Why should we sing songs of lament?

Last Sunday, we sang a type of song that we don’t often sing: a lament.

We sang the old hymn, “Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul.”

Laments are prayers we pray when life goes sideways. They are songs to sing when faced with the wreckage of trouble & pain. When sorrows rise. When tears fall. When wrestling with disappointment, doubt, & despair.

Interestingly, one third of the book of Psalms are laments—because life in our fallen world is hard & filled with pain.

Even our Lord quotes a psalm of lament—Psalm 22—from the cross, as if to tell us we can still come to the Lord when sorrow fills our heart.

WHY SING “DEAR REFUGE OF MY WEARY SOUL”?

“Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul” is an old hymn written by Anne Steele (1716-1778) & retuned several years ago by Matt Merker.

The lyrics are wonderfully blunt about pain. “Sorrows rise.” “Waves of trouble roll.” “Gloomy doubts prevail.” “Springs of comfort seem to fail.” “Hopes decline.”

But, the lyrics also underline the open door for us to seek the Lord’s face & to “breathe [our] sorrows” at his feet. The final verse repeats:

Thy mercy seat is open still, here let my soul retreat;

With humble hope attend Thy will, and wait beneath Thy feet.

What an unspeakable privilege to retreat to the mercy seat to wait!

Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”

TAKE TIME TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THESE WORDS & THIS SONG

The full lyrics are:

Dear refuge of my weary soul, on Thee, when sorrows rise,

On Thee, when waves of trouble roll, my fainting hope relies.

To Thee I tell each rising grief, for Thou alone can heal;

Thy Word can bring a sweet relief for every pain I feel.

But oh! When gloomy doubts prevail, I fear to call Thee mine;

The springs of comfort seem to fail, and all my hopes decline.

Yet gracious God, where shall I flee? Thou art my only trust;

And still my soul would cleave to Thee, though prostrate in the dust.

Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face, and shall I seek in vain?

And can the ear of sov’reign grace be deaf when I complain?

No, still the ear of sov’reign grace attends the mourner’s prayer;

O may I ever find access to breathe my sorrows there.

Thy mercy seat is open still, here let my soul retreat;

With humble hope attend Thy will, and wait beneath Thy feet.

Thy mercy seat is open still, here let my soul retreat;

With humble hope attend Thy will, and wait beneath Thy feet.