God’s Word for You
Lamentations 5:19 forever and ever, without end
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, April 18, 2025
19 You, O LORD, live forever.
Your throne endures from generation to generation.
Verses 19-22 are a closing prayer. We will consider the prayer in its three pieces, but here it will be good to meditate only on the text of this single verse, which presents the doctrine of the eternity of God.
The verb in verse 19 is sometimes translated “reign” (NIV, ESV), probably pulling the meaning of “throne” from the second line forward. This is not a bad translation. But the verb yashav at its simplest means “to sit, remain, or dwell.” Another good translation might just be “are.”
When we speak of God’s eternal existence, we have many passages to draw from. “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2). And again, “O LORD, are you not from everlasting?” (Habakkuk 1:12).
What do words like “eternal” and “forever” mean? The first definition is that there is no beginning and no ending. This is true of God, who was, or rather is, before everything: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). It is also true of his dominion: “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation” (Daniel 4:3).
Since God has no beginning, he has no creator. He has no superior. He is Almighty as well as everlasting. Now, the Scriptures tell us that time was not in existence before God created everything, but that “the first day” was when God started it all going. That was the first evening, and after that there came the first morning, and so that had been the first day (Genesis 1:5). We reckon time from midnight to midnight; the ancient Jews reckoned time from sunset to sunset. We don’t need to nitpick about how much of that first day happened the way we perceive a day, since it might have been a little less than 24 hours. But evening came, as evenings always do, and that ended that first day.
But God experiences time differently. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8). It’s not that God doesn’t know what an hour is. He certainly does (Matthew 26:40). But when he says he is eternal, that he has no beginning and no ending, he means just what those words say. For it’s true that the Hebrew word ‘olam improperly means “a very long time” (Genesis 17:13; Joshua 14:9), but properly it also means “forever, without end” as in “Abraham called on the eternal name of God” (Genesis 21:33), and “I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever” (Ezekiel 37:28).
God expresses something of his eternal nature in his name, when he says to Moses, “I Am” (Exodus 3:14). The Almighty does not say, “I was,” or “I will be” or “I will become,” but rather, “I am.”
When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And when they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth,” he replied, “I Am” (Ἐγώ εἰμι). And at this, they fell back onto the ground (John 18:6). Here was his almighty power displayed in the power of his holy Name.
The Jews carrying the first cross of the exile into Babylon prayed this way, invoking his eternal nature as well as his holy name, the LORD, for their consolation. For our hope is in the eternal God, who does not forget about us or abandon us, no matter how long it may be. He “keeps truth forever” (Psalm 146:6). He will defend his people forever (Psalm 37:28).
They also invoked his holy name to admonish one another. In Job it is said, “For we bere born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are nothing but a shadow” (Job 8:9). That is to say, “O my soul, which was created for eternity, give up your love of earthly things, transitory things, and set your desire only on godly things, celestial things such as forgiveness and heaven, because they are eternal!” For about God we confess: “You remain the same, and your years will never end” (Psalm 102:27). And we can say with David, “You are my refuge, O Lord, my portion in the land of the living” (Psalm 142:5)—not an acre of land, or a well-knitted scarf, or a drop of ink on a page, but God himself, and all of the blessings he gives. Those things are truly good things.
For this reason we pick up and shoulder our daily crosses, because Christ has won for us celestial things, truly good things, eternal life and salvation and forgiveness in his holy, eternal name! The crosses we carry, whether laid on us with love by the Lord or with hatred by the devil, will be used by our loving Father for our eternal good. And our thanks and praise will resound for the eternal “now” of heaven, forever and ever, without end.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.