Lament Psalm

I had to write a Lament Psalm for my Old Testament Writings class. I thought I would go ahead and post it.

Lament


Oh God, my God, why do you keep your ways so hidden?
Why is your Presence so often elusive?

And yet you are a God who is near;
In the stunning magnificence of your creation
In the tender care You offer to the smallest creature
Your glory is proclaimed in the mountains’ formidable challenge
And your praise echoes from the beak of the red-tailed hawk,
its soaring freedom testifying of Your abundant grace.

Creation’s cycles tell of your faithfulness;
Your abundant love buds unfailingly each spring
When the storms rise up
with lightning’s ferocity,
I hide in your trees’ embrace,
finding shelter and safety under the swaying canopy.

But then the lightning strikes the trees around me
They explode in the thunder’s roar
The flames rise up on all sides
And the mighty rain runs down my body.
Naked and exposed I crouch in the dirt
Shivering and wet I wind my arms tightly around me.

What happened to your protection, oh God?
Why did you leave me exposed and fragile,
Subject to every assault from nature’s fury?
Do I have no advocate, no one to whom I can plead for my life?
How were the trees’ steadfastness
So easily overcome by destruction?

The storm has passed,
And I have dried my own clothes
And cut off my singed hair.
And yet I still tremble inside
Shivering with the cold expectation
Of the next storm.

What will you do next time, Oh Lord?
How much will the storm pummel me?
I wait to hear Your words
Confirming the promise in your character.
How does the faithfulness of your creation
translate to my life?
Is my answer found in the inevitability of winter’s death
And the irrepressible promise of spring?