What Is Biblical Lament?
"Lament is prayer in pain that leads to trust…
The practice of lament-
the kind that is biblical, honest,
and redemptive-
is not as natural for us,
because every lament is a prayer.
A statement of faith.
Lament is the honest cry of
a hurting heart wrestling with
the paradox of pain
and the promise of God's goodness."
Mark Vroegop in Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy
Over the next seven weeks of Lent, we will be pausing in the messy in-between to welcome the grace of biblical lament into our lives. We will spend time reflecting on passages of lament in the Bible—pushing our hearts towards hope.
FOUR STAGES OF BIBLICAL LAMENT
Let’s look at the four stages of biblical lament. These passages follow a very similar pattern, but at the bottom we see MOVEMENT. These lament passages move from pain, grief, and disbelief TO trust, hope, and belief. There is a beginning point, a hinge in the middle and a renewed resolve to trust. Here’s what we see in lament passages:
1. Turning towards God
2. Voicing an honest and humble complaint
3. Boldly asking God to act
4. Resolving to trust and worship
QUESTIONS WE WILL ASK
Over the next six weeks of Lent we will continue our series on Biblical lament. These passages of Scripture always carry a question or complaint that the author levels at God. There were so many to choose from but we’ve decided to look at the following:
How long must I suffer?
Have You stopped loving me?
Are You even listening to me?
Have You forgotten me?
Why do You afflict me?
Do You even understand?
.
Lent just seems like the right time to admit that everything feels a bit broken. It seems like the perfect time to remind ourselves that while, yes, everything is dark and shattered, IT WILL NOT ALWAYS BE SO.
Join Restored Home as we learn to welcome biblical lament into our lives. We pray it stirs up fresh, raw hope within you in the days to come.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
We highly recommend the book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy written by Mark Vroegop and published by Crossway Books. If you would like to know more about the grace of lament in the life of the Christian, this is the book for you.
Have you read this book? What is one thing you learned or that really stood out? We’d love to hear what you thought of it!
**WEEKLY GIVEAWAYS**
During our Lent series, we will be highlighting some of our favorite resources about lament, grief, and suffering. And each week, we will be hosting a GIVEAWAY over on Instagram. Head over and give us a follow to get involved!
