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What do you search for when you read the scriptures? Last week, we talked about searching for repeating phrases and ideas, and this week we are searching for what comes next. I'm Cindy Young, and this is Primarily Scripture. This week's reading in Come Follow Me includes Jeremiah chapters 31 through 33, 36 through 39, and chapters one and three of Lamentations. Now, Jeremiah lived at a time when the people were very wicked, so a lot of his writings are warnings and prophecies about the consequences of their bad choices. They would be captured. There would be a lot of suffering. But then Jeremiah also prophesied about when their captivity would end, and about the restoration of the gospel in the last days, and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Because Jeremiah talked so much about things that were going to happen, it really gives us a great backdrop for practicing the skill of looking for what comes next. But we cannot use the easiest way of looking for what comes next, which we've talked about before, and that is looking for if-then statements. For instance, in the Book of Mormon, we see a lot of variations on the phrase, "If you keep the commandments, then you will prosper in the land." Jeremiah uses the if-then pattern, but he only uses it a few times, and actually all of them are in last week's reading, including some of the chapters that we didn't even read this week or last week. If you want to see an example of Jeremiah using an if-then statement, you can go

back to Jeremiah 4: 1:42

1 and see that example. really, finding if-then statements is the easy way because it's perfectly spelled out. If you do this, then this will happen. So this week we are talking about other ways that we can find what comes next. We find the first one in Lamentations chapter three, and you can find this on my free worksheet this week. So if you're watching YouTube, I'll put it on the screen so you can follow along. Now, my understanding is that no one actually knows who wrote the book of Lamentations, but we think that it was probably Jeremiah. Also, you can't really tell in the English version, but it was written as poetry. And this chapter, chapter three, is written from the point of view of all the people, and they're sad because of their trials, but then they recognize that it was their own choices that caused them to lose the Lord's protection. They turn to the Lord in prayer and trust that He will deliver them in His own timing. So that's the basic idea of this entire chapter. Let's read verse 32 together. Okay?

It says this: 2:49

"But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies." All right, in this verse, Jeremiah used'though' and 'yet' instead of if and then. The difference is that when you use an if-then statement, what happens next (the 'then' part, right?), only happens IF you do the first part, right? Isn't that kind of the whole point of an if-then statement? But here, we're being taught that just because one thing happens, it doesn't mean that a different thing can't also happen in the future. Does that make sense? That "if/then," it depends on each other. And "though and yet," there's no connection necessarily. So let's read the verse again. It says, "Though He," that's talking about the Lord, "Though He cause grief" And what does that mean, cause grief? Didn't the Lord tell the people that if they didn't repent, they would suffer? He allowed them to experience trials as a consequence of their actions. So "though" they feel this grief or this suffering, "yet" - don't give up hope, there's something else that can come- he will "have compassion," and this will be "according to," meaning in alignment with or consistent with, "the multitude of His mercies." Oh, I love this! We are being reminded that He wants to bless His people, and He has so many ways to do it. And just because consequences come, it doesn't mean that you're cut off from blessings forever. Sometimes we need this reminder, don't we? I love it so much. Love, love, love! All right. So look for words like though and yet, and sometimes they'll be together like they are here, and sometimes they'll be by themselves. But either way, they can help us learn that where we are isn't necessarily the end of the story. Oh, it's so good! I love that! All right, another way to find what comes next is to look for the word therefore. And we have talked about this in the past, but it's been a minute, so I wanted to remind you. Do you remember what the word therefore means? It means "for that reason," or "and so…" Basically, it points out that there is a consequence. Now careful, sometimes we think that consequence automatically means a punishment, but consequence just means something that comes next, but it only comes because of what happened first, right? This thing happened, and then the consequence is that this happened. And isn't this kind of the opposite of the though and yet that we just read about? Though and yet did not depend on each other, whereas therefore does depend. It's like an if/then. Okay, so now that we understand that, let's back up just a

little bit to Lamentations 3: 5:44

21, and let's read this together. I want you to see if you can figure out what happens first that therefore helps the next thing to happen. Okay?

It says this: 5:56

"This I recall to my mind, therefore, have I hope." Isn't that short and sweet? I love it. Okay. I also love it when it's spelled out for us like this. Therefore… what happens? So clear!"Therefore I have hope." That is an amazing thing that all of us want to have. So what is this telling us to do so that we can therefore have hope? What came first? Do you remember? Okay, I'll read it again for you."This I recall to my mind, therefore, have I hope." Okay. Wait a minute. We thought this was going to be so easy because the therefore was perfectly spelled out and so clear, but what did they remember? All it says that they remembered was"this." And something like a dash or a colon could have helped us know what this was talking about, but the punctuation here doesn't help us out at all! So what "this" is talking about, isn't super clear. And all that means is that we're gonna have to do some digging and see if we can figure it out. When the scriptures use a pronoun like this or they or it, and you need to figure out what that pronoun is referencing, you have two options. You can either look forward in the verses or, you guessed it, backwards, right? Often you figure it out by going backwards because usually, at least in English, the first time an author writes about something, they usually name what that thing is, and then they'll switch to pronouns. Like this- they'll say,"The dog was black. It sat by the window." Or, or maybe it would be something like, "Mom made dinner," and I said, "This is good." And"this" is talking about dinner, right? Okay, so let's use this, and we'll go backwards in the scripture. Verses 19 and 20 are on the worksheet, so we'll read them there. They say, "Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me." All right, so let's think about this. Could the "this" in 21 be talking about afflictions and misery? Um, would that give you hope? Probably not. Wormwood was a plant that tasted horrible, and it could make you very sick. And gall was a sour or bitter form of wine, a lot like vinegar. And both wormwood and gall were used in medicine in very small amounts, but they were so gross and uncomfortable that back then people talked about them to represent spiritual suffering. So do you think that remembering their suffering gave them hope? Mm, probably not. But verse 20 does say that when they remembered these sufferings, they were humbled. So if you realize that suffering can lead us to feel more humble, is that what gave them hope? You know what? I'd say that that's a possibility because it really does help us to realize that good results can come from uncomfortable circumstances. When you go through something hard, you can learn from that, and that is hopeful! Just like we learned in that verse we talked about previously in this episode, the bad part is not the end of the story. That is very hopeful, and I'd say that that is one thing that"this" could represent in verse 21. Okay, but instead of thinking that we found it and we're for sure right about that, let's look forward at the verses after 21, and we'll see if anything there might be something that could also give us hope. Because remember, this was written as poetry and in a different language. And neither poetry nor other languages follow all the same rules of typical modern English writing. So starting in verse 22, it says this: "It is of the Lord's mercies," meaning because of the Lord's mercies."It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness." Okay, now that seems so much more hopeful to me! Mercy means kindness or doing a favor, and compassion means feeling bad that someone is suffering and wanting to help them. And the fact that God's mercy and compassion are what keep us from being consumed or, or taken over by our trials… That is amazing! And I especially love this line," They are new every morning." Oh my goodness, don't you love that? Every day is another chance to choose good and to receive blessings from God. That is the very definition of hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only because of Jesus and his atonement that we can have any kind of hope at all. So maybe this is what we're to remember that gives us hope. Now one of the fantastic things about the scriptures is that in places like this, there isn't a right or a wrong answer. That is between you and the Spirit to figure out together what the Lord wants you to focus on right now, and what message is right here in the scriptures for you. So if you search for words like"therefore" and "yet," and look closer when you do find them, then The Spirit will have an extra chance to teach you, and your scripture study will be that much more meaningful. I'm Cindy Young, and this is Primarily Scripture. Thanks for tuning in to Primarily Scripture with Cindy Young. Don't forget, you can subscribe to the newsletter and download free worksheets on the website primarilyscripture.com. And if you like the channel, be sure to subscribe, like, share, and leave a review. See you next time!