Tired of Whining about Today’s Calamities? Open the Psalms of Lament.
Where do you go when the calamities of life feel too heavy? We’re all tempted to turn inward, but perhaps we would do better to open the Psalms of lament instead. Have you ever noticed that when calamity strikes, after the initial shock wears off, our first thought is often, “Why me?” Somehow, we’ve gotten it into our heads that God’s job is to make us happy and keep us happy. After all, he’s God, isn’t he? And doesn’t God know everything? Doesn’t he know that our present predicament isn’t very pleasant? Yes, he does. But what gave you the idea that the almighty Maker of heaven and earth is supposed to keep everything on an even keel? If you’ve read your Bible, you know that in the beginning, God created a good world; sin entered that world through one man, and death was the consequence. Now, like a deadly contagion, death has spread through all humankind, because all people sin (Romans 5:12). God’s pristine creation—with no suffering, no death, and no destruction—is now long gone. Thi