April 3, 2021
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
— Matthew 27:46
The psalms have been classified by many different systems, but almost all systems include a large category called “laments,” or complaints to God, In most systems these are the most common category. And yet when we sing psalms in church we almost never sing laments.
It’s not as if we object to complaint songs — if you don’t believe me, listen to a country music station for about five minutes. We seem to feel that it’s just not right to complain to God. There is some biblical support for this attitude — in Numbers 21 the Israelites complained and were attacked by venomous snakes. But Jesus himself endorsed the laments. During Holy Week we often remember the seven last words of Christ. Of these two are direct quotes from lament psalms (Matthew 27:46 and Luke 23:46) and another is said to be the fulfillment of a lament (John 19:28.)
Theologians and writers have lamented our loss of laments. In an age when the church is trying to reach out to the lost and the least, the acknowledgement of suffering through the powerful medium of music is one thing not to be thrown away lightly. The Old Testament idea of God was of one who walks with us in all our paths, in sunshine and in the valley of the shadow. I could be quite wrong, but it seems to me that this is the relationship that God wants. Inclusion in worship — the most cherished of our times with God — of what troubles us the most might be entirely appropriate.
Sam here: On Holy Saturday, many sit in a time of silent lament. It is a time to reflect that Jesus spent time in the grave, or some might say in the underworld, or hell. Jesus went to set the captives free, but before the resurrection we do not know this, before Jesus rose on the third day there was mourning. In much the same way, those who are ‘captives’ by the situations in their lives even now don’t know that better days are ahead, and for them the lament in all they know. We sit and wonder, lamenting, but in hope we believe that one day, as the psalmists say God will turn our mourning into dancing.
Gracefully submitted,
David Petty
Grace & Peace,
Sam