Lament...?!?
You don’t need to read much of the Bible’s Psalms to appreciate the raw emotions portrayed by its song-writers. There’s the whole gamut of emotions – from ecstatic joy, wonder and praise right through to profound sadness, grief and despair. For the former you only have to read the final Psalm which has a whole orchestra, complete with bells and whistles, to express the glorious praises of our God. The final words from the Psalms are pertinent: “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord. Hallelujah.” For the latter, just begin with Psalm 3. King David, persecuted by his own son, Absalom, laments: “Lord, how my foes increase! There are many who attack me.” Or what about the terrible sadness of Psalm 22? It begins with words Jesus took on His lips as He suffered hellish agony on the cross, ”My God, my God, why have you abandoned me.” Speaking to one of my daughters recently, we agreed that these days we don’t do laments very well. ...