hopeful morning music

I'm gonna sing this song
To let you know that you're not alone
And if you're like me
You need hope, coffee, and melody...

It might not be
The prettiest thing that you'll ever see
But it’s a new day...
And it might not look like
A beautiful sunrise
But it's a new day...it's a new day.

And it just might be
The prettiest thing that you'll ever see
It’s a new day
Oh baby, it’s a new day
If you look outside
To see a beautiful sunrise
It’s a new day.

--Robbie Seay Band
from "New Day"

Last night I stumbled across two (legal!) free downloads from the Robbie Seay Band. I really like both of them--"Song of Hope" and "New Day." They're hopeful morning songs...

This morning I was listening to the New Day song, and God reminded me of some verses in Lamentations. So I read a little background on the book of Lamentations, and I found that it is made up of five poems, each expressing grief over the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. This book was probably written by the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah compares the fallen city to a lonely, broken widow, heart-wrung with the knowledge of her guilt. Then he paints a vivid picture of the people's despair, and then he laments his own pain and suffering.

This part always grabs me. Jeremiah is at an all-time low. He is tormented, afflicted, and close to despairing. He says that "my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is..." (Lam. 3:17) And then, in the middle of his lament, he stops, pauses, and speaks:

But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

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."

Lamentations 3:21-24, emphasis mine

I am so blown away by this. At the lowest point in his life, Jeremiah stops, looks up, and praises God for His goodness. Because He is good. He is so good.

Obviously I don't have problems like Jeremiah did. I am so incredibly blessed in every area of my life. But I still need the reminder. I want to know this, that God's mercies are new every morning. I want to live every day seeing it as a new day, a fresh start, and God's precious gift.

It's like in Kung Fu Panda, when Master Oogway says to Po: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." And I've gotten some version of that in forwarded emails probably twenty times, but it's still worth remembering. Life is short, like a vapor in the wind...Every day is a priceless gift from God. And I want to live knowing that.