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"Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!' The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord." — Lamentations 3:21–26

Scholars agree that Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah as he overlooked the ruins of Jerusalem around 586 B.C. The once‑glorious city was then destroyed. The temple—the sign of God’s presence—was reduced to rubble, and the people of Judah were driven into Babylonian exile. Jeremiah's writing conveys grief, suffering and loss that is unimaginable to the people a generation before who prided themselves in being the invincible children of God.

However, despite the dismal view, there emerges a proclamation of hope. Jeremiah writes,

"I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!'" (v. 24).

This hope doesn’t hinge on the shifting circumstance of life but on the character of God:

His mercy never ends.
His compassion never fails.
His faithfulness is constant.

Even as Jeremiah sits overlooking the destruction, he clings to the truth that the love of the Lord remains the same. God is his inheritance, his delight, his everything. Recalling who God is serves as the turning point that lifts Jeremiah from the depths of despair to a place of hope.

Our Advent Hope In Waiting

Advent is a season of waiting—for both the day on which we celebrate Christ’s first coming and what should be like the wide-eyed expectant waiting of a child as we look foward to His return. Lamentations 3 captures that posture well,

"So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord” (v. 26).

Just as the people of Judah once waited for God to restore, we too find ourselves waiting for the fulfillment of His promises, in Jesus. When Christ first arrived, He ushered in the salvation Jeremiah had long been waiting for. When He returns, He will bring about the full restoration that we long for.

So, Lamentations 3 becomes our opening Advent reflection:

Hope remains intact because of God’s faithfulness no matter the situation we face.
Hope anticipates in waiting the ultimate deliverance that we can’t see yet.
Hope rests in God’s mercies that are new every morning.

In the darkness before dawn, hope lights our first Advent candle—a reminder that God’s faithful love still burns, steady and bright.

A Thought to Meditate On

Advent hope isn’t pretending the darkness isn’t there but rather it’s a choice to keep God’s promise in view. While we wait for Jesus’s return, we cling to his mercies, trust in his faithfulness, and settle into the knowledge that His salvation is certain.