Lament (Part 2)

READ: PSALM 13; MARK 14:32-36

Have you ever read a psalm and thought, Wow, they’re really mad at God. Are you even allowed to say that to Him? The short answer is, yes, and it’s called lament.

In fact, about a third of the psalms in the Bible are lament psalms or complaint psalms. A lament is when you bring your honest, unfiltered frustrations, angers, griefs, and disappointments to God in prayer. It says, “God, I’m not okay. This stinks. I hate it. I feel like You’ve forgotten me. Why did You let this happen?!” That doesn’t sound encouraging, does it? But lament is so important that, throughout the Bible, the prophets, the leaders of Israel, and even Jesus Himself lamented. And yet, as Christians, we often avoid lament for two reasons.

First, sometimes we mistakenly think that lament shows a lack of trust in God. But, in lament, we actually entrust God with our deepest, most uncomfortable feelings. And we are trusting Him to do something about our hurts—whether it be now, later, or when He returns (2 Peter 3:1-13; Revelation 21:1-5). So lament is a faithful response to the pain and brokenness sin causes in the world. The lament psalms show us what this looks like. Almost all of these psalms end by praising God for how good He is—after the psalmists have expressed their hurts to Him.

Second, we might avoid lament because, when something bad happens, we want to skip all the terrible feelings and rush to the healing. My friends, that isn’t healthy. True healing happens only by walking through the pain and hurt, relying on Jesus as He walks through it with us. Jesus loves us unconditionally. He lived among us on earth, He died for us, and He rose again—He knows our pain. He even laments on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25). As we bring our pain to Him, we can know, by the power of His resurrection, suffering’s days are numbered.

Today, let’s lay our laments at His feet, as loudly as we need to. God is big. He can handle it. • Taylor Eising

• What do you need to lament right now? Something in your past or present? Something happening to a loved one? Injustice in the world? Bring these to God. If you’re not sure where to start, try using a lament psalm as a blueprint for your prayer, such as Psalm 44, 55, 77, 79, 90, or 142.

• Do you have a tendency to rush through processing your pain with God? Why do you think that might be? Who is a trusted Christian in your life you could talk with about lament?

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (CSB)