Subject: Psalms of Lament |
Bible Note: With Rowdy, I appreciate you sharing your experience. Life can be brutal, and we suffer. My father and my wife had cancer at the same time, ... the same time as my wife gave birth to our daughter. A time that should be focused on a newborn was filled with the most intense mixtures of joy of sorrow. My wife recovered, my Dad did not.... The Psalter gives us words to cry out to God. "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God." (Psalm 69:1-3) Somehow, God's love is present even in suffering. I know so much more of life, having been through that time. We can say that God is good. Here is another question. I have been reading Job lately, as well.... and your expression: "Who was I to be angry at God?" brought Job's questions to mind. Any thoughts of the relationship between the Psalms of lament and the book of Job? Did you also read Job during those darkest days -- and if so, how did it minister to you? JRM |