Singing the Blues

Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding, [the Lord] dragged me from

the path and mangled me and left me without help. He drew his bow and

made me the target for his arrows. (Lamentations 3:10-12 NIV).

Why is the book of Lamentations in the Bible? Isn’t Scripture supposed to inspire us, encourage us, and brighten our spirits? But this book does just the opposite. It feels more like a list of grievances written by someone who is angry at God. To read it is to listen to the screams and moans of someone in excruciating pain. So, what’s this book doing in God’s inspired Word?

Good question.

To be fair, the prophet Jeremiah has something to scream about. Jerusalem is in ruins, the throne of David is empty, and the people are in exile. The Temple is a pile of rubble, and the Ark of the Covenant is missing. His pain is not just physical and his losses are not just material. Jeremiah is struggling with the fact that God’s promises have apparently failed. Rather than saving his people, God has abandoned them, sending wrath and judgment on those he supposedly loved. Yeah, I’d scream too!

People respond to tragedy in different ways. Some turn to alcohol. Others curse and swear. Some talk to a psychiatrist. Others live in denial. And still others look to atheism or eastern religions for help. Jeremiah chooses another path – a far better one. He laments. He composes poetry that can be sung, in which he pours out his anguish to God, inviting others to join him in his mournful song. In other words, he responds to calamity by singing the blues.

The book of Lamentations is the greatest grief management tool ever written! It is meant to serve as a model for you and me when we face trials and hardships. It teaches us that there are five skills we need to master if we are going to learn how to sing the blues.

Be Real

Lamentations teaches us that, when things fall apart, it’s OK to scream. We don’t have to deny our pain or pretend it doesn’t hurt. We don’t need to put on a happy face and force ourselves to say, “Praise the Lord anyway.” This book is not written to explain why suffering comes. It is not intended to cure our sorrows but rather to help us express them! Jeremiah is giving us permission to be emotionally honest when we are in trauma and dealing with tragedy. Unfortunately, many churches today do not follow his example. If your church is not a safe place to express pain, you may want to prayerfully consider changing churches.

Be Thorough

Lamentations is composed of five poems corresponding to the five chapters in our English text. Each poem is an acrostic, meaning that each stanza begins with a successive letter of the

alphabet. Because the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, each chapter has 22 verses, except the third, which has 66 (an acrostic with a triple application). Jeremiah is giving us an alphabet of grief. One by one, he is listing the people, places, events, and objects that Judah has lost. In other words, he wants us to enumerate our losses as we work our way through the alphabet, one letter at a time. When we have gone through the alphabet once (chapter 1), then we go through it again (chapter 2), then again, and again, and again (chapters 3, 4, 5). Jeremiah does not want us to rush through the process, and he will not permit us to take a shortcut. He is coaching us to grieve everything. Don’t leave anything out. Victory is found not by bypassing grief, but by going through it.

Be Connected

Few things are more dangerous than grieving in isolation, cut off from contact with others. The woeful music that Jeremiah writes must not be sung alone! This is not a solo. It is meant to be sung in community. The music will undoubtedly be in a minor key, and some may struggle to join the chorus. That’s OK. The point is to do it together! The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem is powerful precisely because it is a public place where people come to grieve – together.

Be Theological

Lamentations is not a psychology book. It is about God and His ways even more than it is about humans and their sufferings. Not only is it about God, much of it is addressed to God. This book encourages us to take our sorrows and questions not just to a counselor or to a friend, but to God himself! And if we take our cue from Jeremiah, we can tell him anything! Yeah, go ahead and scream at him if you need to. He can handle that. As we unload in his holy presence, we discover that “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed” (Ps. 34:18 NLT).

Be Hopeful

Most of the book of Lamentations is a woeful litany of pain, sorrow, and loss. But right in the middle is one of the greatest confessions of hope in the entire Bible.

But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

(Lam. 3:21-23).

Now, It’s Your Turn

Not only is the book of Lamentations interesting history, telling about what happened in Jerusalem many centuries ago, it also gives us a model for how we should respond when things fall apart in our world today. So, the next time something terrible happens in your life, rather than getting drunk, going into depression, or living in denial, try singing the blues. And if you don’t have a sad song to sing, then write your own! I actually did this myself several years ago when I found myself screaming at God because he was, in my opinion, under-performing. Maybe my lament will help you find words to express your own pain as well.

The Key to Joy

By Stan Key

Broken heart and shattered world,

The center cannot hold;

My faith is feeble, hope is spent,

My love has grown so cold.

It seems, O Lord, that all is lost,

I don’t know what to do;

In dark despair, my only cry:

“All I have is You.”

And then—a slender ray of hope

Illuminates my tomb;

A tiny spark, the faintest prayer,

Is kindled in the gloom.

I grope for words to help express

What I now see is true;

Into the void I whisper them:

“All I need is You.”

The world around me hasn’t changed,

The status quo’s in place.

But in my heart there’s been a shift

For I have seen His face.

And though the old is present yet

I know there’s something new;

For now I’ve found the key to joy:

“All I want is You!”

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