How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him, and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

Psalm 13

Of the 150 Psalms in the Bible, 67 are Psalms of lament. The Psalmist in his suffering, lifts up his complaints to God as he seeks his face. The inclusion of these Psalms in the Canon assures us that God is not defensive, but invites us to lift our own laments to him as well.

During Lent, we bring our fraught human conditions before the Lord. We bring our sadness, our loneliness, our fear and our anxiety as we seek solace and comfort from God. We seek his light in the darkness. It is in our unvarnished struggle and our agony that we can be boldly honest about our need for God.

Lent is a time for wrestling within as we wander through our wildernesses. It is a time of lamenting the felt separation from our Creator and a time for acknowledging our desperate thirst for his Presence. It is also a time of coming to a deeper experience of the One who has called us to himself.

During this season, may we be willing to bare all to the one who is able to bear all, even our complaints, grievances, and laments.?Dear Father, as we pour out our hearts to you, may we experience the warmth of your love and the accompanying Peace of your divine Presence in our lives. AMEN.