These passages of Scripture express our most heartfelt emotions. They put into words the stifling feelings we may be battling, and they allow us the space to grieve in the company of those who have mourned before us.

As we remind ourselves that grieving is not wrong and cry out to God through lament, we are able to truly feel and process our pain. We also make room to consider other truths we may have forgotten in the wake of our suffering.

God’s Word provides the right perspective for our suffering.

How can we develop the right view of suffering when waves of grief and pain loom over us?

Lamentations reveals Jeremiah’s perspective of God’s faithfulness amid his suffering. Though Jeremiah feels overwhelmed with hopelessness, he also knows that all is not lost. As he takes a breath between grief-filled statements, he recalls a truth hidden deep in his heart that brings peace.

In Lamentations 3:22, Jeremiah echoes language first spoken by God centuries earlier:

“I, the LORD, am a God who is full of compassion and pity, who is not easily angered and who shows great love and faithfulness. I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin.”

Exodus 34:6b-7a GNT

Truths about God—revealed by God himself and etched into the heart of Jeremiah—enable the prophet to see God for who he is and trust that he will keep his Word. Even though Jeremiah rightly grieves what is happening around him, he knows that his God, full of compassion and love, is the same through every storm of life. Even Jeremiah’s suffering could not diminish God’s trustworthiness.

Just like Jeremiah, we can find hope in who God is. As we spend time getting to know God through his Word, we too can learn to stand on his faithful promises in the times we need them most.

God’s Word guides us in mourning without losing hope.

Perhaps most profoundly, Jeremiah shows us that this right understanding of grief and right perspective of God enables us to mourn while still holding fast to hope.

Trusting God’s faithfulness and remembering the truths of his Word brings peace and comfort in times of sorrow. By his grace, we can acknowledge and process our pain while still relying on the faithfulness of our God. While this faithfulness does not magically erase our pain-points, it does bring us comfort to know that God remains the same despite our struggles.

In times of incredible loss, discomfort, and mourning, Jeremiah was able to have hope in God alone, believing that God was good, immovable, and would do all that he had promised.

This same truth can steady us today, even as we open our eyes to a new day that may greet us with sorrow. While we may never see a city fall or be carried away into captivity like Jeremiah, we too will taste the bitterness of grief. We will weep over the loss of loved ones. We may say farewell to friendships and relationships in bitter circumstances. We might feel the anxiety of job losses and financial strains. And each of us will surely lament the process of aging and the slow decline of our health and bodies.

In these times of great sorrow, we may feel as though we are too weak to carry on. But through the gift of God’s Word, we can join Jeremiah in remembering God’s faithfulness and proclaiming, “The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.”

—

Use this free Bible-based trauma healing resource to write your own lament and reflect on God’s faithfulness: How to Lament.