Lament is a topic that is not often brought up in church circles today, despite its prevalence in the Psalms. There is a dearth of understanding of why lament is a powerful part of our faith and what laments accomplish in our journey with God. Instead, American Christianity pushes people to try to stay in a place of happiness or contentedness in our walk with God, even when trials overwhelm us and we need an outlet. Sadly, poor discipleship on the purposes of lament removes a powerful tool from the hands of people struggling to reconcile their belief in an active God with their experience of a life bereft of his presence.
Perhaps even more disturbing, laments are seen as equivalent to complaining to God or are even viewed as sinful expressions of faithlessness. Nothing could be further from the truth, as an examination of one of the personal lament psalms will prove. Psalm 13 says the following:
1 O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.
Each lament has four elements to it: an address to God, a description of the complaint, a request for God’s help, and an expression of trust in God. These elements can be traced through Psalm 13 very easily. David opens the psalm by addressing God in verse one and moves directly into his complaint: he feels forgotten and in anguish because his enemies are having victory over him. Then in verses 3-4 he requests God’s help by asking for God to turn and answer his pleas by destroying his enemies. Verses 5-6 establish David’s trust in God’s goodness, despite nothing having changed in his circumstances.
It is usually the complaint to God that stirs discomfort in today’s Christians. We ought not to complain to a God who’s been so generous to us, the thought process goes, so therefore it must be a sin to complain. Some even point to verses in the Pauline epistles that say not to complain as proof that this type of lament is at least flirting with sin. But if we’re honest, we all have complaints to God about things not going our way, and sometimes these are quite large events that have turned against us. Like David, perhaps our lives, our livelihood, or our reputation is at stake, and God appears to do nothing. What are we to do in these circumstances, if not to make our complaints known to God? In the right context, complaints to God are not sinful at all but represent a defiant exclamation of faith in God despite the circumstances.
By moving directly from a description of the complaint to a request for God’s help, we are proving that we know where our help comes from in dire situations. We know that we cannot trust in money or power (today’s chariots and horses), but we must rely instead on the God who is always for us. Combine this immediate request to God for help with the equally immediate declaration of trust in God and we can begin to see how lament serves a deep spiritual purpose. Nothing has changed in the circumstances between when the complaint is served up to God and when we preemptively thank him for taking care of us, and yet everything has also changed. We have re-established our trust in God despite the situation we find ourselves in, and we arrived at this place through the process of lament.
It is only by giving voice to our complaints to God that we are able to release the faith to continue to trust in him regardless. This is very distinct from true complaining. For example, think of the Israelites in their desert wandering. Every time Moses turned around, the nation was complaining about not being in Egypt. They wanted meat to eat. They were thirsty. They were hungry. They were hot. The list goes on and on, and it exasperated both God and Moses. There was no faith component being established by the Israelites in their complaints. There were no declarations of trust in the goodness of God. No, they were rebelling against the goodness of God despite all his provisions for them and his obvious presence in the pillar of cloud and fire. The Israelites wanted to separate themselves from God and return to slavery, instead of experiencing the freedom God had in store for them in the land of Canaan.
This contrast between Israel and the psalms of lament underscores one of the purposes behind laments—to praise God. It seems counterintuitive to say that a lament which includes a complaint is actually praise, but every lament psalm ends with a declaration of trust in the character and goodness of God. Laments call God to act on the basis of his character and his declared goodness toward us. While it is in the minor key of suffering, it is nevertheless anticipatory praise about the good deeds God is going to perform on our behalf.
In this way, lament is a powerful antidote for fear. It is through lament that we are able to remind ourselves that God is for us as the apostle Paul declared in Romans 8:31. We can stir up our own faith by lamenting because we are calling God to act in accordance with his nature, and this by definition forces us to consider his nature. By considering his nature, we are drawn to the goodness and consistency of his character. This recognition of God’s goodness and love makes fear dissipate because perfect love casts out fear. As we ruminate on the nature of God, we can’t help but be reminded that he is much larger in scope and power than whatever problem we might be facing.
And yet there is more that lament can do in a Christian’s life. Lament is a pathway to greater intimacy with God. We know that God is listening to our prayers, which is the core of what a lament is, a prayer to God. As he listens to our prayers, we are able to draw near to him as a result. James says that if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us, and this is the transaction that’s happening in a lament. We are pouring our hearts out to God, hoping against hope for a changed life. In the process of doing this, we are drawing near to him and giving him an opportunity to return the favor. Oftentimes, laments don’t modify the circumstances but do greatly change how we see things because God has drawn near and sheltered us in his cocoon of grace. Grace changes everything.
Lament also invites us to participate in the pain of life with others. As we engage in reading the lament psalms, we may discover that there isn’t a direct correlation in our experience of being hemmed in on all sides by our enemies, but this could be a daily experience for the underground church in southeast Asia. By finding and making these connections with the broader church at large, we are giving ourselves permission to enter into others’ pain. There is something redemptive about entering into another’s pain. After all, Jesus was doing just that when he quoted Psalm 22 on the cross, entering into the pain of many of the Jewish martyrs of his day.
So lament is something entirely different than complaining about life not going our way. When we choose to lament, we are engaging in an ancient practice of recognizing who has the power to change our circumstances and we are calling God to act on our behalf on the basis of his great love for us. We are encouraging ourselves and lifting ourselves up in faith based on God’s anticipated provision for us. We are choosing to draw near to God by sharing our innermost struggles with him, trusting that he will be gentle with our pain. And we are entering into the pain of others by lamenting alongside them in their pain. Lament is a powerful weapon in the hands of thoughtful Christians indeed.
If you find yourself in a season of darkness and hard circumstances, perhaps it is time for you to write your own lament. You can use Psalm 13 as a guide to pen your own complaint/praise to God. I am confident that choosing to do this will build faith and courage into your life. If you do write a lament, I’d love to see it in the comments.
Great post, and so very true + needed.
A couple of years ago, I read Michael Card's "A Secret Sorrow: Reaching Out to God in the Lost Language of Lament." Terrific in depth exploration of the topic.
How beautiful and how very helpful in these dark times. You helped me immensely so thank you!