The Lord is Good (Lamentations 3:25)

Here’s a bit of my design process for creating the artwork for Lamentations 3:25. The verse itself was part of my ongoing #LetterforHisGlory challenge on Instagram. I wanted to pair it with a wreath of some sort (part of a personal challenge to try creating different styles of digital wreaths).

As always, I start by focusing on the words of the verse, then I ask myself a few questions about it. In this way it goes further than simply lettering words, to actually meditating on God’s Word and hiding its truth in my heart.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”

Lamentations 3:25 ESV

Does this verse make sense on its own, or is it part of a larger context?
In this case, the answer is both. It contains a complete thought on its own, but the surrounding verses give it more depth, as they describe the feeling of waiting and longing that the (human) author experienced. It also comes right after verses 23-24, the well-known passage about God’s new morning mercies and “great is thy faithfulness.”

Who are the key actors and recipients in the verse?
The main actor here is the Lord! But we are also included as both actors and recipients, and it is both inclusive (anyone and everyone) and exclusive (who waits for him, who seeks him).

What are the major key words?
I chose to focus on the words: good, wait, seek. Each word indicates some major action or result, and the three words together contain the main point of the verse. This will directly influence my design.

What is the ‘feel’ of the verse?
This is a very subjective question, but it directs the overall mood and color scheme of my art. In this particular verse, I felt the death of selfish desires in the long period of waiting and seeking, like leaves dying in the fall. Yet there is beauty in that journey, in both the physical and the spiritual realms! There are hidden gems and splashes of brilliant color that only the Master Artist could create.

With these thoughts in mind, I began lettering the words from Lamentations 3:25. I used a typewriter style for an “everyday” feel, with a more flourishy script for the three keywords to make them stand out. Then I worked on creating a wreath around the verse. I carried that feeling of autumn with the color choices and leaves, adding a handful of subtle flowers for the idea of hidden beauty. I’m not very much into florals, but the wreath still needed some other element to make it look complete. I had just created a collection of digital star stamps, and the idea of a wire spool of stars intertwined with the leaves and flowers came to mind, so I added those in for an unexpected detail. Finally, purely for the design aspect, I added a watercolor paper overlay to the entire piece.

To me, it gives the feel of autumn. The beauty of waiting. The blessing of God’s goodness, even in the seeking.

How would you depict it?

To read my meditation on Lamentations 3:25, click here.