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.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him,
to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:22-26
One of the greatest passages of praise and thanks is found in the book of …. Lamentations.
Lament and thanksgiving can often go hand in hand. It is out of great loss that we see God’s kindness and care. We appreciate all the more the goodness He has brought us. His light made manifest in a dark situation. And conversely, even in our greatest celebrations of thanks, there can be a letting go of something else. We can experience a lament of loss.
Let us allow our lament to lead us to thanksgiving. And let our gratitude be sensitive to pain, mindful of what has been sacrificed.
We bring both to God. We experience them together in our personal lives and even more so as they are they intertwined among us as we worship together.
Lament has a cost. But the reward is thankfulness. Lament lets us feel and express our pain. And that opens the door to experience God’s comfort and Presence. Let us be open with our lament as we also practice our thanksgiving to God.
