Lamentations 1-3

“"The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I have hope in Him'” (3:24).  Lamentations is a poem of mourning for the defeat of Jerusalem.  The prophet Jeremiah described the terrible situation: the city was besieged, people were starving, and he himself had given up hope and strength.  But Jeremiah knew God, and he remembered that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (v22).  Therefore he could look beyond the present and have hope.

The loving, generous, forgiving Creator was Jeremiah’s “portion” – all he needed and wanted, everything necessary, in a difficult world.