A Thanksgiving Lament

Many of us will turn to the book of Psalms this Thanksgiving for reflections on the blessings we have experienced in the past year. After all, the Hebrew title for Psalms is tehillim, "praises".

The book of Psalms is actually five books:

Book I: Psalms 1-41
Book II: Psalms 42-72 
Book III: Psalms 73-89
Book IV: Psalms 90-106
Book V: Psalms 107-150

Note how the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, are God's instructions to his people for the journey of life; the Psalms, are his peoples' response - how they think the journey is going.

Ironically, two-thirds of the Psalms are laments! They are complaints asking God why the world is the way it is.

This should speak volumes to us regarding the nature of the human response to life. Life is hard and messy. Things do not always go according to plan. There is tremendous joy, but there is also tremendous pain. 

This Thanksgiving, we can embrace the corporate thanks of a Psalm like 136, where the leader of the people would shout:

                                Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good!

To which the people would give a resounding:

                                for his steadfast love endures forever.

A response that may flow even better in the original: ki le olam hasdon! Literally, "for his covenant love for us is unending!"

This being said, we should also make room for those whose only light at the end of the tunnel may be the...

for there is a reason that the Bible contains the painful words of a Psalm like Psalm 88:

                                   But I, Yahweh, cry out to you;
                                       in the morning my prayer comes
                                              before you.
                                    Yahweh, why do you cast me off?
                                        why do you hide your face from
                                              me?

Psalm 88 is unique in the entire Psalter (Gk. psalterion, after the psalms that were to be accompanied by a stringed instrument) as it ends without a reflection of hope or a thanks to God for deliverance.

Some may find it interesting that such a dismal lament made it into the canon, but this speaks poignantly about the God of scripture. There are others whose journey, although not identical, has been similar to your own, and God wants you to know that.

People experiencing the Psalm 88 reality may find solace, no matter how small, in simply voicing the words of the Psalm.

Those of us who walk alongside those experiencing such trials, should allow space. We should allow them honesty. They are walking the line between life and death, whether in mind or body and such space is sacred ground.

Embrace the tension and be there for them.