What Does the Bible Say about Lamenting?

A lament is simply a prayer where we bring our sorrow, pain, or confusion to God. It’s how we process grief in God’s presence.

But for a lot of us, lamenting feels uncomfortable. Many of us feel much more at ease with “positive feelings” than discussing sorrow, grief or confusion. Depending on our upbringing or church background, we may have been encouraged to minimize our sadness and grief as an expression of genuine faith. Or maybe we prefer to live life seeing the glass half-full, and addressing and bringing our pain and doubts to God seems like a downer.  

In reality, Jesus didn’t promise us an exemption from heartbreak and hardship by following Him. In fact, He guaranteed we would face troubles of many kinds. There is evil in the world, and we will all experience sorrow. 

When we see the brokenness of our world and experience grief at different times in our lives, we are encouraged in Scripture to turn to the Lord.

The Bible gives us a model for this. Almost a third of the Psalms are laments, and there’s an entire book—Lamentations—dedicated to it. God doesn’t ask us to hide our pain. He invites us to bring it to Him. Lament is part of what it means to be honest with God—and it’s one of the ways He draws us closer.

 

The Four Steps of Lament

Psalm 13 gives us a great picture of what most laments look like. They usually include these four key components:

1. Turn to God.
Laments start by calling out to God: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). Instead of shutting down or turning inward, the psalmist chooses to bring the pain straight to God. 

2. Be honest about your complaint.
Every lament names the struggle. “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?” (Psalm 13:2). This isn’t about venting in anger—it’s about being real before God, admitting the questions and frustrations that weigh on our hearts.

3. Ask boldly for help.
Lament doesn’t stop at naming the problem—it cries out for God to act: “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.’” (Psalm 13:3–4). Lament invites us to trust God’s promises enough to ask Him for what we desperately need.

4. Choose to trust.
Lamenting is not passive complaining and grumbling before God. It’s honestly bringing our pain and even our doubts to Him as an act of trust: “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 13:5–6). Lament isn’t just working through emotions—it’s a prayer language that helps us reaffirm our trust in God, even in the middle of life’s brokenness.

Lament is how God’s people bring their sorrows to Him while holding on to hope in His care. 

 

Examples of Lamenting in Scripture

1. The Psalms (about one-third are laments):

• Psalm 13 – David cries out, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”

• Psalm 22 – Begins with the words Jesus later echoed on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

• Psalm 42 – The psalmist asks, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?”
  Psalm 88 – One of the darkest psalms, ending with, “Darkness is my closest friend.”

2. Job’s Laments:
Job pours out raw grief and questions to God after losing his family, health, and livelihood (Job 3; Job 7:11).

3. The Book of Lamentations:
An entire book of poetry mourning the destruction of Jerusalem, full of honest cries like, “My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within” (Lamentations 2:11).

4. The Prophets:

• Jeremiah is sometimes called “the weeping prophet.” He lamented the sin of God’s people and their suffering (Jeremiah 15:18; Jeremiah 20:7–18).

• Habakkuk asks God, “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” (Habakkuk 1:2).

5. Jesus Himself:

• At Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus wept (John 11:35).

• On the cross, He lamented with Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

• He also wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–42).
  
  

 

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