From March 22-27, the World Council of Churches is observing a week of prayer to mark one year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In solidarity with the Church around the world, will share their devotionals on Monday and Friday of this week.
1 Please, Lord,
don’t punish me when you are angry;
don’t discipline me when you are furious.
2 Have mercy on me, Lord,
because I’m frail.
Heal me, Lord,
because my bones are shaking in terror!
3 My whole body is completely terrified!
But you, Lord! How long will this last?
4 Come back to me, Lord! Deliver me!
Save me for the sake of your faithful love!
5 No one is going to praise you
when they are dead.
Who gives you thanks
from the grave?
6 I’m worn out from groaning.
Every night, I drench my bed with tears;
I soak my couch all the way through.
7 My vision fails because of my grief;
it’s weak because of all my distress.
8 Get away from me, all you evildoers,
because the Lord has heard me crying!
9 The Lord has listened to my request.
The Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed
and completely terrified;
they will be defeated
and ashamed instantly.
Reflection
Fatigued. That is the one word that best describes where many people find themselves now as we mark one year since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic. We in the household of faith have not been untouched by the pandemic. Our faith in Christ has not immunized us against being infected and impacted by the virus. We have prayed for healing and full recovery. We have mourned as we buried our dead without funeral rites. We have struggled for survival as lock downs have negatively impacted our local economies. Our spiritual, mental, and psycho-social states have been in turmoil as gathering for worship and fellowship have been curtailed.
The sense of being fatigued goes beyond the physical. There is spiritual fatigue, even for people of faith. A good way to describe that is a lament as in Psalm 6, which voices sentiments which many faithful believers have uttered over this past year. To express feeling abandoned by God does not mean a loss of faith in the ultimate sovereignty of God. Even Jesus on the cross cried out, lamenting, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Prayers of lament are important in our faith pilgrimage because they allow us to face our grief and allows others to come alongside us as we face our loss and grief.
Though lamenting before God is good and needful, it also leads along the pathway of deeper trust in God’s faithfulness. Even as we call out to God in lament, we are reminded not to lose our faith, and to trust in God’s providential care. We can therefore affirm: God has heard our prayers of lament and will answer. We begin with lament. We continue in faith. We end in hope.
For Pondering & Prayer
Are you feeling spiritually fatigued? Have you lost loved ones? Are you missing the fellowship of in person worship? Are you facing challenges in your life due to COVID?
Let us pray the following lament together.
Prayer: God of compassion, we call upon you to journey with us into the abyss of our grief that shakes our faith in you.
Lord, hear our cry for help and have mercy.
Merciful God, may you hear our cries, feel our pain, consider our fear, and share our anguish over loved ones lost.
Lord, hear our cry for help and have mercy.
God of hope, may the embers of hope remain lit in our lives as tears of lament pour forth so that we do not lose trust and confidence in you. Amen.
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