Series: Psalms: Rhythms of Grace
Title: Learning to Lament
Scripture: Psalm 42
Words to Consider:
Lament stems from an acute experience of pain, be it physical, emotional, or spiritual. It is the human response to anguish and adversity… Lament is an act of protest as the lamenter is allowed to express indignation and even outrage about the experience of suffering. The lamenter talks back to God and ultimately petitions him for help, in the midst of pain. The one who laments can call out to God for help, and in that outcry there is the hope and even the manifestation of praise. – Soong-Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament
A broken heart that doesn’t lament can breed unbelief. – Paul Miller, A Loving Life
As we make our way along the shadowy twists and turns of the way of lament, two questions confront us again and again… God, where are you?… [and] God, if You love me, then why? – Michael Card
To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of this world. – Karl Barth
Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o’er fraught heart / and bids it break. – William Shakespeare, Macbeth