Lament is the first step of an appropriate response made by the people of God when they encounter suffering and injustice. Lament is an experience and an event which recognises the sufferings and struggles in life and cries out to God for justice amid an unjust and broken world.¹ Lament is different to complaining as when we lament, we bring our prayers to the sovereign One. The bible includes multiple sections of lament; the Book of Lamentations, psalms of lament, poems of lament in Job and Jeremiah. The practice of lament helps us to cultivate a comprehensive spirituality amid this beautiful but broken world.

A comprehensive spiritual life is one of joy and sorrow, celebration and suffering, smiles and tears (cf. Psalm 126). Paul describes his Christian experience well in 2 Corinthians 6 v10 “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Indeed, we rob ourselves of the Christian experience if we believe we can only bring our celebrations to God. We are to lament the broken and unjust systems, we are to lament the sin still so present in our lives, we are to lament the opportunities withheld from us.

Learn to clearly and specifically identify and call out injustices. Listen to the suffering experiences of your friends and neighbours.

When injustices have been identified, it becomes necessary to confess sin. Confession, as an important aspect of lament, enables a person or a community to recognise how they are complicit in, oppressed by, or responsible for the evils they have just identified. Daniel's prayer for the people of Israel in Daniel 9 is a great example of this.

Unresolved despair is not the goal of lament. The literary design of the book of Lamentations helps to set boundaries for the grief expressed. Its acrostic design means that the reader (and the writer!) is never stuck in despair; rather they have the boundaries to fully express their grief to God. And yet, in the middle of Lamentations is one of the most hopeful portions in the entirety of Scripture. Lamentations 3 v21-22:

Lament does not end with remembering hope, just as the book of Lamentations has two more chapters after chapter 3. The hope that we have in God empowers us to confront the real evil we face. Soong-Chan Rah reminds us that “lament must never be cut off before it has run its course, but lament needs a response”.³

Many different kinds of actions can be taken here. Maybe it is a call to repentance and a renewed way of thinking. Maybe it is a private or corporate apology. Maybe it is a call to work for change within your community.