Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Jeremiah is speaking to himself in our Verse of the Day. He is reminding himself that the Lord is his inheritance, or another translation says the Lord is his portion. That means that Jeremiah is remembering that God is his great reward. He's remembering that God is all he needs. God is enough—not what God gives him, but actually God Himself.
Jeremiah's Deep Discouragement
Let me read you the verses right before this verse, and I want you to hear that Jeremiah was deeply discouraged. Chapter 3, verse 17 says, "My soul is bereft of peace. I have forgotten what happiness is." He's very discouraged. He goes on: "So I say, my endurance has perished. So is my hope from the Lord. Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall. My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me." He's so discouraged that he can't even get himself upright.
Now, I want you to see what he does at this point, because it is exactly what we need to do when we get discouraged. That's in verse 21, where he says, "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope." He's depressed, and then he calls something to mind. He reminds himself of something, and then he has hope.
Stop Listening, Start Speaking
Let me put it this way: he stops listening to himself and he begins to speak to himself. He does what Martin Lloyd-Jones called replacing emotional thinking with evangelical thinking. Here's precisely what he calls to mind, and it gets to our verse. Verse 22: "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness."
Listen, you know this. It is easy to get in a spot like Jeremiah was in. It is easy to lose perspective. It really doesn't take that much. You might have a hard conversation. It might be a quick comparison to someone else on social media. It might be a lodged regret. It might just be traffic on your way to work. Whatever it is, we can lose perspective.
Regaining Perspective
When perspective is lost, we have to regain it by reminding ourselves of truth. You're bound to lose perspective this week. When you do, when that happens, what will you do? What will you call to mind? Well, here we're told in Lamentations chapter 3, verse 24: "I say to myself, 'The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!'"
