A Lament for Uvalde and All Who Grieve

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
⁴ lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵ But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

– Psalm 13 [ESV]

 

I’ve had the people in Uvalde, Texas on my heart much today. It’s difficult to process so many young children and two of their teachers’ deaths. Pundits have called for gun bans on the one side, and arming teachers on the other side. I have no wisdom toward a political solution.

But I do have a call for God’s people at this time. I wish I had expressed it earlier. This is a time for repentance, lament, and prayer. 

Repentance for we all have been too disconnected from one another so that people too easily reap the evil harvest of our mind our own business attitudes. We must repent of a care-less approach toward others, for the good or the bad. Lord, have mercy!

Lament, for this is the way of God’s people for millennia. The Living Lutheran Website offers this simple formula for lament. Psalm 13 is a example of lament. Pray that psalm for Uvalde and all who grieve.

Laments contain four parts:

1. Complaint
2. Petition
3. Expression of trust.
4. Words of thanksgiving.

It is also a time to offer comfort and courage to those who grieve and those who would protect us. However we may do so, we must. A word to our law enforcement persons. A gift to a victim’s fund. A show of compassion to the sorrowful. Not just symbolic actions. Real comfort. True encouragement. Maybe you have an idea of how to do that. Maybe you can do some searching. Maybe you simply join me in lament, repentance, and prayer.

Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world have mercy on us and grant us your peace! Amen.

The Living Lutheran website as well as the Lament Tool Kit are from sources I do not necessarily endorse. But in this case, the topic seems be well covered. Beyond that I cannot say.

Lament Toolkit: Understanding and Practicing Biblical Lament