This I Call to Mind: Therefore I Have Hope

Devotional

Day 1: Bringing Our Whole Selves to God in Honest Lament

We all experience seasons of grief, struggle, and doubt. In these moments, we are invited to bring our full, honest selves before God, holding nothing back. He is not surprised by our anger, our questions, or our pain. The Lord, who created us and loves us, longs to hear the cries of our hearts. He is big enough to handle our honesty and desires to meet us in our deepest need. [29:45]

I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. Though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.
Lamentations 3:1-8 (ESV)

Reflection: What is one current struggle or area of grief that you have been hesitant to bring to God in raw, honest prayer? What would it look like to honestly express that to Him today?

Day 2: Recalling God's Steadfast Love in the Midst of Suffering

When circumstances feel overwhelming and God feels distant, we must actively recall the truth of His character. His love for us is not based on our performance or our feelings, but on His own faithful nature. This steadfast love is an anchor for the soul, a reality that remains true even when everything else seems to be falling apart. We can speak this truth to our own hearts as a firm foundation. [34:38]

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)

Reflection: In what area of your life are you most tempted to doubt God's passionate love for you? How can you intentionally "call to mind" the truth of His steadfast love today?

Day 3: Claiming God's New Mercies Every Morning

God's compassion and mercy are not limited resources that can be exhausted. They are renewed for us with each new day, offering a fresh start and a clean slate. This daily provision of mercy frees us from being chained to the failures of yesterday and empowers us to move forward in grace. We can awake each morning with anticipation for the new thing God will do. [36:43]

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)

Reflection: Is there a regret or failure from your past that you need to entrust to God's new mercies today? How might accepting His fresh grace change your outlook on this day?

Day 4: Grounding Our Hope in God's Faithful Character

Our hope is not a vague wish for things to improve, but a confident expectation rooted in the unchanging character of God. His faithfulness is the bedrock upon which we can stand, even when our situation appears hopeless. Because God is true to His promises and His covenant, we can have a sure and certain hope that He will see us through. [39:15]

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-23 (ESV)

Reflection: When you look at the challenges you are facing, what specific promise of God can you choose to hope in, based on His faithful character rather than your changing circumstances?

Day 5: Living in the Reality of Our Living Hope

We have been given a hope that is not merely a concept, but a person. Jesus Christ is our living hope, resurrected and active in our world and in our lives. This hope meets us in our suffering and sends us into a broken world as agents of His redemption. We are called to live each day in the power and confidence of this hope that holds us. [43:53]

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

Reflection: How is the reality of Jesus as your "living hope" inviting you to engage differently with a specific situation or relationship in your life this week?

Sermon Summary

The book of Lamentations opens in the rubble of Jerusalem and refuses to pretend that sin, judgment, and sorrow are anything but brutal realities. Jeremiah records five poetic laments that name communal failure, personal grief, and the wreckage of temple and city. Amid the dirges, chapter three stands out: the writer confesses deep affliction but deliberately “calls to mind” God’s character—love, mercy, faithfulness—and finds a reason to hope. That act of remembering becomes the pivot from despair to trust: truth about God spoken back into the dark. Those remembered attributes are not human achievements but descriptors of God’s covenantal character; hope arises because God’s promises remain dependable even when present suffering feels relentless.

The text insists that honest lament and raw questions belong at God’s feet; exacting honesty about personal and national sin becomes the context for renewal. Remembering and proclaiming God’s steadfast love and mercies—described as new every morning—reorients the heart toward a living hope grounded in the resurrection of Christ. That living hope reshapes how suffering is borne: trials inflict grief “for a little while,” but they do not negate the inheritance that is imperishable and guarded by God. Practically, the life of the believer includes both crying out and rehearsing divine truths, allowing those rehearsals to hold the soul when emotions do not.

