Prayer of Lament

Intro

Good atfternoon. My name is Dave and I am on a summer placement here from Trinity college. when you’re on placement and preaching for the first time in your new context, you wish the passages that you are given to preach on are those wonderful verses that almost preach the word themselves with their hope and encouragement. Yet today we encounter lament and in particular a prophet who is at the very end of himself. ‘I have become a laughing stock all day long’ everyone mocks me, utters Jeremiah in verse 7 of our Jeremiah passage. I’m sure all of us have known, or maybe do know right now what it means to be at the very end of yourself.

There have been times in my life for sure where that has been the case for myself or for others. I remember vividly a time in Kampala, Uganda when I walked around a slum that had just experienced intense sudden rainfall. Corruption had meant the drainage system wasn’t big enough to cope with the rains and so a flood had ensued. The next day we wondered around the houses with the local vicar to pray for those affected. I remember one family that we encountered who had lost the little they had, the floor saturated with muddy sewage water, malaria rife and we prayed on our knees. I remember the prayers of ‘why God’ the prayers of lament and yet the hope and faith that God is good, even in this bleak moment. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Remarkably that family a few months later knew of God’s goodness.

Jeremiah is in a similiar position. He is being persecuted for bringing the word of the Lord to Pashhur. The lord has asked him to prophesy words of warning to a people who have turned away. and the people do not repent, but rather persecute Jeremiah. Then Jeremiah cries out this Prayer of lament in verse 7. acknowledging his weakness before God and human. You can hear the anguish in his prayer. Yet in verse 11 he holds to this truth. The Lord is with me like a mighty warrior as the NIV puts it. He prays honestly and yet also boldly.

We have been through and are still in the midst of a pandemic where life has been so tough for so many people. Perhaps for you too. There is an invitation here to enter into lament, a real deep honesty before God. I think the church sometimes is in danger of losing lament, likewise the way that our culture seems to encourage us to hide the bad bits of life and pretend everything is ok. I’ve found real nourishment in the Psalms over the past year. The richness of the Psalms that proclaim God’s goodness. My favourite is Psalm 27, The Lord is my light and my salvation.

But also the Psalms of lament. Psalm 64 we heard today ‘Hear my O God, in my complaint.’ Because they give you a language for those times where everything is not ok. That too ends with verse 10 ‘Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him.’ It holds that tension of deep authentic lament with the hope and faith that God is good. I wonder if that is something for you today. To find your voice of lament with the Psalms and with Jeremiah. Likewise to hold onto the truth that God is a mighty warrior. We only need to look at Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemanee and the cross to see how far God is willing to go to fight for humanity. And the resurrection to see his power. As we lament we come honestly to the God who loves and who is big enough to take our honest cries of anguish. There is an invitation to come honestly. Tell God how you really feel.

For those who might not be in that place there is also an invitation to join in prayer for those who are lamenting. Both those we know and those who we don’t. And to also pray for those who like Jeremiah also face persecution across the world. I’m reminded by those words of Brother Andrew, the founder of Open doors. Our prayers go where we cannot. When we read these words we must pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters

So as I finish lets pray for ourselves and also for those who are persecuted and lamenting, whilst holding on to the truth of God’s goodness. Lets pray

Father, we commend to your faithful love those who are crying from the depths; help them to watch and pray through their time of darkness, in sure hope of the dawn of your forgiveness and redemption; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen