On my way into St John’s last week, I was listening to a discussion on the radio between Steve Chalk, founder of Oasis Trust (Oasisuk.org) ; Prof Robert Beckford, academic theologian and the presenter William Crawley, about the death of Jason Arday. William asked both guests, what our response should be to such a tragedy.
Robert Beckford replied with ‘our response should be to lament’.
You can listen to the conversation on BBC Sounds. Look for ‘Sunday’ on 16 Aug.
It’s said that over forty percent of the Psalms are Psalms of lament. It’s an odd word really. What do we mean by Lament?
Lament is expressing sorrow and grief over travesty, injustices, sicknesses, death, or other brokenness within a fallen world. To lament is to bring to God our anger, pain, distress – and it’s ok to do so.
Mark Vroegop defines lament as, ‘a prayer of pain that leads to trust.’
In the Psalms of lament, we see a pattern that develops – beginning with deep emotional distress and ending with trust and praise.
In lament we direct our voice towards God.
In lament we describe our situation.
In lament we depend on Christ who is our hope.
In lament we dwell upon God’s character and faithfulness.
Here are some examples of ‘lament’ Psalms which you can look at this week.
Psalm 42 / Psalm 3 / Psalm 13 / Psalm 22 / Psalm 10
Lament is not complaining to God or trying to find trite solutions when things are tough, but rather it’s about being honest with God about how we feel. Lament is about ultimately finding hope amidst pain. Hope in God’s faithful character, hope in his love and then finding ourselves to be able to praise, despite our circumstances.
Psalm 28:7
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped…”