Father in heaven, sometimes there is nothing we can do but pray. But the overall feeling in us suggests we are small and insignificant to pray anything worthwhile; nor do we feel like we have any authority to see you shake kingdoms, move mountains, and bend rivers for us and the people we identify with. But God, I ask today that all of us will find that in our lamenting we will know that as powerless as we are over our circumstances and the situations our loved ones experience, that you are powerful and you do not abandon us alone. Fill us with that knowledge, that you are listening and are about to do things in our lives as a result of our prayers.

Let us know that our hope is not in a God of the past or of current sorrows, but in a living and powerful God whose declared a future for his people when devastation looms. Give us the courage to intercede in lament and ask for healing and renewal through the brokenness of our lives. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Sunday afternoon, church was over, I stood there crying, begging God for a reason. My Kids ministry team was waiting around wondering why I was crying. I’m not a crier. How could God do this? It was unfair!

Earlier that afternoon I learned that a young girl we graduated from our kids ministry just earlier that summer committed suicide. What the heck! I would understand it better if it were a 25 year old or a 50 year old. But she was 12! What a ripe age. What would drive a little child with so much to live for to commit suicide!? I angrily cried asking God why and how. I just never got an answer. In fact, the whole volunteer team asked, but silence.

Her parents grieved. Her younger siblings wept. Her friends at church, shocked in disbelief. In the end, nobody was the same.

To the inconsolable parents, siblings, friends, of this young girl, all we could do as a church was weep with them. Weep in the memories of better days. Weep in the hopes that God would hear. Weep for comfort in the future. You see:

Big Idea: Lament is the means to weep with those who weep

But really how do we lament without losing our faith? Let me phrase that another way: how do we hold onto our faith when our experience shows us faith is useless? Do we give up on our faith? Do we denounce our reality? We know neither is really possible and we can’t pretend that this is some type of messed up computer game we’re living.

In 587 B.C. when the Babylonian armies invaded and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple;  the paradigms, the beliefs, the hopes that Israel had in God were shattered. Their identity, their dreams, their pride, all of it, completely destroyed, literally left in heaps of blood splattered rubble of friends, coworkers, and family of those who remained. In the face of that, God instructs his people to weep with those who weep.

Maybe you’re here today and lamenting and injustice in your life like the people of Israel. And that injustice just robbed you of your identity, pride, hopes, dreams, and faith. Life as you knew it is nothing but a pile of what once was. Maybe that injustice is:

• a divorce
• an untimely death
• A medical diagnosis
• Unemployment or a failure in business
• Wayward child
• Repercussions from your sins like infidelity, addictions, bad judgments
• Racism
• Natural disaster

Know that you do not weep alone. If you’re on the other side of that, looking at the injustices against  others around you, know that you are called to weep with them. Regardless of whether you are a sufferer of injustice or a witness, know that for children of God, weeping is not just tears shed, it’s actually three distinct actions.

We’re going to pick things up in Lamentations 3:25.

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷ It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke in his youth.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
²⁹ let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
³⁰ let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.

³¹ For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
³² but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
    according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
³³ for he does not afflict from his heart
    or grieve the children of men.

³⁴ To crush underfoot
    all the prisoners of the earth,
³⁵ to deny a man justice
    in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
    the Lord does not approve.

³⁷ Who has spoken and it came to pass,
    unless the Lord has commanded it?
³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that good and bad come?
³⁹ Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?

(Lamentations 3:25-39 ESV)

First Action of Lament: Remember the heart of God. (vv. 25-39)

This is probably the hardest thing for us to do. When injustice permeates in our lives, we fail to remember the heart of God. The young girl who committed suicide. I later learned that she committed suicide because the bullying was so bad that death was a better hope. When a child you were responsible for commits suicide, you forget the heart of God, your faith begins to wane.  

Lamentations is all about reconciling reality with the heart of God. When we come to verse 25, the poet is trying to identify who God’s heart is for. The poet is rebuilding faith. God’s heart is for:

• people who passionately wait for him
• people who diligently seeks him
• people who place their hope in God

Then the poet continues in verses 26 and 27 reminding us why remembering the heart of God is the first action of lament: because it is the salvation of the Lord, the first step to regaining hope. A lot of us know that. We know who God is for and why remembering God’s heart is important, but we don’t know how to remember it when our lives are filled with injustice. The poet tells us how to remember the heart of God in verses 28-30.  

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
²⁹ let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
³⁰ let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.

