The Need for Lament

Lament. This is a word that we do not understand in North America. We associate it with sadness, grief, unhappiness, mourning, crying, wailing, and misery and so we avoid it, don't talk about it, and don't understand it. Would you believe me if I told you that lament is an important part of healing and that it brings joy and peace in the midst of pain and disappointment? Here is an introduction to the ancient and sacred practice of godly lament.

True lament is to honour God in a beautiful and costly way. It is a passionate expression of grief, a pouring out of your soul and innermost thoughts and feelings to the Lord. In lament you bring your situation and lay it before the throne of God in all its largeness and terribleness. The expression of lament depends upon the person. For myself I lay out my grief and the situations that caused it in all their intricacies and details, how they connect to larger issues, what I have done, what others have done, what I cannot do, and how I am small and limited in knowledge, strength, and courage. I am an analytical, how I express myself before God will be different than how others express themselves. For others to express lament might be to literally wail or to just pray concerning their sadness or to even yell and scream back to God. In any case, there is no precise formula or rule for how to express lament only that it is expressed sincerely. Then, once we have expressed our sorrow and grief, we express our faith and trust in God in the midst of it and recommit ourselves in devotion to Christ in spite of the circumstances.

This is the pattern of the Psalms, the Prophets, and even Jesus himself; that we express our grief, frustration, pain, and disappointment to God and then reestablish our trust in his faithfulness. Just read the Psalms of David or the Book of Lamentations to see the pattern of lament. This is not complaining to God, this is drinking from the river of life when we are dying of thirst. As created beings and image bearers of God we are literally designed to live in relationship with God and lament is the practice of this primal need in a fallen world. There are no problems so large or so small that God will not address them if they are brought to him with humbleness and sincerity.

Cast all your anxieties upon him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

Some souls might be afraid or embarrassed to lament, thinking that they're grief is of little or no concern and they just need to try harder or toughen up or mature. This is wrong headed thinking. The Lord takes great delight in an open and contrite heart and will teach, strengthen, and grow any soul that actively puts their faith in him.

Our over therapeutic culture tells us to stay positive, be happy, surround yourself with positive people, exercise, and think good thoughts to avoid depression and work through the bad of life. While these things have value and can be effective let us add to them the practice of sacred lament. Don't avoid or deny the pain and sorrow in your heart, bring it to the Lord, pray for healing, and confess his faithfulness. Working through the bad is always better than just burying it else it will start to make your roots bitter and poison the waters of the soul.