Weeping

Scripture

How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

Psalm 13:1-2 KJV

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Big idea

Summary

Historian Ronald Rittgers’s research is used to trace how the Reformation, reacting against a medieval view that pictured suffering as something to be silently earned toward salvation, rediscovered a more biblical account of grace — yet Keller argues even the Reformers sometimes discouraged the raw, unresolved expressions of doubt and sorrow that fill the Psalms and the book of Job. Job’s own outbursts of despair, he insists, were not sin; God’s later commendation of Job’s honest, if furious, prayers over the pious platitudes of his friends shows that honesty in suffering is not just permitted but, in some sense, rewarded.

Keller calls for real gentleness toward the grieving, noting that suffering does not cancel out anger, sorrow, or even a season of hopelessness, and points to the biblical image of Jesus as one who does not break a bruised reed, illustrated by the account of the prophet Elijah, exhausted and despairing after his confrontation with the prophets of Baal, being met not with a rebuke but with gentle, practical care — food, rest, and a quiet voice — before any further instruction. Lament, in Keller’s reading, is not an obstacle to faith but one of its most important resources.

Key points

• Historian Ronald Rittgers’s work on the Reformation is used to trace how a medieval emphasis on patiently “earning” merit through suffering gave way to a recovery of grace — though even the Reformers, Keller argues, sometimes discouraged open lament.
• The Psalms and the book of Job are full of raw, even angry, prayer directed at God, which the Bible treats as legitimate rather than sinful.
• God’s later commendation of Job’s honest complaints, over his friends’ pious explanations, is central evidence for this claim.
• The chapter calls for gentleness toward grieving people, since suffering doesn’t cancel anger, sorrow, or hopelessness.
• Elijah’s story (1 Kings 19), where God responds to his exhaustion and despair with rest and food before any correction, models this gentleness.

Illustrations & stories

• Historian Ronald Rittgers’s research on the Reformation’s view of suffering and merit.
• Job’s laments and God’s ultimate approval of Job’s honesty over his friends’ theology.
• The prophet Elijah’s exhaustion and despair after confronting the prophets of Baal, and the angel’s gentle, practical care for him (1 Kings 19).

Notable line

The grief and sorrow drive you more into God.

Timothy Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, ch. 12

For reflection and discussion

1. Have you ever felt like expressing anger or doubt to God in prayer was somehow forbidden? Where might that idea have come from?
2. What do you make of God commending Job’s honest complaints over his friends’ careful theological explanations?
3. Elijah is met with food and rest before any rebuke or instruction. What does that suggest about how we should care for people in crisis?
4. Why might learning to lament well actually strengthen someone’s faith, rather than threaten it?
5. Is there something you’ve been afraid to say honestly to God? What would lament look like for you right now?