Lamentations 3:25

Commentary on Lamentations 3:25

“The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.”
(Lamentations 3:25, King James Version)

1. Setting the Scene: Lamentations 3 in Context

The Book of Lamentations is a collection of poetic laments[i] written in the aftermath of Jerusalem’s destruction by Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah is traditionally understood to be the author. The tone is raw, honest, and grief‑stricken. Yet in the very centre of the book, in Lamentations chapter 3[ii], a surprising burst of hope appears.

Before verse 25, Jeremiah has described deep affliction. He writes:
“He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.”
(Lamentations 3:2, KJV)

He speaks of bitterness, hardship, and feeling shut out from God. Yet he also declares:
“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
(Lamentations 3:21–23, KJV)

It is in this renewed confidence that verse 25 sits. It is a statement of faith made in the midst of suffering, not after it.

2. Exegetical Reflection on Lamentations 3:25

“The LORD is good…”

This is not a general statement about God’s character, although it is certainly true. It is a confession made by someone who has walked through darkness and still believes that God is good. In Christian theology, God’s goodness is not dependent on circumstances. It flows from his unchanging nature.

“…unto them that wait for him…”

Waiting in Scripture is not passive. It is a posture of trust, patience, and surrender. It is the opposite of self‑reliance. Waiting acknowledges that God’s timing is perfect, even when ours is not.

Jeremiah has already said:
“The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”
(Lamentations 3:24, KJV)

Waiting is an act of hope grounded in God’s covenant faithfulness.

“…to the soul that seeketh him.”

Seeking God is active. It involves prayer, repentance, obedience, and longing for God’s presence. In Christian thought, seeking God is itself a work of grace. God enables the seeking heart.

This verse therefore holds together two truths:

• God is good.
• God’s goodness is experienced most deeply by those who wait on him and seek him.

This is not a formula for blessing. It is a relational truth. God meets the humble, the patient, and the earnest seeker.

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3. Theological Insights

1. God’s Goodness in Suffering

Lamentations 3 does not deny suffering. It acknowledges it fully. Yet it insists that suffering does not cancel God’s goodness. This aligns with the Christian understanding of God’s sovereignty: God is good even when life is not.

2. The Grace of Waiting

Waiting is a spiritual discipline. It shapes the believer’s heart. It teaches dependence. It reminds us that salvation, sanctification, and restoration are God’s work, not ours.

3. Seeking God as a Response to Grace

Seeking God is not a human achievement. It is the fruit of God drawing us to himself. As Jesus said:
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.”
(John 6:44, KJV)

Thus, Lamentations 3:25 calls us to respond to God’s grace with active pursuit of him.

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4. Application for Modern Christian Living

1. When Life Feels Chaotic, Remember God’s Character

Jeremiah’s world had collapsed. Yet he remembered God’s mercy and faithfulness. Christians today face uncertainty, grief, and hardship. This verse invites us to anchor ourselves in who God is, not in how we feel.

2. Practise the Discipline of Waiting

Modern life is fast, impatient, and demanding. Waiting on God feels countercultural. Yet it is essential for spiritual maturity. Waiting teaches us to trust God’s timing and wisdom.

3. Seek God with Your Whole Being

Seeking God is not a casual activity. It is a daily posture. It involves Scripture reading, prayer, worship, and obedience. It means turning to God first, not last.

4. Trust That God Meets the Seeking Soul

Lamentations 3:25 is a promise. God is good to those who wait and seek. This does not mean life becomes easy. It means God becomes near. His presence is the believer’s comfort and strength.

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5. Meditation Guide

Step 1: Read the Verse Slowly

“The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.”
(Lamentations 3:25, KJV)

Let each phrase settle in your heart.

Step 2: Reflect on Your Own Waiting

Where are you impatient?
Where are you tempted to take control?
What would it look like to wait on God in that area?

Step 3: Reflect on Your Seeking

Are you seeking God daily?
Are there distractions or sins that dull your desire for him?

Step 4: Pray Honestly

Tell God where you struggle to wait.
Ask him to stir your heart to seek him more deeply.
Thank him for his goodness, even in hardship.

Step 5: Rest in God’s Promise

God is good to those who wait and seek.
Rest in that truth today.

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[i] A lament is a heartfelt expression of sorrow, grief, or distress, spoken honestly before God. It is one of the most common forms of prayer in the Bible, especially in the Psalms and in books like Lamentations and Jeremiah.

[ii] Lamentations 3

King James Version

3 I Am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.

3 Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.

4 My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.

5 He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

6 He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.

7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.

8 Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.

9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

10 He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.

11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

12 He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

13 He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

14 I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.

15 He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.

17 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.

18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:

19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28 He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.

29 He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.

30 He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.

31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:

32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

34 To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth.

35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High,

36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.

37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?

39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.

41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

42 We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.

43 Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us: thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied.

44 Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.

45 Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in the midst of the people.

46 All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.

47 Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction.

48 Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

49 Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission.

50 Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven.

51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.

52 Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.

53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me.

54 Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.

55 I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.

56 Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.

57 Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not.

58 O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.

59 O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong: judge thou my cause.

60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

61 Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all their imaginations against me;

62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device against me all the day.

63 Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their musick.

64 Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, according to the work of their hands.

65 Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.

66 Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the Lord.