The congregation’s life manifests this hope in sacramental practice. Baptism appears as a present sign and surety of being joined to Christ’s death and resurrection, a means by which spiritual rebirth and future resurrection are applied now. The community commits to passing faith on—naming gifts, praying, and wrapping new members in ongoing formation—so that baptismal promise moves from rite to lived reality. Ultimately, lament and hope travel together: grief is honest, memory is active, and God’s living hope advances into a broken world through people who both suffer and remember.

Key Takeaways

1. Bring everything to God Honest lament does not disqualify devotion; it grounds it. Scripture models unfiltered cries, questions, and anger brought straight to God, not hidden away. Presenting raw sorrow invites divine presence and permits transformation without pretending suffering isn’t real. Make confession and complaint a disciplined doorway to dependence rather than a private prison. [30:18]
2. Speak truth to despair Recalling divine realities functions like spiritual first aid: truth spoken aloud can reorder a downcast soul. The practice of “calling to mind” God’s love, mercy, and faithfulness trains memory to counterfelt feelings. This is not emotional manipulation but the disciplined invocation of covenant truth in the face of evidence to the contrary. Let repeated confession reshape perception when grief obscures reality. [26:13]
3. God’s steadfast love endures God’s hesed—covenantal lovingkindness—does not hinge on human performance or present circumstances. Mercy described as “new every morning” reframes time: each day arrives with fresh access to loyal grace. That persistence guarantees that current judgment does not erase covenant promise; loss sits under a larger, faithful storyline. Anchor hope in God’s unchanging fidelity rather than in fluctuating feelings. [25:03]
4. Baptism seals living hope Baptism signals participation in Christ’s death and entrance into his resurrected life now, not merely a future promise. The sacrament both announces and effects belonging: it marks one as counted among the living who will not be finally defeated by death. The congregation’s task is to nurture that baptismal reality so the rite becomes a lifelong pattern of hope in action. Baptism ties remembrance of God’s mercy to concrete, communal discipleship. [54:20]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[19:09] - Lamentations: Setting the Scene
[22:04] - Structure: Poems and Acrostics
[24:42] - Chapter 3: From Lament to Hope
[31:50] - Four Pillars: Love, Mercy, Faithfulness, Hope
[41:07] - The Living Hope in Christ
[52:49] - Water as Sign: Baptism in Scripture
[54:20] - Baptism: Death and New Life
[57:01] - Infant Baptism and the Rite
[60:01] - Congregation’s Role and Gifts
[61:45] - Welcome into the Body of Christ

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading: Lamentations 3:19-24 (ESV)
Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 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.”

Observation questions

What specific feelings and memories does the writer describe in verse 19 that cause his soul to be "bowed down"?
What is the pivotal action the writer takes in verse 21 that becomes the turning point from despair to hope?
According to verses 22-23, what are the three specific attributes of God's character that are called to mind?
What is the final, personal declaration the writer makes about the Lord in verse 24 that solidifies his hope?

Interpretation questions

The phrase "call to mind" implies a deliberate, active choice. Why is this act of remembering so powerful in the midst of overwhelming grief and circumstances that seem to contradict God's character?
God's mercies are described as "new every morning." How does this imagery reframe our perspective on time and suffering, especially during a long, difficult season?
The writer states, "The Lord is my portion." In a context where everything tangible (home, temple, nation) has been lost, what does it mean for God Himself to be one's ultimate possession and inheritance?
How does the living hope we have through Christ's resurrection, as mentioned in the sermon [41:42], deepen and change the hope that Jeremiah experienced?

