Lamentations 3:40 (YLT)

Passage

We search our ways, and investigate, And turn back unto Jehovah.

Nearby Context

Lamentations 3:38 From the mouth of the Most High Go not forth the evils and the good.

Lamentations 3:39 What--sigh habitually doth a living man, A man for his sin?

Lamentations 3:40 We search our ways, and investigate, And turn back unto Jehovah.

Lamentations 3:41 We lift up our heart on the hands unto God in the heavens.

Lamentations 3:42 We--we have transgressed and rebelled, Thou--Thou hast not forgiven.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "search", "ways", "investigate", "turn", "back", 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 "What--sigh habitually doth a living man A..." into verse 41's "We lift up our heart on the...", 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.