What is Biblical Lament, and Why Do I Need It?

Recently, I received an email from a friend who is going through his first bout with life-altering illness. He was recently diagnosed with cancer and shared that he was saddened by his “lack of faith, fears, and anger.” He then shared a journal entry in which he wrote a prayer of confession to the Lord. He expressed sorrow about his failure to trust God, rejoice, and give thanks. But the fact that he was crying out in lament to the Lord showed great faith! Lament is prayer that moves us through our grief and into steadfast hope in God’s promises.

When I realized my friend felt guilty for lamenting his medical challenges, I responded, in part:

Lamenting your hardships does not signify a lack of faith. It simply shows that you are a human in need of your Comforter. Lamenting is an act of faith; it’s a heart-cry to our loving Father. The process of lament can lead you back into praise. I love how Jeremiah and Habakkuk start with their sorrows and bridge their hope in God’s promises with the word “yet.”  We might have cancer, pain, and sorrow…yet God is doing a mighty work in and through us. 

Do you shy away from practicing lament? Many people shy away from expressing pain and sorrow to God in lament. They fear becoming mired in despair, so they refuse to pray true and honest prayers. But sometimes they wonder why they aren’t feeling a sense of closeness with the Lord.

A proper understanding of biblical lament will help you to understand its importance.

What Lament Is:

·      A language for our pain, suffering, loss, and confusion

·      A process for healing

·      An expression of worship

·      Crying out to God in prayer

·      Expression of God-honoring complaint and sorrow

·      A way to draw near to God

·      A path toward deeper faith and honesty with God

·      An act of faith

·      A bridge from pain to promise

What Lament Is Not:

·      Disrespectful to God

·      A list of complaints directed at other people

·      Murmuring or grumbling out of a lack of faith

·      Prideful or arrogant

·      A pity-party or self-focused rant

·      A quick and simple solution to our sorrow

Giving voice to our complaints through lament is an act of worship. In the introduction to Michael Card’s A Sacred Sorrow, Eugene Peterson wrote, “The language of lament is necessary for expressing our companionship with our Lord as He accompanies us through the ‘valley of the shadow of death’ and who leads us to be with Him in ‘dark Gethsemane.’”[1]

Jesus shows even quoted a Psalm of lament while on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1). Jesus’ heartfelt cry arose out of unfathomable pain and unshakable faith. Jesus, and the psalmists, teach us to bear suffering by crying out to God with honest expression.

Many Psalms of lament include agonizing and aching questions. Consider these:

“My soul is in deep anguish. How long, LORD, how long?” (Psalm 6:3 NIV).

“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all day?” (Psalm 13:1-2 ESV).

“You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” (Psalm 43:2 NIV).

When I first began to experience debilitating health issues, I wept, “Why, Lord? Why won’t you heal me? Why are you allowing this level of pain in my life?” By the time the Lord revealed some of the answers, I was no longer asking the same questions. I’ve learned to trust God’s loving sovereignty in my life.

Biblical lament does not become stuck in an endless array of questions. The process of lament is how we move from the pain of our difficult circumstances into restored hope in God’s promises.

In his book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, Mark Vroegop writes, “Lament is a prayer that leads us through personal sorrow and difficult questions into truth that anchors our soul.”[2]

Today, I’m enduring my second season of cancer treatments, and stoic silence is not an option. Expressing my heartache, confusion, and sorrows connects my prayers with the compassionate heart of the Father. The process of lament leads me beyond my pain and feelings of despair and into the joys of rich fellowship with Christ.

Michael Card addresses this when he writes that “biblical lament is the exhausting of the self against God and the eventual turning back to Him. This is sometimes called the movement from “I to Thou.” [3] The word movement is an apt description because lament moves us beyond ourselves and anchors us firmly into biblical hope.

So, we sing the song of suffering by crying out in lament. We recall God’s goodness and sovereignty as we moan, plead, and petition. We proclaim our yearning with the Psalmist, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning” (Psalm 130:5-6).

In our sorrows, we plant seeds of lament and patiently await a harvest of restoration.

For Application: Expressions of lament are scattered throughout the Bible, but the book of Psalms offers the most readily familiar and accessible examples. There are fifty-eight Psalms of lament, so we have ample opportunity to learn how to lament. Are you new to the practice of lament? Start by reading and praying Psalms 6, 13, 22, 27, 28, 38, 42, 69, 86, and 142.

[1] Card, Michael. A Sacred Sorrow: Reaching Out to God in the Lost Language of Lament. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005.

[2] Vroegop, Mark. Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019.

[3] Card, Michael. A Sacred Sorrow: Reaching Out to God in the Lost Language of Lament. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005.