The Lost Language of Lament

// INTRO

Starting a series on Lament for the next 5-7 weeks.

Lament is the minor side of worship.

So often we think of worship in positive and hopeful state.

Sometimes that doesn’t work.

Sometimes I don’t want to come in and sing about the joy of the lord when my heart is in pieces.

Introduce the Tear Jar

In first century Greco-Roman culture, it was not uncommon for people to carry around small clay or glass jars that would carry their tears from times of grief.

These jars would be used to collect and store tears as a person walked through sorrow and grief.

If a woman’s husband was away at war. She might store her tears in a jar every time she cried at his absence. Upon his return she would produce the bottle for him as an evidence of her sorrow while he was away.

As Psalm of Lament that ties in here is Psalm 56

Psalm 56:8 ESV

8 You have kept count of my tossings (wanderings); put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

We’ll come back to the tear jar in a little while…

Lament is the honest cry of a heart that is still turned towards God.

Lament is NOT grumbling or complaining; but faithful prayer while living in the gap between pain and promise.

Grumbling and Complaining is something that happens behind someone’s (God’s) back. We are indirectly talking about someone.

Lament is bringing our concerns directly to God.

Lament can be personal and communal.

Path Through Lament

Turn

Complaint

Ask

Trust

Praise

LAMENT IN THE SCRIPTURE

There’s the whole book of Lamentations which is made up of five poems of lament from a communal viewpoint.

The Psalms

Lament is found all throughout scripture, with the most common place being in the Psalms.

Of the 150 psalms, 59 are Psalms of Lament.

The next most common genre is Praise with 41.

The ancient believers understood the value of lament and put it on paper for generations!

In the modern believer’s life, we have lost this ancient language and far too often, we attempt to move quickly through the pain of this life.

Absence of lament causes us to leave wounds unhealed and unresolved, thus resulting in triggering traumas every time that wound is touched.

Five Books of the Psalms

The Book of Psalms are divided into Five Books.

Interestingly, the five books correlate to the first five books of the bible, The Pentateuch.

Book 1 (Psalms 1–41) – Like Genesis: beginnings, God’s covenant with individuals. Includes many personal laments (e.g., Ps. 3, 6, 13).

Book 2 (Psalms 42–72) – Like Exodus: God delivers His people. Laments express longing for God’s rescue (e.g., Ps. 42–43).

Book 3 (Psalms 73–89) – Like Leviticus: Focus on God’s holiness and the temple. Includes national laments (e.g., Ps. 74, 79).

Book 4 (Psalms 90–106) – Like Numbers: Wilderness journey, God’s sovereignty in crisis. Laments seek God’s reign (e.g., Ps. 90, 94).

Book 5 (Psalms 107–150) – Like Deuteronomy: Renewed hope and praise. Still laments, but the book crescendos in Hallelujahs.

It didn’t matter what “season” of life the nation was in, lament was integral to their lifestyle.

An Intro to Lament

Psalm 13 is a fantastic entry psalm of lament for us to explore together.

Remember the common path through Lament:

Turn

Complaint

Ask

Trust

Praise

Turn

Psalm 13:1 ESV

1 How long, O Lord?

It starts with who you are addressing.

Grumbling and Complaining is me addressing man with a problem that only God can fix in my life.

Complaint

Psalm 13:1–2 ESV

1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

David writes here from the depths and reality of his soul condition.

Words are not spared.

God can handle your raw emotions.

Psalm 51:17 ESV

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Ask

Psalm 13:3–4 ESV

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

Consider

:: to look upon, to behold

David is asking to be looked at.

When we have direct conversations with our kids, we ask for their eyes. It tells them we are sharing something very important and need their undivided attention.

Trust

Psalm 13:5 ESV

5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

Trust comes with faith.

We believe in a hope that we cannot see or understand given our current circumstances.

Consider a farmer who sows seeds in the ground. For weeks, there’s no sign of sprout. Many moments, he feels doubt, wondering if the effort was in vain. However, the farmer knows that something is happening below the surface, unseen yet vital. Similarly, our faith may feel dormant at times, yet God’s work is always taking place beneath the surface of our lives, cultivating hope for a fruitful harvest.

Our trust is like that seed.

We may not always see or understand what God is doing.

Time will produce a result.

Praise

Psalm 13:6 ESV

6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Bountifully

:: to complete, to wean

When we come through the season of Lament, we are led back to when we first found Jesus.

We trust Him wholly and completely!

He deals with us bountifully, meaning that he has matured us to completeness!

Lament in Worship

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, there were two women that made massive statements.

I never drew the understanding of the type of worship they were offering and how beautiful each is.

Woman with the Alabaster Jar

In Matthew 26, a woman enters the room while Jesus and his disciples are reclining and eating dinner.

She breaks open a alabaster jar with very costly ointment.

This was an act of love, offering of treasure.

I think that we can find ourselves relating easier to this woman.

It’s easier to bring my treasure, my love, my value to the lord.

Woman with the Tear Jar

In Luke 7 we see a woman enter the room where Jesus was reclining and having dinner and this time she doesn’t break something that society sees as valuable - she breaks open the sorrow and grief of her life at his feet.

The tears that she had collected from that season, she brings them and washes the feet of the one that is going to bear her sorrows and grief.

Isaiah 53:4–5 ESV

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Both Jars

Both the alabaster jar and tear jar are acts of worship.

We are called to be people that bring our praise and pain in our worship.

Closing

Bring up Jess P. & Worship team.

Psalm 13 TPT

Depression

1 I’m hurting, Lord—will you forget me forever? How much longer, Lord? Will you look the other way when I’m in need? 2 How much longer must I cling to this constant grief? I’ve endured this shaking of my soul. So how much longer will my enemy have the upper hand?

Intercession

3 Take a good look at me, Yahweh, my God, and answer me! Breathe your life into my spirit. Bring light to my eyes in this pitch-black darkness or I will sleep the sleep of death. 4 Don’t let my enemy proclaim, “I’ve prevailed over him.” For all my adversaries will celebrate when I fall. 5 I have always trusted in your kindness, so answer me. I will spin in a circle of joy when your salvation lifts me up. 6 I will sing my song of joy to you, Yahweh, for in all of this you have strengthened my soul. My enemies say that I have no Savior, but I know that I have one in you!