Happenings 5 July 2020

Lament. It’s not a word we use much. It’s also not something we do much. It is the act of coming to God not just when things are going well, but when things aren’t. It is the freedom to come to God with raw honesty rather than with a disguising veneer of composure. Maybe we don’t do it that much because we think God can’t handle our emotions and confusions? Or maybe we were simply taught that it is bad manners to complain? And yet about one third of the Psalms are lament Psalms. There is a thick vein of “My God, why have you forsaken me?” that runs through much of this songbook, and they teach us that there is little that can be said inappropriately to God when it comes from an honest desire to reach out to him. Author, Harold Senkbeil, says, ‘These psalms of lament teach us how to file a complaint with God. And complaining isn’t whining; if you’ve ever read your medical records, you’ll know that medical complaints are simply the physical symptoms of your distress. When you go to your doctor, you’re not whining; you’re just explaining where you hurt. You list your complaints because you know your condition should receive attention. It may not go away; some of the symptoms may remain. But you’ve gone to someone who can do something about it.’ Lament is also not solely an individual pursuit; it can be done by many for many. There is much to lament about the world at the moment, and there may well be things in your own life which need to be uncovered before God’s loving gaze and sprinkled with a few tears. Why don’t you grab a Psalm 22 or a Psalm 74 or a Psalm 43 and make the words your own as you get real with your God? He will listen. He will care.

In Him,
Murray