Episode 20 - Embracing Lament (2 of 2)

Why would we embrace experiencing and expressing pain?  Don't we spend most of our lives running away from it?  What good could come from entering into someone else's pain?  While there are many answers to that question - I will point to the benefit of grief doing a maturing work in me.  The book of Psalms is divided into Psalms of praise and Psalms of lament.  Most Old Testament scholars say that two-thirds of these "songs" are that of lament.  Lament is a form of praise (in the midst of pain) while simultaneously engaging as a prayer to God for help.  It is not complaining or putting God on trial for the pain we are feeling, it is an appeal to God based on confidence in His unchanging character. When we participate in the pain of others in a shared grieving, there is a love and solidarity that is seldom found in this world.  Lament is not our final prayer, but it is a "prayer in the meantime."  Most Psalms of lament end with a promise to praise and thank God, and evidence that there has been new revelation, a rehearsal of God's unchanging character and hope that this pain will not last forever.  Let us learn to lament!