Welcome to Daily Bitachon . We are now in the pesukim of Eicha that bring us chizuk and we are in perek ג , pasuk כה טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ Hashem is good to those who trust in Him, to the soul that seeks Him." All the commentaries are bothered by the same question. The pasuk starts off in the plural טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו/ Hashem is good to those who trust in Him — but ends off in the singular לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ/ to the soul that seeks Him. Why the contrast? The Chida , in his sefer Nachal Eshkol on Eicha , cites a similar question found in a pasuk in Shemot , Parashat Mishpatim 23:25, which says, " וַעֲבַד ְתֶּם אֵת ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם, וּבֵרַךְ אֶת לַחְמ ְךָ וְאֶת מֵימֶ יךָ " "Serve Hashem your God, and He will bless your bread and your water." Here again, we see a similar pattern. וַעֲבַדְתֶּם is plural but לַחְמְךָ וּמֵימֶיךָ/ your bread and your water is singular. (This contrast is unique to Hebrew, where " your " can appear in both plural and singular forms) And the question here too is, why the change? The Chida answers that when it comes to the service of Hashem (as in the pasuk in Mishpatim ), everyone goes to shul and everyone prays. So the pasuk begins in plural וַעֲבַדְתֶּם But among those are all kinds of people. Some pray with deep kavanah , others may pray with less kavanah — going through the motions without as much heart. So, yes, the community shows up — hence the plural. But because each person's prayer is unique, so too is their reward. That's why the verse shifts to the singular when discussing the blessing of bread and water- because each individual's reward is tailored to their personal service. Similarly, in our pasuk in Eicha regarding bitachon : טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו" Of course, Hashem is good to all who hope in Him. Many people hope to Him, but " לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ To the individual person as he has searched out This is a critical word: תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ . It appears often during the High Holiday season, especially the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah , as it says, דִּרְשׁוּ ה' בְּהִמָּצְאוֹ Search for Hashem when He can be found Am I really searching for Hashem ? Am I truly looking for Him? (The word תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ is connected to the idea of a derashah like mi drash im or a drash , and to be doresh means to delve deeply, to search in depth) Hashem is good to the masses, yes. But when it comes to God's reward, each individual's bitachon is evaluated on its own. It's not a one-size-fits-all system where simply being a Baal bitachon automatically earns you a reward. You're not entered in a " bitachon club" that grants access to a special reward room. No. There is a a general goodness for those who hope טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו But לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּ וּ , the specific measure is based on the personal searching , and the depth of one's bitachon . With this, we can understand the juxtaposition of pesukim in Yirmiyah (who is also the author of Eicha). In perek 17 of Yirmiyah , which happens to be the Haftarah for Parashat Bechukotai , it says: "בָּרוּךְ הַגֶּבֶר אֲשֶׁר יִבְטַח בַּה', וְהָיָה ה' מִבְטַחוֹ" " Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem, and Hashem will be his security." Right after speaking about bitachon , it says: "עָקֹב הַלֵּב מִכֹּל, וְאָנֻשׁ הוּא — מִי יֵדָעֶנּוּ?" " The heart is more deceitful than anything, and it's fragile — who can know it?" " אֲנִי ה' חוֹקֵר לֵב, בֹּחֵן כְּלָיוֹת, וְלָתֵת לְאִישׁ כִּדְרָכָיו, כְּפִרְי מַעַלְלָיו" "I, Hashem, probe the heart, examine the innermost thoughts, and give to each person according to their ways, according to the fruit of their deeds." Mar"i Kra ( one of the rishonim) explains: What are these " deeds " for which we are rewarded? It is the level of bitachon . Hashem says, The heart is fragile. Only I truly know what a person's bitachon is. So yes, טוֹב ה' לְקוֹוָיו / Hashem is good to all who hope in Him, in general. But the deeper levels of the human heart, only Hashem knows. And the reward for bitachon matches the depth of that bitachon , the נֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ.