Cries of Lament

- March 31, 2020

Scripture:

Mark 15:33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Observation:

This idea of darkness reminds us of Isaiah 60:2 “For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.” The darkness covered the earth in the time that Jesus was dying, but this was a foreshadowing of the coming glory of the Lord.

Within a few hours Jesus cried out a Psalm of lament. In his pain and suffering he only spoke the very first line, a type of reference point for all those who were listening in. This is a Psalm of lament, and so we listen to the whole passage to be able to understand the context for Jesus’ words:

Psalm 22: 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.

Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.

All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;

“Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”

Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.

On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.

Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.

Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;

my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;

I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;

they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!

Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog!

Save me from the mouth of the lion!

From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
but heard when I cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.

For dominion belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.

To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.

Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,

and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

This Psalm of lament expresses anguish at the situation, but eventually leads to a place of trust in God’s intervention and ultimate vindication and victory. The reader of Mark’s gospel would see the great paradox in the cross.

Application:

I can only imagine that there are many places in this world today where there are cries of grief and lament. So often I have looked to Jesus as a model for prayer, but not often for lament. Somehow we think that crying out in pain reflects a lack of faith, but that is not the case. Jesus, in the midst of his torment, cries out with a great lament. It feels like his Father has turned his back on him — and maybe that’s how you’re feeling today.

We find ourselves in the season of Lent, and yet, this journey with Jesus has turned out to be more than we bargained for. We lament that life can’t go on like it did in the past. We have children who can’t go to school and who can’t go and play with their friends. My grandchildren can’t play on the playground, they can’t go outside the backyard to talk to the neighbor, and they don’t get to go to church. We now have frequent conversations about “germs” and when you head to the restroom they ask, “What song are you going to sing?” (for the handwashing :) ) This is our new norm, and yet, we lament what is gone.

It’s okay to lament and to cry out to God in our loss. So far, the simple things of life we’ve had to give up are nothing in comparison to someone’s life. Some are having to confront that pain. Jesus gave up everything for our lives, and for him there was great lament, for the pain was almost unbearable.

The journey on which we find ourselves is one of loss but we take the Psalm to its conclusion and see the great paradox of our time. There will be an ultimate deliverance for all of God’s people, and that’s why we journey toward the cross.

Prayer:

Lord, we confess that some days we struggle. Hear our cries and the desires of our hearts, but please, continue to journey with us to the very end. Amen.