Ruminations
Lamentations 3: 22 – 23 NRSV
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I have a new journal, a gift from a friend. This morning I turned to the page with this verse and found myself pondering it. As I turned it over in my mind, I wondered if this might provide a good opportunity to show you what meditation can look like. Now I know some of you are old hands at meditating on scripture but bear with the rest of us for today.
Meditating on scriptures is where I receive a lot of revelation. Many Words of the Day come out of this process. In fact, tomorrow I will share with you what came out of my meditation on this scripture. Pondering scripture is where I connect with God and He shows me a deeper view of a scripture or a different aspect of it.
Reading this scripture, you might stop on the word “steadfast”. What does that word mean? What does it mean to you? What synonym could you replace it with. I didn’t stop there, but maybe someday I will. I was arrested by “never ceases.” I began to replace “never ceases” with other words: eternal, abundant, they overflow, unending . . . you get the idea. As I thought about those words an idea began to form about this bottomless well, the cup of coffee that has no bottom.
You might want to stop and think about “His mercies.” What is the author talking about here? What are God’s never ending mercies? Compassion is one of the synonyms you will find in other versions. What word or words would you use?
This never ending, renewable resource had me fascinated this morning. His mercies are inexhaustible. None the less, He gives us a fresh supply every morning. I guess, like the manna in the desert, God does not want us living on day old bread. He gives us a fresh, new stock of His compassion every morning.
All I did with this scripture, was to play the synonym game. That yielded a fuller understanding and developed into ideas and a visual image, which is what I will share tomorrow. There is nothing special about what I did. I just let the Holy Spirit lead my mind and spirit on a journey. It is quite fun, actually. Give it a try on this scripture. I would love for you to send me your impressions. Remember, there is no right or wrong. We all see from slightly different vantage points and that is a good thing.
