The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”
- BSB “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
- NKJV “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
- NASB “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I wait for Him.”
- NLT I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because the LORD himself is his portion, he resolves to hope in him. It grounds hope in possessing God as one's true inheritance.
Overview
The sufferer declares the LORD to be 'my portion,' echoing the language of the Levites whose inheritance was God himself (Numbers 18:20; Psalm 73:26). Having God is enough to sustain hope even when all else is lost. This finds its fullness in Christ, through whom believers receive God as their everlasting inheritance and portion (Ephesians 1:11).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
- Ps 16:5The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
- Ps 142:5I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
- Lam 3:21This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
- Ps 33:18Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
- Job 13:15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
- Ps 62:8Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
- Ps 31:24Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
- Jer 51:19The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
- 1 Pet 1:21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
- 1 Sam 30:6And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
- 1 Chr 5:20And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.
- Ps 42:11Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
- Ps 130:7Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
- Jer 10:16The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
- Ps 84:12O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
- Ps 43:5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
- Rom 15:12And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
- Ps 119:57Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 3:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.