Insight from Our Singing - part 3

We need more laments in Christian worship.  Do not get me wrong, I love songs about the victory that we have in Christ or how happy we are.  But this does not express the full experience of the Christian very well.  There are difficult times as a Christian.  Times when it does not feel as though God is listening or even there.  Times when we wish we could curl up into a ball and just cry.  This is why we need more laments - songs that cry out to God when things are bad and we are hurting.  And that is why I love the song, "Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul."

Dear refuge of my weary soul, on Thee, when sorrows rise,
On Thee, when waves of trouble roll, my fainting hope relies.
To Thee I tell each rising grief, for Thou alone canst heal;
Thy Word can bring a sweet relief for every pain I feel.

But oh!  when gloomy doubts prevail I fear to call Thee mine,

The springs of comfort seem to fail and all my hopes decline.

Yet, gracious God where shall I flee, Thou art my only trust;

And still my soul would cleave to Thee though prostrate in the dust.

Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face and shall I seek in vain?

And can the ear of sovereign grace be deaf when I complain?

No, still the ear of sovereign grace attends the mourners prayer;

Oh may I ever find access to breathe my sorrows there.

Thy mercy seat is open still, here let my soul retreat;

With humble hope attend Thy will and wait beneath Thy feet.

Thy mercy seat is open still, here let my soul retreat;

With humble hope attend Thy will and wait beneath Thy feet.

With these kinds of songs we can feel free to cry out to God with a broader scope of emotions and be more honest about how we are truly feeling.  "Victory in Jesus" is a great truth, but sometimes the world does not feel like a victorious place.  So we can turn in darkness to songs that express deep truths about following after God when it hurts.  I love the line, "Yet gracious God, where shall I fell, thou art my only trust."  We can only trust in a sovereign God in the midst of good times, and in the midst of times that are bad.