We remember God by going into the silences, bowing in prayer and waiting for hope in God, and by going face first into the injustice. When we do these things, the poet says in verses 31-39, we will remember who God is and his heart for his people. God is:

• the God who always comes back
• the God who works severely, but is more generous in love
• the God who takes no pleasure in making life hard
• the God who sets prisoners free
• the God who grants justice

This is the heart of our God: omnipotent, loving, and just.

This is the heart of our God: omnipotent, loving, and just. He is the God who would sacrifice his own son on the cross for our injustice, for our inequities, for our shame, for our sin. He does this because he loves us. He loves us more than our sins can separate. That is why we in lament our first action is to remember God’s heart.

Second Action of Lament: Carry your cry to the Lord. (vv. 40-54)

Verse 40.

⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways,
    and return to the Lord!
⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
⁴² “We have transgressed and rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.

⁴³ “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    killing without pity;
⁴⁴ you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
⁴⁵ You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.

⁴⁶ “All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
⁴⁷ panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and destruction;
⁴⁸ my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹ “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
⁵⁰ until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
⁵¹ my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

⁵² “I have been hunted like a bird
    by those who were my enemies without cause;
⁵³ they flung me alive into the pit
    and cast stones on me;
⁵⁴ water closed over my head;
    I said, ‘I am lost.’

(Lamentations 3:40-54 ESV)

This is so powerful because the poet does something with the pronouns in these 5 stanzas. Let’s go back to verses 40-42 and take stock of the pronouns.

⁴⁰ Let us test and examine our ways,
    and return to the Lord!
⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
⁴² “We have transgressed and rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.

You notice the “us” and the “we?” Lament was never meant to be done alone. Lament is a collective effort. If you’re going through something right now, know that you weren’t designed to face it alone. You were not created to lament by yourself. That’s where a lot of us get it wrong in our lamenting.

Lament is on all of us—on you, the person next to you, in front of you, and behind you. All of us. Whatever you’re lamenting, you’re not meant to cry to God alone. We carry those cries to God together.

Some of us can’t relate to being so broken by God that we need a community to have faith for us and cry out to God for us. If you’re not living the injustice, then your duty in lament is to make sure you carry the cries of others to God because they can’t.

Look at what crying to God looks like in verses 43-47.

⁴³ “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    killing without pity;
⁴⁴ you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
⁴⁵ You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.

⁴⁶ “All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
⁴⁷ panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and destruction;

The key pronoun here is, “you.” You as in God. As in, God, why did you do this? Why did you allow this? He is the one we need to take our cries to because nobody else can do anything else and God is responsible for us, we’re his children!

Let’s be honest, most of life isn’t Instagram worthy, it’s Pinterest fail. So stop pretending that injustice doesn’t affect our lives—you have reasons to cry. Go to verse 48.

⁴⁸ my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹ “My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
⁵⁰ until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
⁵¹ my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

⁵² “I have been hunted like a bird
    by those who were my enemies without cause;
⁵³ they flung me alive into the pit
    and cast stones on me;
⁵⁴ water closed over my head;
    I said, ‘I am lost.’

Did you notice the pronouns “my” and “I?” My eyes flow with a river of tears. I am grieved by the injustice I see. I am lost because I understand the injustice, I’ve experienced it. Don’t be one of those people who disappear from when things get tough or hard. Carry the burden of lament for others and cry to God. This is your personal responsibility.

This past year hasn’t been too kind to my Life Group, my family here in Michigan. We had three cancer diagnoses, two miscarriages, three deaths of immediate family members, two relapses, job loss, just a lot of injustice. What could we do about any of those things besides face them head on, remember God’s heart for us, cry together, put ownership on God, and cry individually? That’s lament—weeping with those who weep.

But it doesn’t end there.

Third Action of Lament: Wait on the Lord to carry out justice. (vv. 55-66)

Verse 55.

⁵⁵ “I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
⁵⁶ you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
⁵⁷ You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ‘Do not fear!’

⁵⁸ “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
    you have redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
    judge my cause.
⁶⁰ You have seen all their vengeance,
    all their plots against me.

⁶¹ “You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
    all their plots against me.
⁶² The lips and thoughts of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
⁶³ Behold their sitting and their rising;
    I am the object of their taunts.

⁶⁴ “You will repay them, O Lord,
    according to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵ You will give them dullness of heart;
    your curse will be on them.
⁶⁶ You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
    from under your heavens, O Lord.”

