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It can be helpful for someone who is going through a difficult time to hear from others who have had similar experiences. God gives us this in His Word. His book is filled with story after story, letter after letter, and psalm after psalm written by and about people who have been where we have been and have experienced what we have experienced. When we study the book of Psalms we learn that sad Psalms have a lot to say to us.
Sad Psalms are often called Psalms of Lament. There are many lament psalms in the book of Psalms, reminding us of the regularity of life’s difficulties. Laments are important for God’s people to study because they instruct us on how to relate to God when the storms of life hit. These psalms usually follow a similar structure. Understanding this structure helps us understand how to approach God, address Him, and view Him in dark and difficult times.
A Cry for God
Lament Psalms likely begin with the psalmist crying out to God. It is important for believers to hear this since our first reaction, when trouble comes, is not to go to our knees and express our need, but to hit the road and flee in the opposite direction, or try to face the problem head on without God.
In Psalm 86, David provides us with a good example by expressing his longing for God in tough times: Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy (Psalm 86:1, ESV).
A Complaint to God
After a cry for help the psalmist will often bring honest complaints before the Lord. Some have expressed concern with the psalmist’s tone when addressing God in the Lament Psalms. We, however, learn from God in His Word that He is a personal God who desires to have a close relationship with His people. Two of the most important features to any healthy relationship are honesty and trust. God wants us to exhibit both in our relationship with Him.
David openly and honestly expresses his feeling of God’s absence in the midst of suffering. He passionately questions God’s will and openly expresses agony in this trial:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
—Psalm 22:1-2, ESV
Confidence in God
In addition to a cry for help and a complaint to God, Lament Psalms also express great trust in God regardless of life’s circumstances. God wants His people to show confidence in His love for them. He also wants them to embrace the promises He has made to them, and to trust in His ability to work His will in and through them according to His purposes, for their joy and for His own glory.
In Psalm 42, after telling of his longing for God “as a deer pants for flowing streams” (42:1, ESV), the psalmist openly and honestly expresses great misery, feeling as if he has been forgotten by God (42:6-11). However, while feeling abandoned and neglected he reminds himself of who God is and why He is to be trusted. He then ends his psalm by preaching to himself, calling for his soul not to be restless but to hope in God and worship Him: Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God (Psalm 42:11, ESV).
As was said in the beginning, the structure for Psalms of Lament provides God’s people with a blueprint on how they are to approach God when tough times come.
- First, cry out to Him, seeking direction from Him and expressing your great need for Him.
- Second, bring your complaints to Him, openly and honestly. Don’t shy away from being honest with God and seeking answers for the struggles you are experiencing in life,
- Display confidence in God for who He is, what He has done, and what He is going to do.
- Trust Him no matter the current circumstances. He will do what He has promised and will work His perfect will regardless.
Graham Hale
Graham Hale is the Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Jacksonville, TX. and is a Womenary Professor. He earned a B.A. (Political Science) from the University of Arkansas in 2001 and a M.Div. (Missiology) from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in 2006. Graham is currently pursuing a D.Min. (Pastoral Leadership) at Southwestern Theological Seminary.
