The Long Sorrow

Albert Bogle October 03, 2022 0 1

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Lamentations 1: 1-6 (NRSVA)

1 How lonely sits the city

    that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
    she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
    has become a vassal.

2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
    with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers
    she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
    they have become her enemies.

3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering
    and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations,
    and finds no resting-place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
    in the midst of her distress.

4 The roads to Zion mourn,
    for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate,
    her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,
    and her lot is bitter.

5 Her foes have become the masters,
    her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has made her suffer
    for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
    captives before the foe.

6 From daughter Zion has departed
    all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
    that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
    before the pursuer.

While it is true, faith can inspire us to change a situation before all is lost. When catastrophe and loss do overtake us, we need to allow ourselves time to grieve. Our text today recognises the long sorrow. The need to recognise loss through sorrow and to lament for what was once, is for me the unrecognised mustard seed of faith which can inspire a new beginning. We often lament because we long for what has been lost to return. A loss that no one else can understand. This longing becomes the long road back to a new kind of beauty and grace. African American spirituals understand this best allowing us to engage in the lament that can bring comfort and healing.

We will use the words of this traditional spiritual as our prayer today:

“Nobody knows the trouble I've seen

Nobody knows my sorrow

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen

Glory, Hallelujah

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen

Nobody knows but Jesus

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen

Glory, Hallelujah

Sometimes I'm up

Sometimes I'm down

Oh, yes, Lord

Sometimes I'm almost to the ground

Oh, yes, Lord

Oh, nobody knows the trouble I've seen

Nobody knows my sorrow

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen

Glory, Hallelujah”