My Soul Is Downcast Within Me

He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.

I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long.

He has filled me with bitter herbs and given me gall to drink.

He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.

I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.

So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.

I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:13-26

Have you ever played on a teeter tooter? Kids can be cruel, and the cruelest joke is jumping off when your friend is at the top. Sometimes we may feel that Jesus does that to us. When life takes a downturn and leaves us with bumps and bruises, it may feel as if He has walked away leaving our lives to come painfully crashing down.

Lamentations reminds us that our Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, and that God is faithful to the end even when everything seems to be coming apart. This means that in the midst of our pain, even though we may be lonely, we are not alone. And though we may not feel His presence, He is there as our trusted companion who will never walk away and let us down!

When everyone else fails, Jesus is our most trusted friend.

Our Daily Bread – April 24, 2014