The Psalms offer a template for lament in worship, where grief exists within faith and is expressed openly before God. Lament encourages Spiritual dialogue through prayer, which cultivates an authentic relationship with Christ. Avoidance of lament perpetuates an imbalanced approach to worship, centered solely on joyful praise. When worship offers no space for mourning, God is portrayed as One Who only hears the prayers of the joyful, with no promise of restoration for those who grieve. The Psalmic lament establishes a blueprint for personal lament within worship—one intended to kindle praise, devotion, and renewed appreciation for a God Who listens. A historical analysis will examine the functions, attributes, and purpose of Psalmic lament within the context of Jewish tradition, the narrative of ancient Israel, the expressed intentions of the psalmist, and the life of Christ. Evaluation of the Psalmic lament will illustrate the need for a comparable language of lament within contemporary Christian worship.
Historical Background of Psalmic Lament
In traditional Jewish lament, the people of Israel mourned sin and suffering, yet they found hope in the remembrance of God—His faithfulness, immanence, and enduring love.[1] The penitential prayer, composed of a confession and subsequent plea for forgiveness, is a prominent subgenre of lament.[2] The people of Israel were required to uphold individual legal responsibilities, detailed in The Book of the Covenant and the Book of the Law of Moses.[3] The Psalms directed the focus and impetus of obedience beyond mere legal authority, meditating on the ḥeseḏ love of YHWH—a love that promised mercy, kindness, lovingkindness, goodness, favor, abundance, redemption, and pity.[4] The historical narrative of Israel was a testimony of enduring ḥeseḏ love, wherein each covenant of God was an unmerited gift.[5] The psalmist addressed all confession, complaint, and petition to a sovereign God, for God was deemed the Author of all suffering.[6] Separation from God was synonymous with death.[7] As such, the tradition of penitential lament was expressed through ritualized mourning, with (a) fasting, (b) the putting on of sackcloth, and (c) dirt/ashes upon the heads of the people (e.g., Neh. 9:1–37 English Standard Version).[8] Once the time of mourning concluded, the people of Israel engaged in confession of personal and familial sins, meditation on the Law, communal confession in worship, and the recited historical narrative of Israel.[9] In lament, the people of Israel confessed personal and corporate violation of the covenant relationship with God, yet they sought to remember the enduring ḥeseḏ love and faithfulness of God.[10]
The one who lamented sought reconciliation with God amid separation from Him.[11] In lament, the psalmist implored for the intervention of God, as he/she recognized His power to deliver justice and rectify the consequences of personal sin (Ps. 6), oppression from enemies (Ps. 137), death (Ps. 88), and/or relational severance from God (Ps. 42).[12] The Psalmic lament was composed of (a) the opening address to God; (b) lament between the petitioner, God, and/or the oppressor; (c) confession of trust in the faithfulness of God; (d) petition for God to intervene and express His favor upon the psalmist; (e) assurance of being heard by God; (f) a double wish that seeks intervention against oppression and in support of the psalmist; (g) a vow of praise; and (h) praise of God, a response to the expected answer from God.[13] Each element kindled memories of the steadfast love of God, for “in the prayer of lament, Israel [remembered] in order to hope.”[14] Further, Hebrew faith and culture required the emotional embodiment of lament before God, manifest in the songs, tears, shouts, negotiations, petitions, complaints, angers, confessions, and mourning of the people.[15] Both body and spirit contributed to the expression of grief, which often occurred within a public context.[16] The one who lamented expressed helplessness with outstretched arms, implored for divine intervention in a kneeling posture, or laid in the dust to mourn abandonment.[17] Faith demanded honesty, for authentic confession and repentance were “only valid in the presence of the God above all gods.”[18] Thus, lament could withhold no sorrow, no bitterness, and no sinfulness from an omniscient God.Lament is crucial to the steadfast faith of the psalmist. The one who laments “demands an active narrative, rendering God as the continual author of our faith as [they] strive to include the whole of human experience…in the memory and action of God.”[19] Loss is intrinsic to salvation and restoration with God.[20] Anger, sorrow, bitterness, and despair are not expressed with irreverence; the psalmist does not seek to curse God, nor does lament permit a lapse in faith, trust, or discipleship.[21] Rather, lament is an act of devotion.[22] The one who laments withholds no sorrow from the Lord, for the one who withholds does not consider God to be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent within the lives of His Creation.[23] Further, the psalmist does not pray without intention and expectation: supplications petition God for deliverance, respite, and/or restoration to Him.[24] The lament is a testimony of confidence in God—a promise of hope that awaits fulfillment and a resolution to praise God amid His perceived silence (e.g., Ps. 42:5, 11; Ps. 71:14).[25] One cannot disregard the Psalmic laments as irrelevant, for each lament is deemed a worthy contribution to the Spiritually-inspired Word of God (2 Ti. 3:16–17). The Psalmic lament demonstrates the inherent need for all humanity to approach the Cross with sorrow, anger, despair, contrition, brokenness, and a plea for restoration to God through Christ.
