Lamentations 3:40 (ASV)

Passage

Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:38 Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and good?

Lamentations 3:39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

Lamentations 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to Jehovah.

Lamentations 3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

Lamentations 3:42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; thou hast not pardoned.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "search", "ways", "turn", "again", and "jehovah". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "search" and "ways", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 39's "Wherefore doth a living man complain a..." into verse 41's "Let us lift up our heart with...", so "search" and "ways" belong inside that flow. In Lamentations context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "search" and "ways" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.