tim
From HTB
8 June 2009 - 3:32pm
Have you ever sung this song in Church?
“He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; in deed he has turned his hand against me again and again all day long…He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust.” (Lamentations 3:2-3; 16)
Or what about this one?
“How long. O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?” Psalm 13:1-2
I’m guessing that you probably haven’t. Most of the churches that I’ve been to sing the songs of celebration, joy, praise and adoration - which is wonderful, but seem to miss the songs of lament. It’s deemed as inappropriate and melancholic. I remember hearing one worship leader say that each Sunday they only had twenty-five minutes to lead worship through song, so why would they want to waste time focusing on the negative? In his article, ‘The Hidden Hope in Lament’, Dan Allender writes, “Christians seldom sing in the minor key. We fear the sombre; we seem to hold sorrow in low-esteem. We seem predisposed to fear lament as a quick slide into doubt and despair; failing to see that doubt and despair are the dark soil that is necessary to grow confidence and joy.”
Even a quick glance through the Psalms and many other books in the bible reveal so many songs of pain and lament. Cries of despair and suffering continually offered up to God. This begs the question, have we lost the place for worship and lament in the Church?
A while back I wrote a song called ‘When the tears fall.’ It was written at a time when life for me was hard. I’d taken a few knocks and suddenly my heart was filled with questions and doubt. One evening, feeling very low, I sat down and starting pouring out my heart to God. The first line I sang out was, “I’ve had questions without answers. I’ve known sorrow I have known pain.” Immediately I looked for a response. How do you follow a line like that? Well the answer is, look to Jesus. Everyone on this earth experiences pain, suffering, bereavement, and illness. The only difference is that for those who believe that Jesus is Lord we have a Saviour that we can turn and cling to.
“But there’s one thing that I’ll cling to. You are faithful Jesus You’re true.”
As I sang out of my pain and doubt my soul found rest. Looking through the song that was taking shape I immediately thought that this was a personal song for me. However the more I pondered the more I realised that here was a song of worship. The sentiment of the song was just as worshipful as ‘I could sing of your love forever.’ There has to be a place for pain in our Church. We need a bigger picture of what worship is. Questioning God doesn’t mean we are disobeying Him. Expressing doubt doesn’t mean we are lacking faith. In our everyday living, the people that we are most likely to share our deepest fears and questions with are those we most love and trust. It’s an intimate thing to be so honest and raw with someone. It’s actually something that draws you closer to a friend. So to express anger and pain to God is actually a beautiful intimate act. Again as Dan Allender says, ‘To sing a lament against God in worship reveals far, far greater trust than to sing a jingle about how happy we are and how much we trust him. That kind of song is much like the smiling salesman who meets you with a “Hey, how are ya. You’re looking good today; how can I help ya.” Lament cuts through insincerity, strips pretence, and reveals the raw nerve of trust that angrily approaches the throne of grace and then kneels in awed, robust wonder.’
If we return to the songs quoted at the start, we see that they don’t end where I’ve left them. In Lamentation the bitter cry ends with lines of hope and trust:
“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
In the Psalms the feeling of abandonment and sorrow is responded to by singing:
“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.” Psalm 13:5-6
It’s easy to praise when everything is going to plan. It’s more of a challenge when everything around us is falling to pieces. It takes great faith to say when life is incredibly hard - “You are good.” But this is the deal. God is good and is forever worthy of our praise. It’s not dependent on our feelings. Day and night, always the same, God deserves our highest praise.
I think we will find great comfort and healing in the church by allowing space to respond in this way. To be honest and real about how we really feel. To allow questions and doubts to rise, but in that place to respond to God by worshipping His holy name.
“I will praise You. I will praise You.
When the tears fall still I will sing to You.
I will praise You. Jesus praise You.
Through the suffering still I will sing.”
Tim Hughes
seany_bhoy
From unknown
19 June 2009 - 11:39pm
No repsonse already? :P
I have never thought about this, great post!
I though though, these verses were written old testiment, what do you think about that?
Also i dont remember what verse but in the new testiment, paul writes about his sufferings and sorrows, and in the midst of being imprisoned and being beaten for the gospel, he speaks about joy. Because his joy was not based on his circumstances but on knowing Jesus Christ, so maybe in our sufferings we can come to church and sing joyful songs?
Also the psalms were Davids personal and private responses in his walk with God?
I dont disagree with you just thought i would throw a couple of thoughts out there :)
God bless
I think that when we're worshipping, it has to be real for us, what I mean is that it would be stupid to sing songs such as "oh you've been so good to me" by Ben Cantelon, when your really struggling in your personal life and struggling to see God's blessing in your life, it doesn't make sense as it would be empty so to speak...but I do agree that we can find joy out of suffering as well. I mean we're human, we sin, and it sucks, just the thought that we let God down so many times is horrible, but from that suffering comes such immense joy because we've been forgiven! ANd when we're suffering, its important to remember that God is still God, and he's in control. And although times may be hard, he will guide us and watch over us, therefore he is worthy of our praise.
