Lamentations 3:18 (LSB)

Passage

So I say, “My strength has perished, As well as my hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.”

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust.

Lamentations 3:17 My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten goodness.

Lamentations 3:18 So I say, “My strength has perished, As well as my hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.”

Lamentations 3:19 Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and gall.

Lamentations 3:20 Surely my soul remembers And is bowed down within me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "strength", "perished", "well", "hopeful", "waiting", "comes", and "yahweh". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "strength" and "perished", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "My soul has been rejected from peace..." into verse 19's "Remember my affliction and my homelessness the...", so "strength" and "perished" 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 "strength" and "perished" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.