Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap.

Today we finished our 29th book of the Bible.

We just finished lamentations which was possibly written by the prophet Jeremiah.

Chapter 3 is a poem about God's faithfulness in the midst of all the evil that seems so prevalent.

The author doesn't hold back in attributing these things to God, but as we know, these are things God has done in response to the sins of the people.

And despite attributing all this to God, this is what he says about God in verses 22 through 24.

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.

During Judah's struggle, the author is reminding himself of the truth when it seems most untrue and most inaccessible.

When you feel at the least is when you need it the most.

In verses 25 through 27, he goes on to say,

The author is saying that challenges are actually beneficial to us, and they're especially helpful when they come to us at a young age because then we have the whole rest of our lives to receive those benefits.

Character is formed in those times, knowledge of God is formed in those times.

In verse 39, he points out that any punishment we receive for our sins is justified.

He says,

Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?

This is the kind of humility that brings about repentance, which is exactly what happens in the next verse.

Verse 40 begins a call to examine their ways, confess, and repent to God, and God draws near when they repent.

And can you guess the first thing he says to them when he draws near?

...