Psalms of Lament

Today's post is also available to watch on Youtube!

We live in a very strange culture. On the one hand, we have phrases like "It's not worth crying over spilled milk" or "don't make a mountain out of a molehill", which seem to attempt to communicate minimizing the pain, sorrow, or grief-worthiness of a situation. On the other hand, complaining is something of a past time. We complain about work, jobs, family, situations, drama, spouses, children, school, leadership, politics, music, one another and ourselves. We "vent" to our trusted friends, we tell about our struggles, we share our concerns and complaints, we are very much a culture that both minimizes lament and at the same time grabs a megaphone to amplify our moaning. 

There is a strange standard that has been set in our day and age. It is a standard which says "you cannot mourn, you cannot grieve, you cannot show sorrow". This is of course exacerbated with the last year many being denied the ability to gather for funerals, viewings, and remembering together lost loved ones. While our culture used to be one that would try to "turn down the volume" on mourning, we now have hit the "mute" button on mourning altogether. When there are legitimate reasons to grieve, reasons to show sorrow, reasons to genuinely mourn, we try to sweep it under the rug, move past it, skip past the moment of hurt ASAP. 

The Psalms of lament provide wisdom and direction for us in this regard. The cries of the Psalms are loud, amplified, and offensive in a culture that demands only satisfaction, and abhors reflection. We use all sorts of excuses not to lament properly in a biblical, God-honoring way. "I prefer to stay positive" is one prevalent attitude, "I need to do the next right thing" is another mantra of the age. I think the scriptures are positive, and as I read the Psalms of lament I think they encourage us to do the next right thing. The thing is, doing the next right thing by the world's standard is often ignoring the Bible's declared next right thing. Staying positive by the world's standard is often taking a negative attitude towards the Biblical positive attitude. 

While the age of self-image and self-positivity reigns around us, the Psalms do not instruct or demonstrate a self reliance. The Psalms, especially in the Psalms of lament, find comfort, encouragement, and strength in the Lord rather than in themselves. Situations are continually overwhelming, and yet the Psalmist themselves are not alone, abandoned, or left without hope. In the midst of overwhelming situations, the Psalmist finds courage and confidence that the Lord has made promises to provide, protect, sustain, and deliver. In Psalm 31:12-13 we read of the overwhelming situation:

I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. 13 For I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side!” They conspire against me and plot to take my life.

 And in verses 14-16 we see the object of the hope of the Psalmist:

14 But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” 15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me. 16 Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.

Believers in the Lord God have the most positive outlook on life possible. Rather than having to pull ourselves up, overcome every situation, rely on our inner attitude or any sort of self fortitude, the believer relies on the God who made the heavens and the earth. The believer in distress cries out to the Lord of the universe. The beloved of the Lord has the ear of the righteous, just, holy, mighty, promise-keeping God. That gives the Psalmist, and us, a reason to cry out, to lament, to go to God in the midst of experienced sorrows. 

It is crying out to the Lord that is the "next right thing" for the believer in the midst of distress. While the world offers distraction, or despair as paths for doing "the next right thing", the Psalms of lament offer a completely different path. The next right thing, in many cases, is crying out to the Lord. In Psalm 77 we're told of the Psalmist in deep distress. This isn't a minor inconvenience that the Psalmist has experienced. This is a major, gut wrenching, soul-searching moment of utter misery. Here is the description from Psalm 77 about the level of depth of pursuit of God as the next right thing: 

1 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. 2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. 3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. 4 You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. 5 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; 6 I remembered my songs in the night.  My heart meditated and my spirit asked: 7 “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?

The situation is so grave that the Psalmist describes sleepless nights. Groaning and deep thought to the point of internal exhaustion are described. The present distress was of such nature that the Psalmist was too troubled to speak. The question on the heart and mind of the Psalmist was one of utter despair, "will the Lord reject forever?". In other words, is the Lord done with me? Will I never experience the goodness of God again? Those are the dire scenarios that Psalms of lament speak to. While the world around us tempts us to ignore, move on, move past, or find a distraction from problems, the Psalms of lament speak with cutting truth.

The Psalms are the lyrical songbook of the life of the believer. The Psalms express a wide range of responses, and requests to God in the midst of life's joys and sorrows. That includes lamenting with regards to situations and circumstances that cause friction for the believer. The friction of life that can sometimes lead to doubt, uncertainty, or, in the best ways, light a fire within the believer to cry out to God. Life's friction comes at each of us differently, in our homes, in our relationships, in our work, in our communities, in our own minds. Yet wherever the friction is, lament is one action the Psalms continually resort to. If the Psalms were like a digital music player then prayers of lament would be on the "quickplay" or "most frequently played" list. The sheer number of Psalms of lament stack up as one of (if not the most) frequently occurring types of Psalms. 

I'm strangely comforted in the Psalms of Lament. I'm comforted because they are pragmatic. "Stuff happens" as the saying of our culture goes. The Psalms don't paint a picture of arrogance that we believers are some sort of religious elite, drifting above the muck and mire of daily troubles. Instead the Psalms speak to the truth of reality in the here and now. Life at various points in time has its ghastly days and nights. Situations of terror and depression can linger and have a very real impact on us. The Psalms speak to these situations and reality. Our God is not a God who only comforts us from the hours of 8 to 11am on Sundays. Our God is a God who is mighty to save even in the most desperate situations. Our God has delivered us from sin and eternal death, he certainly is a God who delights to save his people from a myriad of life's situations. Because of who God is the Psalmist both cries out for deliverance, and cries out because of the genuine disgust and sorrow of the present affliction. 

Jesus was a man of sorrows. If we skip out on sorrow, appropriate sorrow or true, right, genuine, godly sorrow, then we skip out on a defining aspect of Jesus. If we miss out on weeping over what God weeps over, we miss out on an aspect of life which God has called us to. There are some things in life that are worth lamenting, some things in life that are grievous and therefore grief worthy. There are a great host of situations in our lives where we are left with a choice, will we pursue the distractions and temporary responses of the world, or will we respond with lament to the one whom Jude 1:24-25 speaks of:

24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

We are left with a choice of either living in daily dependence on either our own wisdom, or the only wise God (Romans 16:27). 

Whatever your situations of lament presently or in the future, I want to encourage you, and challenge you. I want to encourage you to look to God in the Psalms. When you do not have the words, go to the Psalms! I want to challenge you to look to the Psalms especially when you are not presently in distress! Why? So that you are prepared for the moment of lament when it comes. It takes years and years of practice to hone a skill to craft a masterpiece. 

Baseball players for instance spend time in the batting cages practicing their swing and their timing. To perform in the moment, when thousands of people are watching and the pressure is on, muscle memory and self-discipline must be exercised to have a chance to succeed in the moment. To be ready for the moment of stress in baseball time must be spent wisely without the fans and the pressure of the game. The same is true for us in our lives as believers. When God gives us moments without lament, let us prepare ourselves and devote ourselves to knowing God's word, and to honing our time in prayer to be able to cry out to the Lord as the Psalmist does in Psalm 56:3-4:

3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

If you are experiencing the anguish of life, cry out to the Lord for help! If you are experiencing a moment of peace, cry out to the Lord with thankfulness remembering his past help to you.