“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. —Lamentations 3:24-26
What do you do when you’re hit with something harder than you ever imagined? What do you do when nothing you can do will fix the suffering you are facing? Lamentations is a good textbook for us in time of crisis and sorrow. Let’s reflect on these verses and the course of action they set before us.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul.
Maybe you feel as though much has been taken from you. Employment, health, loved ones, fellowship, peace of mind, financial security, freedom. But let’s orient our hearts on what has not and can not be taken from us. The LORD is my portion. If we have the LORD, our portion is not only secure but also bountiful.
“Therefore I will hope in him.”
Here is our first call to action. Where can we place our hope in these uncertain days? In a vaccine? In unemployment checks? In hand sanitizer and toilet paper supplies? In government? In medical providers or personal protective equipment? In our own insight or wisdom about what should be done? No, let’s put all our eggs in one basket, and let’s focus all our heart’s hope and confidence for good in the one who is our true portion, our sovereign King, the wise and good Shepherd, the LORD who is our Savior. I will hope in him.
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
Even in calamity, there is a promise of good for those who belong to the LORD. As a pastor pointed out recently, “Romans 8:28 didn’t stop being true for us because COVID-19 came.” Let’s hear another call to action here. “The soul who seeks him” is the recipient of the LORD’s good. Oh, may we seek him earnestly. Seek him in his Word. Seek him in prayer. Seek him with other believers (even if you gather together via Zoom). As Hebrews 11:5 encourages us, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Here we come to the one instruction that is repeated in this small passage: wait. This call may be the hardest for our human nature. But hear how it also comes with a double promise:
The LORD is good to those who wait for him …
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Do we need all of God’s goodness? Do we feel desperate and helpless? Although it cuts against the grain, let us heed this call and exercise God’s own Spirit-given resources to “wait quietly.”
What do we wait for? The salvation of the LORD.
And that salvation is as secure as ever, settled eternally by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In these days of trial, let’s hope, seek, and wait together for the one who is our rich, bountiful, life-giving Portion.
For Reflection
What do you consider your greatest possession or “portion”? Is it feeling shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic? What would it look like for you to say with this author, “The LORD is my portion”?
How can you heed these verses and their call in your life today? What would be a practical expression of hoping in the LORD, seeking him fully, and waiting quietly for him?
Why can we wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD even if everything around us seems to be falling apart? How is Jesus the source of that hope?