The Psalmic lament is the foundation of the Christian faith, embodied in the life and sacrifice of Christ. On the cross, Christ responds with lament (Psalm 22:1): “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The immense sorrow of abandonment prompted Christ to lament, and yet still He endured; He did not seek to disguise His suffering.[26] With tearful supplication, Christ surrendered His prayers to God, and His suffering cultivated obedience (Heb. 5:7). The love of God, manifest in the life of Christ, could not exist without sorrowful lament.
To redeem our brokenness and lovelessness the God who suffers with us did not strike some mighty blow of power but sent
his beloved son to suffer like us, through his suffering to redeem us from suffering and evil.
Instead of explaining our suffering God shares it….
“Put your hand into my wounds,” said the risen Jesus to Thomas, “and you will know who I am.” The wounds of Christ are
his identity. They tell us who he is. He did not lose them. They went down into the grave with him and they came up with
him—visible, tangible, palpable. Rising did not remove them. He who broke the bonds of death kept his wounds.[27]
Discipleship and salvation in Christ requires suffering, loss, and supplication.[28] Lament, therefore, is the only path to enduring faith amid immense sorrow.
Lament Within Contemporary Worship
American culture promotes ephemeral joy attained through self-sufficiency and strength.[29] Sadness and sorrow, therefore, threaten the perceived well-being of the one who worships.[30] Tenacious naivety characterizes the Christian life as effortless, comfortable, and prosperous, leading disciples to question the authenticity of personal faith.[31] Such questioning can lead to complete abandonment of faith, for imbalanced worship portrays God as apathetic to the cries of His children.[32] Worship—and, by extension, discipleship in Christ—becomes an act of denial, as the one who worships fails to engage in honest dialogue with Christ. Moreover, the worship pastor cannot demonstrate sensitivity to the sufferings of the congregation, for the concealment of personal pain fosters “a smaller capacity to endure pain, and consequently a blindness to the pain of others.”[33] Authentic discipleship requires the character development found within lament, which cultivates enduring faith in Christ alone for redemption and healing. Without personal lament, the worship pastor disregards the Scriptural charge to “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15 ESV) and is ill-fitted to serve the communities he/she is intended to serve.
The Psalmic laments offer a language of suffering grounded in theological truth, Spiritual inspiration, and faithful dependence on God. Yet, the contemporary North American evangelical church has omitted Psalmic lament from the standard worship service. Cited explanations for the avoidance of lament often deem the Psalms, as writings of the Old Testament, inapplicable to a modern-day congregation.[34] The Third Edition of The Church Hymnary notes fifty-eight Biblical Psalms that are appropriate for use in worship, 64 percent of which express joy, praise, solidarity, or gratitude.[35] The hymnary further incorporates four communal laments, yet two are edited to omit the tone of grief.[36] Of the ten individual laments included, only two selections—Psalms 22 and 42—have been preserved with the original thematic message intact.[37] An analysis of 133 popular songs licensed by Christian Copyright Licensing International Research (CCLI) across a thirty-year timeframe substantiated the lack of lament within contemporary Christian music.[38] In the songs discussed, words evocative of lament (e.g., dark, alone) occurred on 81 occasions; overt emotional descriptors (e.g., sad, sorrow) were not used.[39] Conversely, terms of happiness (e.g., joy, praise, and love) were used on 983 occasions.[40] The dearth of contemporary lament poses a threat to the continued maturation of the Christian church. If faith is only considered within the context of joy and peace, the worship pastor cannot appreciate and embody the sacrificial power of Christ—to grieve with those who grieve, to listen, to comfort, to heal, and to restore.[41] Lament is the language of the afflicted, the oppressed, the impoverished, the wounded, and those who see themselves forsaken. Without lament, worship cannot touch the hearts of the lost sheep God favors and holds dear.
The worship pastor directs the emotional response of the congregation through nonverbal expressions, attire, gestures, and overall bearing.[42] Research indicates that shared emotion in communal worship, influenced by the worship pastor, is most determinative of congregational response—more so than lyrical content, mode, and/or tempo.[43] s such, the worship pastor must express a broken and contrite spirit within worship, which permits the congregation to accept and articulate repressed sorrows, grief, regret, shame, and anger. Further, the musical choices of the worship pastor must practice and extend lament to the congregation when answers fail.[44] Psalmic laments provide opportunity for individuals to address the varied struggles of life, including “terminal illness and death (e.g., Psalms 6, 23, 41, 139), bereavement (e.g., Psalm 90), old age (e.g., Psalm 71), [and] grief over past mistakes (e.g., Psalm 38).”[45] Yet, mere recitation of Psalmic laments will not suffice for those who mourn; lament must become a personal practice within the supplications and prayers of the grieved. The Psalmic lament establishes a language and structure to be adapted within the individual prayers of the congregation. All who lament are contemporary psalmists, who expand the relational narrative of faith found within the Psalter.[46] Contemporary Christian music offers several examples of modern lament that can be integrated within the service structure.[47] Consider the lament expressed in “The Silence of God” by Andrew Peterson, which concludes with a promise of hope amid suffering: “The aching may remain, but the breaking does not.”[48] Additional contemporary songs of lament include “Blessings” by Laura Mixon Story, “Praise You in This Storm” by Natalie Grant, and “Only Jesus for My Pain” by Cory Asbury.[49] If misconceptions of lament are evident, the worship pastor is responsible to enrich the theological understanding of the congregation. Objections to lament are grounded in a perception that Christ’s crucifixion and subsequent resurrection erase all need for anguish evident in the Old Testament.[50] et, the sacrifice of Christ did not eradicate human suffering in the present.[51] Christ promised laughter for those who now weep (Luke 6:21), comfort for those who now mourn (Mat. 5:4), and joy for those now entrenched in sorrow (John 16:20). Scripture readings and theological instruction must establish the concept of patient expectation: those who follow Christ grieve with endurant hope (1 Thess. 4:13–18).
Conclusion
Psalmic lament embodies the supplications of Israel, as the people mourned personal sinfulness and sought renewal of the covenantal relationship with God. In contemporary worship, the language of lament facilitates authentic dialogue and relational awareness of Christ. One cannot embrace the restoration of the Cross without honest confession of personal sorrow, grief, and surrender. The introduction of lament within corporate worship will likely evoke discomfort and distress due to intentional and sustained drought in use.[52] The worship pastor can begin with the integration of Psalmic lament in Scripture readings and guided prayer, selecting Psalms that conclude in hope and praise (e.g., Ps. 13, 32, 130). Additional resources include contemporary adaptations of lament in traditional hymnody, as well as modern-day songs of lament often overlooked in modern Christian worship. Yet, the worship pastor cannot facilitate corporate lament without a sustained practice of personal lament. The worship pastor, therefore, must embrace lament as a fundamental aspect of personal worship, knowing its valleys will yield a richer understanding of Christ amidst crushing sorrow, suffering, anger, and grief.
[1] James Japheth Sudarshan Harrichand, “Recovering the Language of Lament for the Western Evangelical Church: A Survey of the Psalms of Lament and Their Appropriation within Pastoral Theology,” McMaster Journal of Theology and Ministry 16 (2014): 107, EBSCOhost.
[2] Hermann Gunkel, The Psalms: A Form-Critical Introduction, trans. Thomas M. Horner (Fortress Press, 1967), 14, 20, quoted in Sudarshan Harrichand, “Survey of the Psalms,” 104.
[3] Bruce K. Waltke et al., The Psalms as Christian Lament (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2014), 18.
[4] Waltke et al., Christian Lament, 18; “H2617 – ḥeseḏ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (ESV),” Blue Letter Bible, accessed September 25, 2024, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2617/esv/wlc/0-1/.
[5] Waltke et al., Christian Lament, 18.
[6] Ibid., 18.
[7] Waltke et al., Christian Lament, 19.
[8] Ibid., 19.
[9] Ibid., 19.
[10] Ibid., 19.
[11] William L. Harris, “Psalm 88: A Validation to Vent,” Calvin Theological Journal 55, no. 1 (2020): 62, EBSCOhost.
[12] Ron Guengerich, “Laments—Misunderstood, Truncated, Exiled, Silenced,” Vision 7, no. 2 (2006): 51–52, EBSCOhost.
[13] Sudarshan Harrichand, “A Survey of the Psalms,” 106.
[14] Sudarshan Harrichand, “A Survey of the Psalms,” 107.
[15] Kathleen O’Connor, Lamentations and the Tears of the World (Orbis Books, 2002), 9, quoted in Philip Gardner, “ ‘A House for Sorrow and a School for Compassion’: Recovering Lament in Contemporary Worship,” Touchstone 25, no. 1 (2007): 17; Waltke, et al., Christian Lament, 17.
[16] Waltke et al., Christian Lament, 13.
[17] Ibid., 13.
[18] Waltke et al., Christian Lament, 16.
[19] Casey T. Sigmon, “ ‘Blessed Is the One Whose Bowels Can Move: An Essay In Praise of Lament’ in Contemporary Worship,” Religions 13, no. 12 (2022): 3, https://www.doi.org/10.3390/rel13121161.
[20] André Resner, “Lament: Faith’s Response to Loss,” Restoration Quarterly 32, no. 3 (1990): 135, EBSCOhost.
[21] Joshua C. Waltman, “Psalms of Lament and God’s Silence: Features of Petition Not Yet Answered,” Evangelical Quarterly 89, no. 3 (2018): 219, doi.org/10.1163/27725472-08903002.
[22] Logan C. Jones, “The Psalms of Lament and the Transformation of Sorrow,” The Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 61, nos. 1–2 (2007): 49, https://doi.org/10.1177/154230500706100106.
[23] June F. Dickie, “The Importance of Lament in Pastoral Ministry: Biblical Basis and Some Applications,” Verbum et Ecclesia 40, no. 1 (2019): 5, https://www.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v40i1.2002.
[24] Jones, “Transformation of Sorrow,” 52.
[25] Robert S. Smith, “Belting Out the Blues as Believers: The Importance of Singing Lament,” Themelios 42, no. 1 (2017): 89–111, EBSCOhost.
[26] Dickie, “Lament in Pastoral Ministry,” 2.
[27] Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lament for a Son (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1987), 62, 71.
[28] Gardner, “Recovering Lament,” 26.
[29] Sudarshan Harrichand, “Survey of the Psalms,” 114–115.
[30] Ibid., 114–115.
[31] Daniel Jesse, “Over-Generalizing, Under-Promising, and Over-Promising: Singing Sadness and Joy in the Church,” Religions 13, no. 12 (2022): 15, https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121172.
[32] Zachary M. Hicks, The Worship Pastor: A Call to Ministry for Worship Leaders and Teams (Zondervan, 2016), 68.
[33] Dickie, “The Importance of Lament,” 2.
[34] Resner, “Faith’s Response to Loss,” 129–130.
[35] Robert Davidson, The Courage to Doubt: Exploring an Old Testament Theme (SCM Press, 1983), 12, quoted in Resner, “Faith’s Response to Loss,” 133.
[36] Ibid., 133.
[37] Ibid., 133.
[38] Daniel Jesse, “Singing Sadness and Joy,” 1.
[39] Jesse, “Singing Sadness and Joy,” 1, 13.
[40] Jesse, “Singing Sadness and Joy,” 4.
[41] Resner, “Faith’s Response to Loss,” 132, 136.
[42] Jesse, “Singing Sadness and Joy,” 8–9.
[43] Nathan Myrick, “Relational Power, Music, and Identity: The Emotional Efficacy of Congregational Song,” Yale Journal of Music and Religion 3, no. 1 (2017): 85, quoted in Jesse, “Singing Sadness and Joy,” 8–9.
[44] Jones, “Transformation of Sorrow,” 54–55.
[45] Jones, “Transformation of Sorrow,” 54.
[46] Gene T. Fowler, The Ministry of Lament: Caring for the Bereaved (Chalice Press, 2010), 51.
[47] Walter Riggans, “Can We Not Mourn with Those Who Mourn?,” Evangelical Review of Theology 45, no. 2 (2021): 149, EBSCOhost.
[48] “The Silence of God,” by Andrew Peterson, produced by Andrew Peterson and Harold Rubens, Centricity Music, released November 10, 2014.
[49] “Blessings” by Laura Mixon Story, produced by Nathan Nockels, Fair Trade Services, released on February 21, 2011; Natalie Grant, vocalist, “Praise You in This Storm,” by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms, produced by Bernie Herms, Curb Records, released as a single on June 12, 2020; “Only Jesus for My Pain,” produced by Paul Mabury, BEC Recordings, released on September 15, 2023.
[50] Resner, “Faith’s Response to Loss,” 129–130.
[51] Jesse, “Singing Sadness and Joy,” 15.
[52] Sigmon, “Blessed Is the One,” 3.