Grief has matured me.
I have been in full-time ministry for 29 years and if you asked me what has caused me to grow the most, you might be surprised. Certainly, in the midst of my own failings, struggles, heartaches and pain, I have been shaped by God into the man I am today. However, I have grown most by walking through pain with others. As a pastor, I have walked with hundreds of families through grief as they struggled with the death of loved ones. Instead of trying to live in an “emotionally neutral” heart posture in self-protection, I have decided to weep with those who weep and enter into their lament. Every circumstance is different, but the result has been the same – I come out of that experience more thankful and richer. My soul has become enriched by hearing the stories of others, my compassion has grown deeper, and my resolve to live life with Jesus, stronger.
As we continue our series “Lessons from Three Kings,” we will be looking at some of the Psalms. We know that King David wrote at least 73 of the 150 Psalms, and I believe that He wrote more than that. As we move toward Sunday and teaching from the Psalms, I recommend watching this video that serves as an overview of the book of Psalms.
Click here to view the Bible Project’s overview of Psalms on YouTube.
While Psalms are often categorized as “Psalms of Praise” or “Psalms of Lament,” this book of prayers and songs all point toward God Himself. The Psalms are the honest, vulnerable words of hearts being poured out and pondering on current pain and future deliverance. These "songs" give us great freedom and permission to express ourselves to God in the midst of our own journey in a broken world.
Lament is a form of Praise.
Old Testament scholars estimate that two-thirds of the psalms are laments. Yet the title of the compilation is “Praises” (Hebrew: tehillim). There seems to be a shift from more lamenting psalms at the beginning of the book to more and more Psalms of “praise” in the second half of the book. The Lord doesn’t want us to ignore pain and suffering in our present circumstances, but He invites us into a faith-filled, forward-looking hope that God is working on our behalf. The shift from a lamenting tone to one of praise also mirrors what happens in our hearts as we engage with our God in a vulnerable and authentic way. There is a transformation in our hearts through engaging in lament that takes us to a place of praise in the midst of pain.
Lament is a prayer for God to Help.
Prayer is an active conversation with God. While lament is healthy for us to give voice to our frustration with evil in the world, lament includes a crying out to God to act on our behalf. The Hebrew word “hear” appears 79 times in Psalms – a calling out to God to hear our prayers.
We are tempted to see the psalms of lament as “complaining” (like the Israelites complaining about the lack of meat and water in Exodus 16-17). In that context, they were assuming the worst about God: that “He wants to kill us.” They were putting God on trial and “testing God.”
The worship by Israel in the Psalms asks God to answer and help because of His character and based on his faithfulness in the past. N.T. Wright says,
“Complaint is an accusation against God that maligns His character, but a lament is an appeal to God based on confidence in His character.”
Lament is a participation in the Pain of Others.
As 21st-century evangelicals, we might be tempted to push lament aside as an Old Covenant practice that doesn’t apply today, but Paul’s simple admonition to “weep with those who weep” should be enough to validate it as an important practice of prayer. Lament is an appropriate response to the evil in the world. When we practice lament with others, we participate in their pain. Lament is not only for those who are suffering; it is for solidarity with those who are suffering. Even Jesus is praying the words of Psalm 22 ( a Psalm of lament) in part because it was the prayer of many Jewish martyrs in the first century. Jesus was praying in solidarity with those who suffered.
Prayer in the meantime.
Lament is not our final prayer. It is a “prayer in the meantime.” Most Psalms of lament end with a promise to praise and thank God for His action. I believe that when we take the time to sit in our pain (or with others in their pain) we become richer, deeper, stronger, more thankful, and able to face more adversity with grace.
It is my prayer and hope that we can learn to lament and grow in our faith because we aren’t afraid to face all the feelings that swirl inside us.
May we be a people who will truly weep with those who weep.
I look forward to seeing all of you who choose to worship with us in the Dome this Sunday at either 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m.
You can also live stream our 11:00 a.m. service on Facebook and YouTube.
If you missed last Sunday's message brought to us by our Youth Pastor, Chris Balint, "Lessons from Three Kings", Week 20: "Psalm 145" click here.
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