Weekly Devotion: The Language of Lament

Lamentations 3:22-24, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.”

How do people respond to sadness? We could summarize in three answers: 1. Anger and rage. We lash out when life doesn’t go well. 2. Whitewashed platitudes. We attempt to solve our pain with trite, meaningless statements. 3. Silence. We hope that bottling everything up will make our problems go away.

Those answers never work.

God gives us an answer that does, a fourth option, a new language to speak when we face pain and sadness: the language of lament.

The Bible tells us how God’s people, time and again, experienced terrible suffering. The book of Lamentations was written after Jerusalem was destroyed and the people carried off into exile. Whenever that happens, they speak in lament. Here’s how that looks.

1. Speak honestly. We voice our complaints, problems, and pains to God. We speak TO him. God wants to hear.

2. Speak with hope. I encourage you to read Lamentations, especially 3:22-33. You will find beautiful hope and trust in an all-powerful, gracious God who, through Jesus, will save us and bring us home to heaven.

3. Speak helpfully. Speak this way every day. The lament reminds us, again and again, of our gracious, loving God in the midst of our trials and pain.