Lamentations 3:22-24 is a passage about why God’s people can still hope when everything around them has fallen apart. The writer insists that the Lord’s loving kindness and compassion have not run out, and that his faithfulness is renewed each day, so the reader can keep waiting on him.
The verses come from the book of Lamentations, a collection of five poems mourning the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Babylonians in 586 BC. In the middle of that grief, the poet turns from describing ruin to recalling what remains true about God.
22 It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. 23 They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. 24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24 (WEB)
Lamentations 3:22-24 Summary
The passage moves in three short steps. First, the speaker says that the people have not been wiped out entirely, and gives the reason: the Lord’s steadfast love and compassion. Second, he says these mercies are fresh every morning, and that God’s faithfulness is great. Third, he speaks for his own soul, declaring that the Lord is his portion and that he will therefore hope in him.
The argument runs from evidence to conclusion. The survival of the community is proof of God’s mercy, the daily arrival of mercy is proof of his faithfulness, and so the speaker chooses to hope rather than despair.
Context of Lamentations 3:22-24
Lamentations is traditionally attributed to Jeremiah, though the poems do not name their author, and scholars generally date them shortly after the fall of Jerusalem. They were written for a grieving community that had lost its city, its king, and its sense of security, and they give voice to that loss without hiding it.
Chapter 3 is the most personal of the five poems. Verses 19 to 21 remember the bitterness and the bowed-down soul, and verse 21 says the speaker deliberately calls these things back to mind. Verses 25 to 27 then broaden the thought: waiting on the Lord is good, and bearing a hard yoke in youth is good too. The hope of verses 22 to 24 is therefore not a quick escape from pain but a disciplined way of living through it.
Lamentations 3:22-24 Verse by Verse
Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever.
(WEB)
This psalm repeats the phrase that God’s steadfast love endures forever. It pairs well with Lamentations 3:22-24 because both passages anchor hope in the unchanging nature of God’s love rather than in changing circumstances.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from God’s love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(WEB)
Paul lists the things that cannot separate believers from the love of God. The passage echoes the Lamentations theme that nothing in suffering can finally cut off God’s mercy toward his people.
A Prayer Based on Lamentations 3:22-24
Lord, I come to you this morning and ask you to meet me with the mercy that is new today. I confess that I have been tempted to think my hope has run out, that I have used up your patience and my reserves of strength. Remind me, as you reminded the poet, that your compassion does not fail and that your faithfulness is great. Help me to say, as my soul says, that you are my portion, and let that truth steady me through whatever this day holds. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Lamentations 3:22-24?
The book of Lamentations is traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, though the poems themselves do not name their author. Scholars generally agree the poems were written soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
What does “new every morning” mean in Lamentations 3:23?
It means God’s mercies are supplied freshly each day rather than stored up all at once. The picture encourages trust for the day at hand, not anxious planning for every future trouble.
What does “the LORD is my portion” mean?
The phrase draws on the Old Testament idea of an inheritance, the share of the land given to each family. Saying God is his portion means the speaker counts the Lord himself as his greatest possession and source of security.
