The spiritual anguish that lynching created connected blacks with the spiritual wrestling of the prophets, of Job, and the psalmist. In the midst of “destruction and violence,” “strife and contention,” “justice . . . turned back, and righteousness . . . at a distance” (Hab 1:2-4; Isa 59:14), they too cried out to God, “How long, Lord? . . . How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” (Ps 13:1, 2).
