Praise: a gem of hope buried in the dust of lament

Sing to the LORD;

praise the LORD!

For he has delivered the life of the needy

from the hand of evildoers.

Jeremiah 20:13

This psalm of praise, a call to worship God Who delivers His suffering saints, is an anchor of hope in an otherwise dismal bit of lament-filled poetry. These words were written out of a situation of pain. Jeremiah chapter 20 opens with the account of Jeremiah’s persecution by the high priest in Jerusalem. The officials did not like Jeremiah’s preaching that God had decreed irreversible judgment upon Jerusalem. So the high priest publicly shamed the prophet. He locked Jeremiah in stocks at the public gate near the temple… a lesson to all of Jerusalem. In so doing he rejected God‘s message from the hated prophet.

Upon releasing the prophet the next day, the high priest warned him no longer to prophesy. Jeremiah‘s response was to admit that although he would love to shut up the message, he could not. It burst from him like fire from his bones. And then Jeremiah penned a psalm of deep personal lament. You might say he was depressed by all the constant rejection and physical persecution.

Reading this lament is rough. But it is holy scripture nonetheless… look at the raw feelings pouring our from it:

1. Jeremiah feels used up by God (Jeremiah 20:7).
2. Jeremiah feels humiliated by people (Jeremiah 20:7).
3. Jeremiah is confused that God’s Word is reproached and derided (Jeremiah 20:8).
4. Jeremiah tries to withhold prophecy, but cannot do so. He MUST speak (Jeremiah 20:9).
5. People conspire against Jeremiah to his face (Jeremiah 20:10).
6. Jeremiah turns in trust to God. This is a deliberate choice despite feelings and circumstances (Jeremiah 20:11-13).
7. Jeremiah still feels a terrible depression: Cursing the day of his own birth, wishing he’d never been born (Jeremiah 20:14-18).

The lament “sandwich”, hopeful in God in the middle, but opening and closing in deep pain, ends with a downer: “Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?” (Jeremiah 20:18). The point: It is OK to throw at God the hard questions that only God can answer! It’s OK to release pent up difficult emotions to the God Who already knows what we feel. We can still praise the God Who leaves us wresting with hard questions. As I approach the year anniversary of my most lament-filled season of life, I too find comfort in the middle part of this lament of Jeremiah’s, knowing God is still the Deliverer, even as my experience is full of questions. I wrestle these questions WITH God, not against Him!