Was Jeremiah Crazy?

Thoughts from my Bible-reading time.

Lamentations 3:1-12
 
I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; he has made me dwell in darkness like the dead of long ago. He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has made my chains heavy; though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer; he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones; he has made my paths crooked. He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding; he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate; he bent his bow and set me  as a target for his arrow.

HE HAS. HE HAS. HE HAS.

Who? God has done it. Some loving Father He is, right Jeremiah?!

Lamentations 3:18
 ... so I say, "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD."

I'm with you, Jerry. (May I call you Jerry?). Ready to give up? I've bailed out under much, much (much!) less.

Lamentations 3:21

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

"But???" "Hope??!"

Lamentations 3:22-32a

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." The LORD is good to those who wait for him,  to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope;  let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion

"But though He cause grief..". "He cause grief..." "He cause ... He will have compassion." 

What kind of madness is this? It is a kind that I do not have. It is a kind I desperately need. 

Oh, to be mad like Jeremiah!