Passage
He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away; He has broken my bones.
Lamentations 3:4 (LSB)
Nearby Context
Lamentations 3:2 He has driven me and made me walk In darkness and not in light.
Lamentations 3:3 Surely against me He has turned His hand Repeatedly all the day.
Lamentations 3:4 He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away; He has broken my bones.
Lamentations 3:5 He has besieged and encompassed me with gall and hardship.
Lamentations 3:6 Dark places He has made me inhabit, Like those who have long been dead.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "caused", "flesh", "skin", "waste", "away", "broken", and "bones". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "caused" and "flesh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Surely against me He has turned His..." into verse 5's "He has besieged and encompassed me with...", so "caused" and "flesh" 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 "caused" and "flesh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.