Lamentations 3:25
in Lamentations 3The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
KJV
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
⋯
This verse in Lamentations 3
Commentary
6 notes on this verse"There is none good but one, God the Father." This word they declare is peculiar to the Father of Christ, who, however, is different from the God who is creator of all things, to which creator he gave no appellation of goodness. Let us see now if, in the Old Testament, the God of the prophets and the Creator and Legislator of the word is not called good. What are the expressions that occur in the psalms?
This site's exposition
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him
on Lamentations 3:25-27
The confession becomes instruction: “The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him”. The unit closes with a proverb of discipline taken up: “It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young”.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Divine mercy is here designated as to expectation of future events. First, the expectation itself, second, to the condition of such expectation. Regarding this expectation of future events three ideas are proposed. First is the result of such an expectation: "The Lord is good to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The Lord is good to them that wait for him,.... For the enjoyment of him as their portion in this world, and in that to come; for his presence here and hereafter; which they are sometimes now deprived of, but should wait patiently for it; since he has his set time to arise and favour them with it; to such is he "good" communicatively, and in a special way and manner.
But he is in a particular manner good to those that wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. Note, While trouble is prolonged, and deliverance is deferred, we must patiently wait for God and his gracious returns to us. While we wait for him by faith, we must seek him by prayer: our souls must seek him, else we do not seek so as to find.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In these three verses, each beginning in the Hebrew with the word good, we have first the fundamental idea that Yahweh Himself is good, and if good to all, then especially is He so to those who being in adversity can yet wait in confidence upon His mercy. Lam 3:26 And quietly wait - literally, “and be in silence,” i. e. abstain from all complaining.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ט֤וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לְקוָֹ֔יו | lekovav | to [those who] wait for him | H6960 → | |
| לְנֶ֖פֶשׁ | lenefesh | to anyone | H5315 → | 754 times |
| תִּדְרְשֶֽׁנּוּ׃ | tidreshenu | [who] it will seek him | H1875 → |
ט֤וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לְקוָֹ֔יוto [those who] wait for him
lekovavH6960 →
לְנֶ֖פֶשׁto anyone
lenefeshH5315 →754 times
תִּדְרְשֶֽׁנּוּ׃[who] it will seek him
tidreshenuH1875 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 40:31But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:25–26
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
- 2 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.
- Psalms 27:13–14
Still I am certain to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
- Psalms 103:5
who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9–10
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of…
- Lamentations 3:25–26
Through
Lamentations 3:26It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:7
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 37:34
Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will raise you up to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
- Psalms 130:5
I wait for the LORD; my soul does wait, and in His word I put my hope.
- Psalms 37:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
On this verse
On this chapter
About Lamentations
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2:5.4 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Lamentations.