ON LAMENT, PSALM 142, AND THIS CURRENT CRISIS by Christina Fox for Core Christianity
How are you feeling these days? This crisis is bringing up many difficult emotions for all of us. It certainly is for me. Throughout the day, I find myself hop-scotching from worry to loneliness to frustration to boredom to discontentment. Some days are better than others. Especially when I don’t allow myself to consider the unknown future.
I am sad for all that my children are missing. I am disappointed by cancelled plans. I am lonely and miss friends and family. I am worried about our health. I grieve the losses many have experienced and will experience in the weeks to come.
The question is: what do I do with all these difficult emotions?
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All I know to do is to lament. To lament is to cry out to God, to bring our emotions before him, and seek his help. It’s to be raw and honest with the Lord. It’s to verbalize our fears, sorrows, and cares in his presence. It’s to voice our longings, hopes, cares, and dreams. It is to seek his justice, salvation, and provision. It’s to dwell on who he is and what he has done. And it’s to trust and wait and hope for his deliverance.
Psalm 142 is a lament, one written by David while he was on the run from his enemies—likely King Saul. While hiding and fearful for his life, he cried out in prayer to the Lord. It is a prayer that was later turned into a psalm used in Israel’s worship, sung as we do our hymns and praise songs on Sunday morning. This lament is apropos for our time. You might say David was in quarantine, sheltered away not at home, but in a dark and desolate cave.
With my voice I cry out to the LORD;
with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him. (Psalm 142:1–2)
David brought his emotions and cares to the LORD. He used God’s covenant name, Yahweh, the Great I AM. This is the name God gave Moses at the burning bush and refers to God’s aseity, his eternal self-existence, his sovereignty, and his covenant-keeping presence with his people. David cried out to the God who rules over all things.