Application questions

Honest lament does not disqualify devotion; it grounds it [30:18]. What is one raw sorrow, fear, or question you have been hesitant to bring to God, and what would it look like to cry out to Him with that honesty this week?
Recalling divine realities functions like spiritual first aid [26:13]. When you feel downcast, which of God's attributes (His steadfast love, never-ending mercies, or great faithfulness) is most difficult for you to believe? What is one practical way you can "speak this truth back" to yourself when those feelings arise?
God’s *hesed*—covenantal lovingkindness—does not hinge on human performance or present circumstances [25:03]. Where in your life are you most tempted to believe God's love for you is based on your performance? How can remembering the cross [35:10] help you anchor your hope in His unchanging fidelity instead of your fluctuating feelings?
Baptism signals participation in Christ’s death and entrance into his resurrected life now [54:20]. How does the truth that you have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection change the way you face your own spiritual struggles and the brokenness of the world today?
The congregation’s task is to nurture baptismal reality so the rite becomes a lifelong pattern of hope in action [54:20]. Who is one person in your life (a child, a new believer, a friend) you can "wrap in ongoing formation" this week by pointing out a gift God has given them or reminding them of God's love for them?

Sermon Clips

Our hope is alive. Jesus has risen from the dead, and he comes to give hope, to be hope, to fill you with hope. Remember, he's the good shepherd leaving the 99 to find the one in order that the one sheep might know hope and life. Church, I'm gonna tell you something that you already know. Life isn't easy, and the world is broken, and so are we. And sure, we can and should lament, but there is a better way, and that is a way with hope. [00:42:18] (48 seconds) #HopeIsAlive

And I've got good news for you today. The living hope that is Jesus Christ is here, and he has come to gather you in and to be the hope that you and I need, that the world needs. Jesus has come to take you and name you and claim you and send you into this broken suffering world with the hope of the good news that is Jesus Christ. There is hope, church. [00:43:05] (30 seconds) #JesusOurLivingHope

And so like Jeremiah, in our struggles and suffering, we cry out to God, and then we remember and claim the truth that God is loving and merciful and faithful, which points us to hope. But even more, we remember that God gave his one and only son to be our living hope, a hope that comes seeking you. Not a punch in the arm hope, not a gee whiz, I hope things are better hope, but to take hold of you and give you abundant eternal life, a hope that is for now and always. [00:43:35] (43 seconds) #LivingHopeThatSeeks

God's mercy is new every morning. See, what happened yesterday is gone. It's in the past. Leave it behind. God's mercy, his steadfast love, his loving kindness towards you and towards me is with us always, and it begins anew day after day after day after day. Praise God. And you can't bank it. Can't bank faith of yesterday and today. You claim it again, and you speak it again. [00:36:48] (27 seconds) #MercyNewEveryMorning

In the midst of all this suffering, church, Jeremiah gives us a gift that we need in the midst of both personal struggles and suffering, as well as the sufferings that come from the broken realities of the world we live in. And we see both of those fully these days, don't we? Our own stuff and the brokenness of the world. You see, the world uses Jeremiah today to instruct us in hope, to point us to hope, reminding us to claim and cling to hope, and what's more, to discover that hope is holding us. [00:27:44] (32 seconds) #ClingToHope

Is the world too much right now? Are you overwhelmed or afraid? Are you tired or worn out? Are you tired of yourself and the brokenness that keeps popping up in your life? Do you see the things in your life that are broken? Are you quick to judge, quick to anger? Are you self righteous? Are the temptations of the world or the temptations of the flesh overwhelming you at times? Well, take Jeremiah's advice and cry out to the Lord. Amen? [00:29:49] (28 seconds) #CryOutToTheLord

See, Jeremiah says the phrase that I had you underline. I call this to mind, these things, and therefore, I have hope. And then in verse 24, he says, the Lord is my push my portion says my soul. Therefore, I'll hope in him. He recalls all these wonderful things, but I want you to notice something really important. All of the things that Jeremiah is recalling, the love, the mercy, the faithfulness, [00:39:43] (31 seconds) #PromisesFulfilledInChrist

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This I Call to Mind: Therefore I Have Hope

Devotional

Day 1: Bringing Our Whole Selves to God in Honest Lament

Day 2: Recalling God's Steadfast Love in the Midst of Suffering

Day 3: Claiming God's New Mercies Every Morning

Day 4: Grounding Our Hope in God's Faithful Character

Day 5: Living in the Reality of Our Living Hope

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

This I Call to Mind: Therefore I Have Hope

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