June 30th, 2026
Psalm 13:1 — How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
Lament is a common style of psalm, but it is not one that we tend to hear regularly in the modern church. Roughly 40% of the psalms are laments, whether individual or corporate. And honestly, these are sometimes the psalms we need the most in our lives, because life is difficult.
The lament has a common structure. It begins with the address to God: "How long O Lord?!" Followed by a complaint: "Will you forget me forever?" Then a petition: "Consider and answer me, O Lord."
In our natural state, we would likely stop at this point. Calling out, complaining, and asking for help. But this is not where the pattern. After the petition is an expression of trust: "But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation." And lastly is a vow of praise: "I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me."
This pattern is seen in almost every lament psalm, and it is a pattern that we would be advantageous to adopt into our lives. When hardship comes, we need to be able to be open and honest with God and with one another.
Lament creates a culture of vulnerability. First with God, then with community. This doesn't mean we ought to share all our deepest, most painful thoughts with everyone we know, but we should share those thoughts with our God and Creator who already knows those thoughts and sent His Son, who is also God, to die for the very sin that is the root of all our pain. And we each need to find a few people in our life whom we can share those feelings of lament with too.
Returning to Psalm 6, in the midst of our hardship, it may feel like God has forgotten you, but the psalmist shows that even in these moments of complaint, we must remind ourselves of God's faithfulness and unmoving love. When we struggle, we tend to get tunnel vision in that suffering, but if we could hit pause, we would be able to see and remember all the times that God has been faithful. From there we can speak truth to ourselves that He was faithful then and if faithful now.
With that truth, we can give a vow to praise. And in those moments of praising in the storm, indirect evangelism could happen by the fruit of the spirit bore in those moments — especially joy and peace.
Trust in God, He is good.
United in Christ,
Joshua
Lament is a common style of psalm, but it is not one that we tend to hear regularly in the modern church. Roughly 40% of the psalms are laments, whether individual or corporate. And honestly, these are sometimes the psalms we need the most in our lives, because life is difficult.
The lament has a common structure. It begins with the address to God: "How long O Lord?!" Followed by a complaint: "Will you forget me forever?" Then a petition: "Consider and answer me, O Lord."
In our natural state, we would likely stop at this point. Calling out, complaining, and asking for help. But this is not where the pattern. After the petition is an expression of trust: "But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation." And lastly is a vow of praise: "I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me."
This pattern is seen in almost every lament psalm, and it is a pattern that we would be advantageous to adopt into our lives. When hardship comes, we need to be able to be open and honest with God and with one another.
Lament creates a culture of vulnerability. First with God, then with community. This doesn't mean we ought to share all our deepest, most painful thoughts with everyone we know, but we should share those thoughts with our God and Creator who already knows those thoughts and sent His Son, who is also God, to die for the very sin that is the root of all our pain. And we each need to find a few people in our life whom we can share those feelings of lament with too.
Returning to Psalm 6, in the midst of our hardship, it may feel like God has forgotten you, but the psalmist shows that even in these moments of complaint, we must remind ourselves of God's faithfulness and unmoving love. When we struggle, we tend to get tunnel vision in that suffering, but if we could hit pause, we would be able to see and remember all the times that God has been faithful. From there we can speak truth to ourselves that He was faithful then and if faithful now.
With that truth, we can give a vow to praise. And in those moments of praising in the storm, indirect evangelism could happen by the fruit of the spirit bore in those moments — especially joy and peace.
Trust in God, He is good.
United in Christ,
Joshua
Recent
Archive
2026
January
2025
March
April
August
2024
January
February
March
April
May
June
No Comments