and therefore i have hope

# and therefore i have hope

Canonical: https://fragments.ikon.io/pieces/and-therefore-i-have-hope

Type: fragment

Published: 2026-08-26T23:59:51.880Z

Published version created: 2026-08-27T00:03:02.172Z

## Summary

recall yesterday's reflections on hope... this morning: lamentations 3.21 26 (NRSVue) But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; the

## Writing

recall yesterday's reflections on hope...

this morning: lamentations 3.21-26 (NRSVue)

> But this I call to mind,
> and therefore I have hope:
> The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
> his mercies never come to an end;
> they are new every morning;
> great is your faithfulness.

> “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
> “therefore I will hope in him.”

> The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
> to the soul that seeks him.
> It is good that one should wait quietly
> for the salvation of the LORD.

startling perspective in the midst of unbearable horror. listen to what comes directly before:

> I am one who has seen affliction
> under the rod of God’s wrath;
> he has driven and brought me
> into darkness without any light;
> against me alone he turns his hand,
> again and again, all day long.

> He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
> he has broken my bones;
> he has besieged and enveloped me
> with bitterness and tribulation;
> he has made me sit in darkness
> like the dead of long ago.

> He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
> he has put heavy chains on me;
> though I call and cry for help,
> he shuts out my prayer;
> he has blocked my ways with hewn stones;
> he has made my paths crooked.

> He is a bear lying in wait for me,
> a lion in hiding;
> he led me off my way and tore me to pieces;
> he has made me desolate;
> he bent his bow and set me
> as a mark for his arrow.

> He shot into my vitals
> the arrows of his quiver;
> I have become the laughingstock of all my people,
> the object of their taunt songs all day long.

> He has filled me with bitterness;
> he has sated me with wormwood.
> He has made my teeth grind on gravel;
> he has made me cower in ashes;
> my soul is bereft of peace;
> I have forgotten what happiness is;
> so I say, “Gone is my glory
> and all that I had hoped for from the LORD.”

> The thought of my affliction and my homelessness
> is wormwood and gall!
> My soul continually thinks of it
> and is bowed down within me.

## Featured passage

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.