I’m intrigued by the word “groan.” Groaning is a response to trials that precedes and transcends words. When I need to cry out to God but can’t find the words, I groan.
I’ve groaned in the waiting area of a psychiatric ward. I’ve groaned in the ICU after cancer surgery. On the floor of my living room after signing divorce papers. In my car in the wake of a church conflict I didn’t see coming. I groaned and cried to God with grief and fear I couldn’t put into words.
We’re all affected by suffering—in our homes, communities, and world. Our hearts cry out because we know the world isn’t how it’s supposed to be. When we suffer, we groan under the weight of humanity’s fall. In the psalms of lament, the Lord gives us words for this groaning.
Under the Fall’s Weight
In Genesis 3, we read how God created a perfect world, declared it good, and then placed the first man and woman there. But Satan tempted our first parents to disbelieve and disobey God. They did, and as a result, our world has fallen. Sin, sickness, fractured relationships, and the curse of death entered the world. Humanity has groaned under this weight ever since.
Groaning is a response to trials that precedes and transcends words. When I need to cry out to God but can’t find the words, I groan.
These problems that came into the world as a result of the fall are deep and pervasive. They affect our bodies, our desires, and the people and world around us. The weight of the evil and sin both in us and in our world is heavy. There’s no value in pretending it’s light.
The Bible doesn’t demand we make peace with the fall’s results. Instead, Scripture affirms our groaning, and it tells us that all creation groans with us as we await our full redemption:
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. (Rom. 8:22–23, CSB)
Gift of Lament
The psalms of lament help us to name the troubles we groan about so we can lift them to God in prayer. What is a lament? The simplest definition is “weeping” or “mourning.” We associate weeping and mourning with grief, and the expression of grief is a significant aspect of lament. But lament is more than grief; it’s grief expressed as a complaint to God.
Laments aren’t complaining, weeping, and mourning as an end in themselves. Laments are expressed to God. The grief and mourning a lament raises is expressed as part of a relationship with God. Remarkably, God doesn’t abandon us in our pain. He welcomes our laments, and in Christ, he shares in our suffering.
Pattern of Lament
Most psalms of lament follow this pattern: turning to God in despair, pouring out a complaint, and finally declaring trust in God. Psalm 12 is one such lament. It gives us language to name what’s wrong with the world, tells why our groaning makes sense, and then shows us how to find comfort by turning to God.
In verse 5, the Lord says through the psalmist, “‘Because of the devastation of the needy and the groaning of the poor, I will now rise up. I will provide safety for the one who longs for it.’”
God sees the devastation of the needy, and he rises up in response to the groans of the poor. This verse is a sweet help to us as we groan under our weight of suffering. God doesn’t rebuke the groaning of the needy. He doesn’t tell them to have more faith, nor does he characterize their groans as sinful complaints. Instead, God says he’ll arise and provide safety in response to their groans.
Words for Our Groans
Have you felt a weight of suffering too deep for words? I’m convinced the more people suffer, the fewer words they possess to articulate the pain they feel. What words could possibly give voice to our deepest pain? So we groan.
Yet when we have no words for the emotional, physical, and spiritual weights we carry, the Lord helps us. The psalms give us words to articulate our pain.
Have you been harmed by a disloyal friend? Do you groan because you’ve been betrayed? When modern believers experience this kind of trial, we can look to the psalmist’s model: “Help, LORD, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race. They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts” (vv. 1–2, CSB).
When we pray these words to the Lord, the psalmist’s lament becomes ours. And we can pray them with confidence that God’s words “are pure words, like silver refined in an earthen furnace, purified seven times” (v. 6, CSB).
When we have no words for the emotional, physical, and spiritual weights we carry, the Lord helps us. The psalms give us words to articulate our pain.
God is never disloyal. He’s always faithful. He will “guard” and “protect” us (v. 7) from those who break covenant with us. The psalmist’s lament guides us to God’s throne room, where we too will find grace and mercy for our time of need (Heb. 4:16).
May psalms of lament like this one become trusted friends in all our dark seasons of life. May the words God gives hold our hands and escort us to the throne of grace.
