Complaining in Faith to God – Lament Psalms

 

I am presently teaching a course on the Psalms at the Lancaster, PA Church of the Brethren. There are generally four categories of psalms. (1) Praise psalms, (2) Torah and Wisdom psalms, (3) Laments, and (4) Thanksgiving and Enthronement psalms. Some of the least known of these are the psalms of lament. Yet we all suffer at times and we wonder why we have to endure our pain and difficulties. Perhaps the use of the Lament psalms can be of help.

 

Sometimes we suffer because of our own sins or actions. It is natural then that we confess and seek forgiveness. What about the times when our suffering is not a consequence of our actions? Then how do we approach God?

 

We ask questions like, “Why me?” We complain that it is not fair that we should suffer, when many around us are less faithful, and yet seem to be flourishing. Are we being unfaithful when we raise these questions and complaints?

 

How can we deal with disorientation when our culture will not acknowledge our questions as we make the painful move into disorientation? In her book, “Journey through the Psalms,” Denise Dombkowski Hopkins asks the question, “Will the church listen?” She says, “The fact that angry laments have been so little used in our liturgies suggests not.” Hopkins says that when we do find a lament psalm in the back of our hymnal, the angry part is usually cut out.

 

Although approximately one-third of the one hundred fifty psalms are laments, there are only seven laments that are uttered because of acknowledged sin on the part of the psalmist. (Ps. 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). The  remaining laments are complaints by the psalmist because of the apparent unjustness of their suffering.

 

In many of the laments, there is a line drawn between the complaint and the expression of trust. Psalm 13 is a good example of this. There is a clear delineation between the complaint and the expression of trust. This copy is a translation of the Masoretic text, the official Hebrew canon. You will find that the verse numbering is different from what we normally see in Christian bibles. Note that the psalmist asks “How Long” four times, followed by the use of the word “lest” three times, before the psalm breaks into the expression of trust.

 

Psalm 13: 1 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.
2 How long, O LORD, wilt Thou forget me for ever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?
3 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart by day?

How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
4 Behold Thou, and answer me, O LORD my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
5 Lest mine enemy say: 'I have prevailed against him'; lest mine adversaries rejoice when I am moved.
6 But as for me, in Thy mercy do I trust; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation.
I will sing unto the LORD, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.