With regards to it being in the Old Testament, it is still the word of God no matter when it was written, he is unchanging and his word is unchanging.
But yer, it is an interesting topic, and i know in my church we definately do not do enough lamenting songs, which may be something we need to look at.
I think an important thing to remember is, worship is from the heart, and where your heart is at that moment, is where the best place to worship God is.
Jamie
We've had a couple of situations in our church over the last month that have given me pause for thought as a worship leader.
A good friend of the church came down to spend time with a couple here in Bristol who's 11 year old son was tragically killed in a hit and run car accident. It was significant to them because they had also lost their son in an accident at the same age.
In church I wanted some of our worship to reach out to that situation but not knowing either couple personally it quickly became quite a struggle. 'Blessed be Your name' is a very powerful song, but the tag is based around the line 'You give and take away' which the more I sang it in my practice time the more I found it uncomfortable. I had the same problem with the Simon Brading song 'You reign' which features the line 'In every circumstance you are good'. Now it wasn't that I didn't believe that either of these sentences are spiritual truths but it was more that since I didn't know the couple I was uncomfortable leading them into a time of worship that they would have found had very personal attachments for them. It didn't feel as though it would be pastoral of me to do that knowingly.
Fast forward to this last week. I really enjoy the hymn 'Abide with me' but I rarely put it in a worship set. The song itself is melodically solid and you can be very flexible with it's dynamics, but for me it has a problem. It always reminds me of what Peter Buck from R.E.M. said when he was asked why the band didn't tour their Automatic for the People album. He replied that Michael Stipe didn't want to be on stage continually going "...Well here's another song about death y'all". 'Abide with me' is predominately about death (as lots of songs seemed to be from that period) which is a subject that can have a slightly clunky feel when placed in a set of more optimistic songs, so I always had Michael Stipe's quote going round my head whenever I went to put it in. This Sunday I managed it though and during the song I saw one of our congregation kneel down next to his wife and pray with her. After the song he got up and spoke to the congregation and told us that his daughter who was in her thirties had received a letter from the hospital that week to say they had found cancerous cells in her body and that she'd have to undergo more checks, scans and possible treatment. The song Abide with me had obviously brought home thoughts of one of the more extreme outcomes of their situation.
I didn't know about this couple's circumstances when I led that song but it seemed to bring them into a special and personal place of worship and because I knew them, I knew where to take them next. Songs regarding painful subjects are useful tools in a worship set and provide shade to most of a set's light. You should never shirk putting them in as you often don't know who needs what from God, but if you are aware of people's situations in advance ask yourself if what you are doing is pastoral. You might find it's not your place to lead people through certain emotions at that time.
Ben
that song has helped me so much when my friend died almost a year ago
Brian Doerksen has written a good lamenting musical version of Psalm 13...
But a few songs that stick out in times of struggle in church are
'To the God above all Circumstances' - which I think was written by James Gregory, and one we sang a lot in my old church in Aberdeen, and at Imagine Scotland Festival.
'Blessed Be The Name' - Matt & Beth Redman
'You Never Let Go' - Matt Redman
(apparently Matt Redman is the soundtrack to my lamenting/struggling/desperate 'where the heck are you, I know I need to trust you, please bring me through this God' times....!)
Also bizarrely I song I sang at my baptism because it got me through a difficult summer when I was ill with Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome was 'There is a Day' by Phatfish. Later a guy who was going through some difficult times told me how much that song had been an encouragement to him, and asked if I would record it for him (not realising I didn't write it....I did explain who wrote it!). I didn't realise how it became other people's song that got them through tough times and was requested to be sung corporately by a church member who had died's family.
I guess because it talks of hope in times of trouble.
Laura Anne
http://gracenoteshowers.blogspot.com
"Lead Me To The Rock" off the CompassionArt album is a similar track.
You can tell it's an adapted psalm and like the laments, it struggles through the harsh difficulties to an outburst of trust and hope.
Come to think of it, how many of our songs are even written in a minor key? I'm guessing the vast majority of our worship is musically very melodic, quirky major-key celebration.
I think this ties in with the "worship lying" thread too. If you are not suffering, then celebrate. If you are suffering, then share that with the Lord and ask Him to remind you of your cause for celebration even in the midst of a trial. That's why we need the revelation in our times of praise or sung worship, so that we can respond with an appropriate
"oh yeah, of course...that's right after all, I'm glad you've helped me see that - thank you; woo-hoo!"
and in either case, bring both your spirit (the unchangeable you) and your truth (the current changeable situations you find yourself in) into His presence.
http://laurencemurray.blogspot.com
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