Lamentations 3:55-66 ESV

When we look at this last section, the poet posturing toward active waiting. It’s not a sit down and do nothing type of waiting for God. It’s a do something waiting—it’s a conscious use of time. You see, when we’re facing injustice we can’t do anything about, all we have is time as we face it and that’s a gift and opportunity you have to do something with, that’s just plain economics. That time should be used to prophetically pray. I know I’m about to get some angry emails because I said prophetically. Before you hit send, I want you to hear this: a prophetic prayer comes from the heart of God, for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Does that sound familiar? Because it should if you’ve been in church for a little bit—it’s the Lord’s prayer. Jesus taught us to pray prophetically from the heart of God.

A prophetic prayer comes from the heart of God, for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This is the most coherent part of this poem and for good reason, it is a humble, but empowered prayer, crying out to God, expectant of God to act because the heart of God is to act.

A lot of us, when we lament, in fact, when we pray in general, we’re so backed up against the wall, that all we have are these feeble, I’m so lacking and hopeless type of prayers. But as children of God, you’re not lacking, you’re not hopeless. We need to be having these prophetic prayers in the face of injustice—prayers from the heart of God.

This prophetic prayer has three parts: Listen to how prophet starts the prayer in verses 55-58.

⁵⁵ “I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
⁵⁶ you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
⁵⁷ You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ‘Do not fear!’

⁵⁸ “You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
    you have redeemed my life.

The pet says, I called you, don’t ignore me, and I know you said God, I’m listening, and do not fear because you redeemed my life.

Then in verses 59-63, the poet reminds God of how his will is not happening here on earth as it is in heaven.

⁵⁹ You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
    judge my cause.
⁶⁰ You have seen all their vengeance,
    all their plots against me.

⁶¹ “You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
    all their plots against me.
⁶² The lips and thoughts of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
⁶³ Behold their sitting and their rising;
    I am the object of their taunts.

Then in verses 64-66, we see the poet expressing his expectation of God’s will on earth.

⁶⁴ “You will repay them, O Lord,
    according to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵ You will give them dullness of heart;
    your curse will be on them.
⁶⁶ You will pursue themin anger and destroy them
    from under your heavens, O Lord.”

The poet knew how the story ends—God will… that’s who our God is. He is a God that WILL. He WILL pursue us in our brokenness, our pain, our hurt, our sins, even if we won’t. He was so WILLING that he didn’t spare his own son, but gave him up for us. Just think how gracious he will be to us who are lamenting injustice in our lives and in this world.

I love what the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8.

 ³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 8:31-39 ESV)

Just because we’re lamenting injustice, whether that’s from our sin, or the sins of others against us, or calamity we can’t explain or rationalize, that doesn’t mean we are to give up hope for our future. No, God has already redeemed our future through the blood of Jesus Christ and NOTHING will separate us from that love of God. Nothing!

God has already redeemed our future through the blood of Jesus and NOTHING will separate us from that love of God. Nothing!

Our story doesn’t end with lament of the past and present; it actually begins with lament: weeping with those who weep; carrying our cries to the Lord, and waiting on him to carry out justice; because in the future we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

If you’re in a place where injustice reigns and hope is dimming, receive Jesus into your hearts, minds and souls, right now, receive the hope of God. Jesus carried out justice for us, once and for all. He died on the cross to rescue us from our sins. He was risen again on the third day to show that no injustice can stop his love for us, not even the ultimate injustice—death. That’s the love God has for you. We will not be separated from the love of God by any injustice.

Cry out to God, and wait for him. He will return and he will deliver. He will  because he loves us. If you know somebody who is living through hell on earth, lament with them, don’t cower away hoping somebody else picks up that burden. The burden is yours—go to them, weep with them in carrying out these actions, and witness God redeeming.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, Nothing can separate us from your love. But we still feel hopeless because of the injustice we suffer. We have nowhere to take our complaints, our cries, our tears, except to you. Lord, we ask for your will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Yes, the will of heaven here on earth because, Lord your heart is for us, your children, your beloved sons and daughters redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

There are people here today God, who have come with a sliver of hope that they would encounter a brother, or a sister, who would carry their lament with them because there are no more tears left, there is no more sorrow, just tremendous pain. I pray there be divine appointments, and from those appointments, I believe you will provide supernatural healing and miraculous reconciliation as a result.

God, there is people here who never knew you, but now they know you brought them to this service today so your son, Jesus, can be received in their hearts and minds. Receive them as your children. Fill them with your Spirit.

Lord we know your will for us, the plans you have for us, plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us hope and a future with you. So deliver us from the source of our lament. We pray these things in your son Jesus’ holy name. Amen.