How To Lament

This message invites us into one of the most honest and life-shaping practices in our faith – lament – and gives us a framework for practicing it. Looking at Psalm 13 and the life of Jesus, we see that God isn’t distant from our pain, He knows it up close. Jesus wept with Mary and Martha at Lazarus’s tomb. He wept over Jerusalem when they missed the way to peace. And He wept for us, praying with deep emotion as our faithful High Priest. All of this shows us a God who doesn’t ask us to pretend everything’s fine or slap on a smile, but instead welcomes our honesty, even when it’s messy.

Going beyond a sermon and into a workshop format, Pastor David gives us a simple way to practice lament: say what hurts, acknowledge how it feels, hold on to hope in God, and choose to trust Him. Lament becomes worship when we’re not just blowing off steam, but bringing our pain straight to the One who can actually meet us in it. In a world marked by injustice, division, and personal loss, it matters that nearly a third of the Psalms are laments. God wanted us to have words for this. Lament helps us live in the tension between what’s broken right now and the future God has promised, where every tear will be wiped away. It’s honest worship, rooted not in hype or emotional highs, but in a deep trust in who God is, even when life feels overwhelming.