Why Lament?
What do we do when life hurts? Pastor Oliver encourages us to turn to God in lamentation and let His Word comfort and strengthen us.
Pastor Eugene talked about how, as believers and as a church, we should learn how to lament this past Sunday. What is biblical lament? To lament is to express our sorrow and mourning to God. The Bible gives many examples of God's people giving voice to the sadness in their hearts in lamentation. Genesis 50:10 tells us that Joseph and the rest of his family mourned the loss of his father, Jacob. They expressed grief over a bereavement. In Psalm 56:2 & 8, David lamented over his personal troubles:
my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly...
You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
And yet, amid his sadness, he drew comfort that God heard him and remembered his tears. In Lamentations 2:5 and Amos 5:1-2, we see the people of God mourning over God’s judgement of their sin. Finally, in Lamentations 3:39-40 and Ezekiel 9:3-6, we see mourning and deep sorrow over sin as a sign of Godly repentance. Contrary to some segments of "happy-clappy" Christian Religion, to mourn and express grief is clearly demonstrated in the Bible.
Why then should we learn to lament? Firstly, to mourn is to give voice to our sorrow, expressing our grief to God. Telling God honestly how we feel (and He already knows), is the first step to opening our heart to God's healing grace. Secondly, to lament is to express confidence that our God hears us. It is trusting that God has kept count of your tossings; put your tears in His bottle (c.f. Psalm 56:8). Thirdly, by expressing our sorrow and laying our troubles before our loving and sovereign God is to cultivate a dependence on our God—our only true hope. Fourthly, even Jesus cried out in sorrow. At the cross, Jesus cried out in Matthew 27:46,
"Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Jesus took on the lament of Psalm 22:1 and used it to give voice to His own sorrow and grief. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who was sinless, also lamented and cried out to God. Then we as His followers amid our pain should follow His example and go before our God in lamentation when our hearts are heavy with grief. Lastly, learning to lament will loosen the grip that this present world has on our hearts. It will concurrently teach us to keep our eyes on the precious gospel promises that will be fully realised when Christ returns.
Real, fully alive Christianity teaches us to be humans fully alive in Christ—we do not ignore or hide our emotions. We learned to express it as a church community, as we come together to cry out before God. Even if you cannot do so for valid reasons, do not run away and hide your feelings. Instead, we express our emotions to God, who alone can fully understand us.
I remember a few years back, I was facing deep grief and sorrow. Having read Scripture of the Psalmist lamenting and crying out to God over the troubles he faced, and hearing the value of Godly lamentation taught, I went away for a day to cry out to God. I took my Bible, opened up to the book of Psalms and started reading from Psalm 1. As I read, I prayed and appropriated the words of the Psalmist, and I poured out my grief to God. I think I read to Psalm 33, and, through God's Words, God brought comfort and encouragement to my heart, even though at that moment, the situation remained unchanged. Sometimes God will graciously help to resolve our problems and bring restoration, sometimes not. Still, one thing is sure, the God of all comfort (2 Cor 1:3) will comfort and bring encouragement to His children. He does this through His Word as we turn to Him in our lamentations.