Topic: Lament
We will be spending time in Small Groups talking about the psalms that David wrote and practicing writing one of our own. I will give an intro into the evening and then we will split into groups afterwards. We may do a game together, but our small group time can also include time of playing games and prayer once the questions and activity are complete.
Small Group Questions
1. When have you had words you wanted to say to God but didn’t say them?
2. Read privately Psalm 71, 77, 80, 88
Let them share verse(s) that might resonate with them today. Whether personal experience or something they see in the world today.
3. When you pray do you ever feel like the psalmists feel?
4. Have you ever been frustrated with God?
5. How do you remind yourself of His goodness amidst those times?
6. How does the psalmist do so? (continually reminds themselves of what God has done in their life and
of His goodness and faithfulness even in doubt, pain and disorientation with the world around them)
Task: Write a Psalm of Lament
1. Taking the basic shape of a lament psalm as your pattern, write your own lament psalm.
2. Choose whether you wish to write an individual lament or a communal lament.
3. Keep your phrases/lines succinct; no long sentences, no wordy phrasings.
4. Be specific and concrete in your statements, rather than abstract and idiosyncratic.
5. Choose evocative imagery or metaphors that will help you see what you’re praying.
6. Take advantage of the unique devices of Hebrew poetry and of the language of the Psalter.
7. Title your psalm.
8. Share your psalms with others