Dr. Sachi Nakamura,
JCFN Board Member, Christian Books Translator, and Spiritual Director
There are many sorrowing and trying things in this world. Maybe someone has done something hurtful to you, or you have done something hurtful to others or to yourself. Or, as unfortunate as they are, some things just seem to happen where there is no one to be blamed for. Maybe those are the result of systematic injustice .
Sadly, there are more than a few things in this world that bring pain to our lives. What shall we do when we are feeling pain and sadness? We often taught on the topics of praising God and thanksgiving, but what about on lamenting?
Lament is a Biblical action. About a third of the Psalms are called Lament Psalms, which describe one’s pain and sadness. Michael Guinan, a Catholic priest said, “Lament is not a failure of faith, but an act of faith. We cry out to God directly because deep down, we know that our relationship with God counts; it counts to us and it counts to God.” We do not build up and despair at the sadness within us, but we cry out to God. We can do so because we know that God loves us and cares for us, hears our cries and is with us always. However, lament does not guarantee that God will give an answer to our cries and pleas. Rather, it may bring us to come to terms with the fact that there is no reasonable answer. In other words, to lament is to acknowledge that there is no one who can ease our pain, comfort us and ultimately fulfill us, other than God Himself.
God sees our sufferings and pain. He hears our cries of sorrow. Crying out loud does not necessarily take away the pain. There is no guarantee that we will find solace about the injustice we are facing. However, God will meet us through the tears we shed and He will cry with us. Our tears and God’s tears will become like a stream that waters the dry land, from where a new life that belongs to the Kingdom of God will come to sprout.
The Bible surely tells us to give thanks and rejoice always. However, I don’t think that it means that we should simply accept the evil and injustice of our world as something good or insignificant. Rather, we can give thanks and rejoice because we know that God will ultimately make things right and redeem what was lost and broken. Thanksgiving and rejoicing that keep out lament is like the false prophets saying, “Peace, peace!” Jeremiah said, “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious.‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).” However, God is not someone who will treat our wounds in a careless way. Therefore, I would like to share about lament as a spiritual discipline.
Lament is mentioned a lot in the Bible. One-third of the book of Psalms is composed of lament, and the entire book of Lamentations is about doing that. The book of Job also mentions lament a lot. Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and his cry from the Cross can also be understood as lament.
Let’s take a look at some psalms of lament (for example Psalm 6, 10, 13, 17, 22, 25, 30, 31, 69, 73, 79, 86, 102, etc.,). It is amazing how openly the authors bring up their cries and pleas to God. When we look at those Psalms of lament, we will notice that there is a basic format to them.
- Protest：The author starts out by bringing their current situation, a painful event in the past, emotional pain, or a plea before God. The author protests to God by saying, “This horrible thing or that sad thing happened to me. I am going through a really hard time now. I am in so much pain. God, what are you going to do about it?” If there is something or a complaint to state to God, the author does not hold back from bringing it up openly.
- Petition：Next, the author brings forward his own request before God. What do we want God to do in the situation? What are we asking Him for?
- Praise：Finally, the author confesses his trust in God. Because God is abounding in love, mercy and faithfulness, and loves justice and fairness, he puts his trust in God, praises and gives thanks to the Lord.
Those 3 processes are said to be the format of psalms of lamentation.
There are several ways we can practice lament as spiritual discipline.
The first way is to choose a psalm that seems to resonate with your situation and pain, and read that out loud before the Lord as your prayer.
The other way is to choose a psalm that you resonate with, then take a phrase from it and customize it to your situation, and use it as a prayer before the Lord.
Another thing you can do is to write your own original lament. It might be helpful to use the basic format of psalms of lament that was mentioned earlier. However, you do not have to follow that pattern. Since it is not something that you will be showing others, you don’t have to try to sound poetic. What is important is to bring your honest feelings directly to God. Whether it is sadness or anger, God is able to take in your emotions in its entirety. When writing your own lament, you may want to borrow the words of David, Job or Jesus. Actually, using their words can be helpful as you may be able to identify with them. “Lord, how long?”, “My heart is full of suffering”, “I am worn out from crying out”, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It might be helpful to bring your pain to God along with some of the characters in the Bible. When you write your lament, you don’t have to feel like you need to also come up with thanksgiving and praise. I think it is better to wait until thanksgiving and praise naturally comes out of your heart. Because we know that God will not carelessly treat our pain as the false prophets did, we do not have to rush the process either. Instead of going through it in a hurry, take your time until thanksgiving and praise naturally flows out from your heart. The point of this spiritual discipline is to honestly bring your cries and pleas before God, and to tell God what you want Him to do.
Lament can also be used not only to bring personal pleas before God, but also the pain of a community or the suffering that the entire society is going through, such as in times of natural disaster, terrorist attacks, or a pandemic that we are now experiencing.
God desires for us to take responsibility for the things that are within our own boundary. I believe that the Lord himself is inviting us to name, face, and bring our sorrows and pain before Him. Can you hear the gentle and merciful voice of the Lord calling, “Bring them here to me.”
May God bless you.