Lament When in Pain and Suffering | Moody Bible Institute | Fernandez, Asha

Hear my prayer, LORD, let my cry for help come to you. Psalm 102:1

 

In recent months the violence in Iraq and Syria has ravaged the Christian community there. Churches have been bombed, ancient Christian sites have been desecrated, and parents have seen their children killed. Yet believers continue to express their faith in God. One Iraqi Christian said, “I have hope because I see God is working in the hearts of Muslims in Iraq. Even if all the Christians from traditional churches leave Iraq, Christianity will stay, because God is building a church with Muslim background believers.”

What can we do when everything we love is lost? When our loved one dies? When our community is destroyed? When our health is shattered? Psalm 102 gives us an answer. It shows us how to lament before God and maintain hope even when we don’t see the circumstances changing. We learn how to pray when we are still waiting—even when we might die waiting because God’s answer will arrive for a “future generation” (v. 18).

First, there is deep comfort in the fact that God sees our suffering and indeed inspires these plaintive groans of the psalmist. God does not ask us to pray to Him as if everything were sunshine and roses. We can be honest in our pleading with Him. Second, God responds to our cries. He doesn’t immediately rebuild Zion, but He does rebuild the wounded soul of the psalmist, providing strength to go on.

Third, this psalm reminds us that our faith does not depend on our experience. We believe that God is good even when life is not. We believe that God is strong even when we are weak. We believe that God’s work on earth will continue even when it seems like we will be destroyed. We can have confidence in His care for His people. 


Christians around the world are lamenting the loss of their churches and their leaders and even their lives. Spend time crying out to God on their behalf today, asking that He will “hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death” (v. 20). Then rejoice in His promise of eternal life: “The children of your servants will live in your presence” (v. 28).