Meaning, commentary and cross references
Lamentations 3:22
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
NIV · New International Version
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
WEB · World English Bible
It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail.
What does Lamentations 3:22 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Lamentations 3:22
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,.... It was true of the prophet, that he died not in prison, or in the dungeon; and of the people of the Jews, who though many of them perished by the sword, famine, and pestilence, yet God did not make a full end of them, according to his gracious promise, Jeremiah 30:11; but left them a seed, a remnant, from whence the Messiah, the mercy promised, should come, and to which it was owing they were not utterly cut off for their sins: nor are any of the Lord's special people ever consumed; their estates may be consumed, and so may their bodies by wasting diseases, and at last by death; but not their souls, not only as to their being, but as…
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Lamentations 3:22
22. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 22. Clementite Jehovae, quod non sumus consumpti (vel, certe non sunt consumptae,) certe non defecerunt miscrationes ejus. The first clause may be explained in two ways: The view commonly taken is, that it ought to be ascribed to God's mercy that the faithful have not been often consumed.
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Lamentations 3:19–25 (WEB)
19Remember my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the bitterness. 20My soul still remembers them, and is bowed down within me. 21This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope. 22It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail. 23They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. 24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.” 25The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
Cross references
- Psalms 86:15
- Luke 1:50
His mercy is for generations and generations on those who fear him.
- Nehemiah 9:31
“Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you didn’t make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
- Malachi 3:6
“For I, the LORD, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
- Psalms 78:38
- Psalms 77:8
- Psalms 106:45