A lament is a complaint or a grievance that one expresses before God. The Bible is full of lamentations. You can, of course, look at the book of Lamentations to find a lament, or you can look at the Psalms as well that has a whole host of them.
Recently I was reading Isaiah 38, and this is where Hezekiah is sick and is told that he is going to die. Hezekiah, upon hearing the word that he will die soon, cries out to God. As he prayed, the Scriptures say that he “wept bitterly” (Is. 38:3b). God, in reply to Hezekiah’s prayer, spared him his life and gave him 15 more years. The note in my study Bible (“The Gospel Transformation Study Bible,” pg. 911) says this about this passage: “God doesn’t rebuke Hezekiah for lack of faith here, but instead graciously responds not simply to the sounds of his words but to the reality of his tears.” This note stirred my soul, and not positively. I have no doubt that God responds to His people and, as is obvious in this situation, God apparently does respond to the cries of His people. This did, however, in light of some of my own struggles, spur me on to voice my own lament before God, based upon this note and this passage of Scripture. Here is my lament below:
“How many tears must I cry before God answers? Does God measure the volume of my tears and refuse to answer until the container of my tears reaches a certain weight? How much brokenness is required from me before God is ‘moved’ to deliver? How deep must I allow the pain to work before God will let up? Will God only respond once the pain reaches an 8 or higher on a 10-point scale? Will God turn a deaf ear should the pain be less than an 8? Do the agonizing cries of my voice not yet reach His ears? Is God deaf? Is God asleep? Is God dead? At what decibel must my verbal groans reach before God will relent? If God responds to pain, then how much pain is required before He responds? If God does not respond to pain, then to what does He respond? What moves the heart and hand of God? Is God’s heart too small to be moved with compassion? Is God’s hand too short to deliver?”
Obviously, with a lament, it is simply an expression of emotion and hurt and is not, necessarily, a theological treatise. The point of a lament is not theological accuracy, but it is simply to express one’s pain to God. A person in lament stares through the dark in order to see light. A person in lament ponders upon a riddle that has no human hope of being solved. A person in lament screams at Mount Everest and commands it to move. When we look at much of the evil in this world, one can become confused, disheartened, and hope can quickly grow dim.
Scripture is not uniform as to what moves the hand of God to act. Some parts of the Bible say that faith moves the hand of God (James 5:13-16, Matthew 13:58), other parts of the Bible seem to imply that persistence in prayer is a key to answers from God (Luke 18:1-8). One thing is certain: It is not tears and pain alone that moves the hand of God to act. God acts according to His plan and on His timetable (Ephesians 1:11, Romans 8:28). We must trust the heart and the hand of the One who has His hand on the thermostat of the furnace (from a Charles Spurgeon illustration).
Job had questions for God that he thought were unanswerable, but God, in reply, gave Job 77 questions that he (Job) certainly couldn’t answer, and it humbled him and stopped his mouth. Job’s final response to God was repentance and brokenness before God. Job stopped justifying himself and quit blaming God and voiced his lack of knowledge at the counsel of God.
Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2 “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.” -Job 42:1-6
What is your lament today? What complaint do you have before God today? Where is your brokenness, shame, and doubt most acute? Which areas of your life do you stare into a seemingly bottomless-void with no ray of light in sight? Maybe you could write your own lament to God right now. God already knows what’s on your heart. Express it to Him and then, maybe, tear it up and throw it away if you wish. We can cry out to God with all our grief and pain; He can handle it. His shoulders are big enough to carry us. We must trust God in the mystery of suffering and trial that He is still in control, that He is still good, that we are still His children, and that He is working all things together for our good and for His glory in order to conform us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29). One day there will be no more tears, no more grief, no more pain, no more death, and no more night (Revelation 21:1-4). May we, as Christians, set our hope on that glorious day that He has prepared for us.