Lament, Finding a Path for Your Griefনমুনা

Part 1: Addressing God

“I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.” (Psalm 77:1–2)

If we do not understand people around us, if they disappoint us or have not responded to our attempts to connect for a while, we tend to ignore them. We don't feel like putting any more time and energy into those relationships.

If we are struggling and disappointed in the Lord God, we may have the same tendency. After all, if He doesn't answer, if He doesn't seem to be doing what He promised, then we might as well stop praying...?

No. This thought is a dangerous trap. Several Psalms show us a better alternative. Psalm 77, for example, “I cry aloud to God… In the day of my trouble, I seek the Lord”. Yesterday we read in Psalm 22:2, “O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.”

This last example makes it clear that the poet did not receive an immediate answer. And yet he continued to pray. That is a sign of faith, even if that faith is sometimes weak and besieged by doubt. We may cry out to God in confidence that He will hear us - in His time. We believe that He is there and that He hears us, even if sometimes we do not see Him respond (yet). Do not give up!