Lament is a gift to us from a good, wise, loving God and it provides us a language for our suffering. Lament helps us to lean into our pain rather than attempt to control or suppress it, so that in a time of grief or suffering, though we may feel like have lost our very lives, we don’t have to lose our souls as well. Instead, in the deepest, darkest place of our suffering, we discover we are not alone there.
We’ve put together these resources to help you fully engage with God and express your pain and struggle in the complexities of life.
‘What did the writers of the Bible do in times of grief, loss and suffering? What did they do with their pain? They did the most courageous thing of all – they prayed it. They prayed it all. The Psalmists in particular gave voice to doubt, confusion, anger and even hatred, forming them all as prayers. They are daring and indiscriminate prayers and their words can guide our lips to pray the prayers we never imagined ourselves praying. These prayers meet us in the loneliest and darkest places of our existence and keep us company as we walk through our own “dark night of the soul.”
Alain Emerson, Luminous Dark
Scripture: Psalm 6:1-7 ; Psalm 22:1-8 ; Job 30:24-29 in The Message translation
Questions: