Blog - Job, David, and Healthy Lament
We are made in the image of God. God is complete in His nature, including a full range of emotions. We see that range of emotions in Jesus. He laughed, He cried, He got angry. Jesus also told us that if we’ve seen Him, we’ve seen the Father. He tells us, “I only do what I see my Father doing.”
Somehow, the modern church has made emoting a negative experience. We are taught to have faith, trust the lord, and move on. The sentiment is that of showing a perfect exterior while the inner life is suffering. Perseverance is a good thing but consistently hiding or “stuffing” emotions is not. In fact, it’s not biblical.
God listens to and honors His people who bring their laments to Him. Lament means a passionate expression of grief. It is not complaining or blaming. It is an honest reflection of pain because of great loss.
The book of Job explores the theme of the suffering of the righteous. Job loses his wealth, his children, and his health very suddenly. In the midst of his suffering, Job does not blame God but brings his lament to the throne in prayer and tears.
Job 1:20-22 NIV
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
After Job’s friends sit with him and offer their opinions and personal wisdom, God speaks to Job from a whirlwind. God reminds Job that He is in control and that His wisdom and knowledge are beyond measure. Job sees and understands the greatness of God in a new way. His worship is pure before God.
Job 42 NIV
42 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
Why was God angry with Job’s friends? They spoke ABOUT God and not TO God. They spoke like ones with wisdom apart from pure relationship with God.
Look at the restoration God provides to Job! God saw his righteousness and heard his pure lament:
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
So indeed, lament has its place in the life of this grieving believer.
David, the king and great psalmist, wrote several psalms of lament for his own personal pain and suffering. The personal lament psalms include Psalms 3, 4, 13, 22, and 56. (The group or national lament psalms include Psalms 12, 44, 74,79, and 137.)
Note here how David states his case by describing his situation. He does not continue in his lament but switches to words of worship and faith. This lament turned to faith is a hallmark of David’s psalms. He was a man after God’s own heart.
Psalm 13 NIV
A psalm of David.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
Mixed into the lament in Psalm 56, we see David petition God and speak faith and imagery amid this great trial. He even speaks of God recording his tears in the scroll of his life. He ends this psalm with thanksgiving. He speaks this in the past tense, as his deliverance is assured in God.
Psalm 56 NIV
Of David. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
1 Be merciful to me, my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;
all day long they press their attack.
2 My adversaries pursue me all day long;
in their pride many are attacking me.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
5 All day long they twist my words;
all their schemes are for my ruin.
6 They conspire, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
hoping to take my life.
7 Because of their wickedness do not let them escape;
in your anger, God, bring the nations down.
8 Record my misery;
list my tears on your scroll -
are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
when I call for help.
By this I will know that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I am under vows to you, my God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered me from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Indeed, our understanding of lament can help us process grief and distress. God wants us to communicate with Him in times of trial. He is near.
Question: Which of these Scriptures helped you the most?
Question: How has your perception of grieving and lament changed by reading these passages?
Prayer: God, we worship You. You have given us everything we would need to live a victorious life. We know life is neither perfect nor easy, but we have You. Lord, help us bring ourselves to you in healthy lament, petition, and thanksgiving. Bring comfort to all who mourn by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Show us how to rest on You, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Questions? Need to talk? Feel free to email me at lauriemccarty@wellspring.net.
Somehow, the modern church has made emoting a negative experience. We are taught to have faith, trust the lord, and move on. The sentiment is that of showing a perfect exterior while the inner life is suffering. Perseverance is a good thing but consistently hiding or “stuffing” emotions is not. In fact, it’s not biblical.
God listens to and honors His people who bring their laments to Him. Lament means a passionate expression of grief. It is not complaining or blaming. It is an honest reflection of pain because of great loss.
The book of Job explores the theme of the suffering of the righteous. Job loses his wealth, his children, and his health very suddenly. In the midst of his suffering, Job does not blame God but brings his lament to the throne in prayer and tears.
Job 1:20-22 NIV
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
After Job’s friends sit with him and offer their opinions and personal wisdom, God speaks to Job from a whirlwind. God reminds Job that He is in control and that His wisdom and knowledge are beyond measure. Job sees and understands the greatness of God in a new way. His worship is pure before God.
Job 42 NIV
42 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
Why was God angry with Job’s friends? They spoke ABOUT God and not TO God. They spoke like ones with wisdom apart from pure relationship with God.
Look at the restoration God provides to Job! God saw his righteousness and heard his pure lament:
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
So indeed, lament has its place in the life of this grieving believer.
David, the king and great psalmist, wrote several psalms of lament for his own personal pain and suffering. The personal lament psalms include Psalms 3, 4, 13, 22, and 56. (The group or national lament psalms include Psalms 12, 44, 74,79, and 137.)
Note here how David states his case by describing his situation. He does not continue in his lament but switches to words of worship and faith. This lament turned to faith is a hallmark of David’s psalms. He was a man after God’s own heart.
Psalm 13 NIV
A psalm of David.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
Mixed into the lament in Psalm 56, we see David petition God and speak faith and imagery amid this great trial. He even speaks of God recording his tears in the scroll of his life. He ends this psalm with thanksgiving. He speaks this in the past tense, as his deliverance is assured in God.
Psalm 56 NIV
Of David. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
1 Be merciful to me, my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;
all day long they press their attack.
2 My adversaries pursue me all day long;
in their pride many are attacking me.
3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
5 All day long they twist my words;
all their schemes are for my ruin.
6 They conspire, they lurk,
they watch my steps,
hoping to take my life.
7 Because of their wickedness do not let them escape;
in your anger, God, bring the nations down.
8 Record my misery;
list my tears on your scroll -
are they not in your record?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
when I call for help.
By this I will know that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I am under vows to you, my God;
I will present my thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered me from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of life.
Indeed, our understanding of lament can help us process grief and distress. God wants us to communicate with Him in times of trial. He is near.
Question: Which of these Scriptures helped you the most?
Question: How has your perception of grieving and lament changed by reading these passages?
Prayer: God, we worship You. You have given us everything we would need to live a victorious life. We know life is neither perfect nor easy, but we have You. Lord, help us bring ourselves to you in healthy lament, petition, and thanksgiving. Bring comfort to all who mourn by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Show us how to rest on You, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Questions? Need to talk? Feel free to email me at lauriemccarty@wellspring.net.