The Honest Lament
Part of A Deeper Response to the Scripture

The Honest Lament
Psalm 102:1-17 (NIV)

Contributed by David Buschart

“Hear my prayer, LORD; let my cry for help come to you.” —Psalm 102:1

Rightly understood and rightly lived, the Christian faith is the most realistic faith in the world. It does not shy away from either life or death. It does not deny either goodness or evil. It faces, and does not run away from, the realities of life including times of lament in a fallen world.

In encouraging the Christians at Thessalonica regarding the deaths of some among them, the apostle Paul forthrightly acknowledges that followers of Christ grieve, and also wisely reminds his readers that we “do not grieve as those who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:17). No one psalm provides a model of lament for all people in all circumstances, but Psalm 102:1-17 helpfully foreshadows Paul’s clear-eyed wisdom with regard to both the principles and practices of honest lament.

The lament of the psalmist in Psalm 102 manifests both urgency and suffering in their whole person. The opening of the psalm culminates with “answer me quickly” (v. 2). And as the psalmist goes on to describe his state we can understand this urgency, for his suffering leaves no part of his person untouched. His suffering entails the physical, the emotional and psychological, the relational, and the spiritual. His “bones burn like glowing embers” (v. 3), indeed he is reduced to “skin and bones” (v. 5). The psalmist is unable to eat normally and is robbed of sleep (vv. 4, 7, 9). These physical, bodily dimensions of suffering are intertwined with and compounded by emotional and psychological suffering. He is so struck in the very core of his being, in his “heart,” that he “forgets to eat” (v. 4). And he experiences all of this alone (v. 7) and in the midst of opposition (v. 8)—including the feeling that in His wrath God Himself has “thrown me aside” (v. 10).

If this were the end of the psalm it would in no way provide a foreshadowing of Paul’s wise reminder that we “do not grieve as those who have no hope.” But—and this humble word “But” (v. 12) is perhaps the key word to the entire psalm—the psalm does not end in verses 10-11. In verse 12 the psalmist’s prayer turns outward, to a bigger picture. Having candidly, realistically cried out, and cried, about his personal state and suffering, the psalmist also looks outward and with a perspective larger than that of only his personal plight.

But you, LORD, sit enthroned forever” (v. 12). We misunderstand the psalmist if we fail to bear in mind that this entire lament is a prayer—a prayer to God. We also misunderstand if we fail to see that he recognizes that he is not in fact alone. He is a member of a larger community—the people of God (vv. 12-14). Indeed, the psalmist recognizes that his personal story of suffering is part of a much larger, much longer (into the future) story of God’s care for His people (vv. 13-22, 25-28). The psalmist honestly and forthrightly cries out about his suffering … and he does not stop there. Without denying the reality of that suffering he also reminds himself and others of the reality of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness. This is but one example of the “both-and” of an authentically faithful engagement with the realities of life and death.

Consider—

╬ What are the greatest losses or hardships that you are currently facing? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide and enable you in candidly crying out to God for his guidance and enablement.

╬ As you consider your greatest losses or hardships, is there a part of the “bigger picture” of God’s long-term faithfulness to His people that you may not have noticed before now? If so, how might this “bigger picture” help you to face and pray and engage, with the help of the Holy Spirit, these losses or hardships?

╬ Our Father, with the help of your Spirit may we, like Jesus, always, in all circumstances, turn to you, our only hope. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.