Lamentations 3
Explanation and Bible story for toddlers and preschoolers (ages 3-6)
The Explanation
There once was a man. He was very sad. So sad, he cried and cried. His name is not told to us. We just call him: the man who cried.
Everything felt dark to him. Dark like a room with no light. He felt hurt, deep inside. Like his bones were broken.
He said, "I am so tired. I do not feel happy anymore." He cried into the night. No one seemed to hear him.
But then, the man stopped crying for a moment. He thought of something. Something good.
What Does This Mean?
The man said, "Wait. I remember something now."
He remembered that God is kind. Every single morning, new and fresh. Like the sun that comes up again. Like a warm hug that never runs out.
"Great is your faithfulness," he said. That means God stays. God does not leave. Even when the man cried in the dark, God was there.
The man said, "Yahweh is good. Good to those who wait for him." So he waited. Quietly, like a child waiting for a hug.
The Common Thread
God never stops loving. Even when we are sad, he is not far away. The man called out from a deep, dark pit. And God said, "Don't be afraid."
That is what God always says. He says it to scared children too. He says it to you. "Don't be afraid. I am near."
Jesus knew about crying too. He knew about dark, hard days. But Jesus came to hold our hand. He never leaves us alone in the dark.
For You
When you feel sad, you can cry. That is okay. The man in the story cried too.
But then you can remember something. God's love is new every morning. Just like the sun comes up again. Every single day, fresh and new.
You can say, "God is good. I will wait for him." Even when it is dark. Even when you feel small.
Talk About It
When do you feel sad, like the man in the story?
Can you think of one way God is good to you, today?
Praying Together
Dear God, Sometimes I feel sad. But you are new every morning. Thank you that you stay close. Help me not to be afraid. Amen.
Questions about Lamentations 3
Short answers for anyone reading about this for the first time.
What is Lamentations 3 about?
What does Lamentations 3 say?
What does Lamentations 3 teach us about God?
What can toddlers learn from Lamentations 3?
Why is Lamentations 3 an important Bible story?
What others discovered
Only twenty verses after "they are new every morning," Jeremiah is still saying, "Fear and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction." Hope did not end the grief. It sat down beside it. If you trusted God this morning and still wept tonight, you have not failed. You are in the same chapter.
He has led me and caused me to walk in darkness, and not in light." Notice the verb. Not abandoned in the dark, led there. The hand he blames is still the hand holding his. Twenty verses later this same man says God's mercies are new every morning. He got there by walking, not by waiting for the lights to come on.
Let him give his cheek to him who strikes him. Let him be filled full with reproach." Written with the city in ashes. Not weakness, but a refusal to hit back while waiting, because of what comes three verses later: God "does not afflict willingly." Who are you aching to answer right now? Could you stay still a little longer?
To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth," the poet writes, and then adds that the Lord doesn't approve. A foot on a prisoner is careless cruelty. No one is watching, no one is counting. But Someone is. Ask yourself who you have stepped over this week simply because they could not push back.
Looking for something for slightly older children?
We also have dedicated versions for elementary age (7-12) and teens (12 and up).
Open in the Children's Bible tool
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