Psalms in General:
For example, pastors and spiritual caregivers know that people who are suffering can lose their language. Richard Rorty explains, “The language the victims once used is not working anymore, and they are suffering too much to put new words together. So the job of putting their situation into language is gong to have to be done for them by somebody else.

In the same way, readers from all walks of life have appreciated the Psalms because of their ability to gvie a shape to our inner lives and to expres what we humans experience and feel...Athanasius for example, say that in the Psalm you learn about yourself. 

Psalms not only reflect our inner lives, but they also shape them. pg. 31

What do I do with imprecatory psalms? pg. 36, 37

 Jones, L. C. (2007). The Psalms of Lament and the Transformation of Sorrow. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 61(1–2), 47–58. https://doi.org/10.1177/154230500706100106 

 The psalms offer a view of life that is thick, rich, and runneth over. They seek not so much as to explain but as to offer the reality1 of life lived in all its messiness, both the pain and praise. Norris puts it this way, "... poetry's function is not to explain but to offer images and stories that resonate with our lives."2 The psalms capture the height, the depth, and the breadth of life lived in relationship to and in covenant with God. 

The primary point will be that the psalms of lament do not dismiss or deny or seek to avoid sorrow. On the contrary, they allow a grieving person to move more fully into the valley of the shadow, knowing on different levels, that no matter what, God is indeed present in the sorrow. 

 This movement of faith does not shv awav from the reality of brokenness and grief. They are certainlv acknowledged and named. The reality of brokenness and grief is not denied in the laments

Generally speaking, the lament is a stvlized form of speech. It is a cry of distress. It is a protest or a complaint that seeks—and certainly expects—a positive outcome from God, that God deliver, that God save, that God show compassion upon the one who cries out. 

At its core, the lament is witness to a profound faith that takes God seriously and takes the covenantal relationship with God seriously.

 In its bold faith, Israel addresses God in its need and goes beyond. Israel asks and even demands that God should respond decisively to alleviate the spoken need. Israel even goes beyond in praying that God should respond. Israel prays that God must respond.

Through the lament, the psalmist invites each of us deeper into the life of faith.

he laments in all of the despairing complaints, the outraged accusations, the broken petitions, the persistent appeals, and the desire for vengeance are not outside the life of faith. 

The movement from orientation to disorientation to newT orientation shows in clear and profound ways "that what goes on in the psalms is peculiarly in touch with what goes on in our life"15

For Brueggemann, the life of faith is centered on two decisive moves which are always occurring.17 The first is a movement out of what he calls a settled orientation and into a season of disorientation. 

It may be the onset of an illness, the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, the recognition of sin and the pain caused by that recognition. 

The second movement is from this chaotic disorientation into a new orientation. It is a movement characterized by the assurance that God has heard and responded to the cries of the psalmist. 

Orientation                              Disorientation                                        New Orientation 
Songs of guaranteed                 Songs of disarray                                  Songs of surprising new life 
                    ι Firs t move: The lament                    "But," ι Second move: 
                                                                              Doxology and praise 

From the settled stance of orientation where life is good and contentment is the order of the day, the psalms recognize there is more with wiiich to contend. Bad things happen. 

However, this terrible truth does not have the last word. ..Disorientation moves toward a new orientation, towards a new life. 

The psalms of orientation are just that—psalms that give voice to a settled, sure faith. These psalms reflect the assurance of God's wratchful care over God's creation and God's people. They reflect the assurance that God is indeed trustworthy and reliable. 

In times of disorientation, questions are asked that have no answers. How long will God forget? How long will God be hidden? HowT long must pain be born? How long will the enemv be exalted? There are no answers to these terrible questions. They echo off the empty sky. 

The psalms of disorientation continue to say that even though something has happened and the orientation has turned into disorientation, everything must be voiced. 

The recognition of the disorientation gives permission to speak all that it unspeakable and name all that is unnamable. 

In these psalms, there are cries for deliverance, for healing, for life, for mercy, for forgiveness, for help, for vengeance, for relief, for hope, for attention, for presence, for strength. 

 Brueggemann puts it like this: 
These psalms are dangerous. They lead into places of deep darkness, where denial and deception tr\ to rule the dav. They lead us to the place where we have to say this is how it really is, to a place where not everything can be reduced to polite and civil musings and gestures. They lead us. ever boldly. into the places unthinkable thoughts and unutterable words. But our honest experience, both personal and public, attests to the resilience of the darkness, in spite of us. The remarkable thing about Israel is that it did not banish or deny the darkness from its religious enterprise. It embraces the darkness as the very stuff of new life.2. 

The new orientation characterizes the second movement away from disorientation. ...This new life is the great surprise of the psalms. New life comes as a gift when it seemed it might be lost forever. 

 1)	Because the psalms of lament speak of universal feelings and experiences, people are able to identify with the psalmist and see that the psalmist expresses their feelings more profoundly than they could themselves. The ancient words still ring true today. The ancient words still possess power. (2) Since the psalms of lament are mostly non-specific about the circumstances which are bringing about distress and trouble, people can use the words to fit their own situation. The enemies in the psalms can be any thing or any one.
 2)	
For some pastors and seminarv students, pastoral care means giving someone an answer. It means offer a scripture verse or two, maybe a prayer, designed to speak words of comfort and hope, which, regretfully, only sene to deny and avoid the situation of disorientation. 

The pastoral purpose is to allowT Mr. Smith, even to give him permission, to grieve and grieve fully what this loss means for him and his family. Mr. Smith needs someone to stand with him in the space of disorientation.
 A theology which takes our covenantal relationship with God seriously must then also take the laments seriously. One cannot happen without the other. The laments ground the practice of pastoral care in the reality of the human experience. 

Learning about one's own laments is not for the faint of heart. It requires a movement down into the depths. It calls for a bold act of faith which is new* and maybe even radical.

The theological significance of the personal lament," Amtes Westermann, "lies first of all in the fact that it gives voice to suffering. The lament is the language of suffering: in it suffering is given the dignity of language."2" 

Psalm 6:1–7:1 (NASB)

PSALM 6
Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.

For the choir director; with stringed instruments, upon an eight-string lyre.A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Thine anger,
Nor chasten me in Thy wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away;
Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed.
3 And my soul is greatly dismayed;
But Thou, O Lord—how long?
4 Return, O Lord, rescue my soul;
Save me because of Thy lovingkindness.
5 For there is no mention of Thee in death;
In Sheol who will give Thee thanks?
6 I am weary with my sighing;
Every night I make my bed swim,
I dissolve my couch with my tears.
7 My eye has wasted away with grief;
It has become old because of all my adversaries.
8 Depart from me, all you who do iniquity,
For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my supplication,
The Lord receives my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly dismayed; 
They shall turn back, they shall suddenly be ashamed.

1. Address

2. Lament

3. Confession of trust

4. Petition

5.  Assurance of being heard

6. Double wish

7. Vow of praise

8. Praise of God
.
Where is Jesus in the Psalm?

Where do you fit in the Psalm?

Write your own
Address to God

Complaint

Confession of trust

Petition

Words of Assurance

Vow to Praise