“First, in a lament, you’re talking to God, not about God—implying that you still trust God. God’s response to grumbling in Numbers is opening the ground underneath the Israelites. Lament, to be safe, should be done in the context of worship. But, Longman said, Christians have lost the tradition of lamenting in Christian worship.”

What’s the difference between lament and complaint? Or is “lament” just a name we give to complaining when it’s in the Bible?

Recently I attended the national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, where I heard Tremper Longman deliver a paper on Psalm 46 that asked and answered that question. Longman has written a commentary on the Psalms in the Tyndale series (and numerous other commentaries); he’s also a Mobile Ed professor who has taught courses on Proverbs and Exodus and contributed to a multi-view course on creation. He has a track record of insight into the OT.

Longman noted that Psalm 46 opens with cosmic chaos and continues with social chaos. This is the stuff of later eschatological depictions: mountains moving, earth giving way; nations raging, kingdoms tottering.

But the psalm is nonetheless a “corporate psalm of confidence,” a prayer sung in the midst of chaos, Longman said. There is lament implied, because the chaos is still chaos. It isn’t enjoyable to live through. God gives us certain psalms—and books like Job and Lamentations—to communicate that “he invites our lamenting.” This phrase really struck me (and like everything in quotation marks in this post, it was taken down live, and accuracy is subject to my typing speed).

Longman then raised the question: while it’s wonderful that God invites our laments, how often does he answer them? Not all the time—so what are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to lament forever? “The general teaching of Scripture,” Longman answered, “is that a more mature level of suffering is to move from lament to confidence,” just like Psalm 46 does.

“What’s the difference between lamenting and grumbling?” asked Longman. First, in a lament, you’re talking to God, not about God—implying that you still trust God. God’s response to grumbling in Numbers is opening the ground underneath the Israelites. Lament, to be safe, should be done in the context of worship. But, Longman said, Christians have lost the tradition of lamenting in Christian worship.

Maybe Psalm 46 could help, because it puts lament and confidence together.

Read More