Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times

by Soong-Chan Rah

Spiritual renewal emerges as God’s people engage in a corporate confession of sin, and sincere repentance moves the community toward a changed and renewed life. Historically, spiritual renewal movements are sparked by confession and repentance. Richard Lovelace points out that the preconditions for renewal involve the awareness of the holiness of God’s justice and the awareness of the depth of sin in our own lives and in our community.7 Confession propels the community to imagine a world beyond their current state of sinful existence. Lament that recognizes the reality of brokenness allows the community to express confession in its proper context. Confession acknowledges the need for God and opens the door for God’s intervention. Confession in lament relies on God’s work for redemption. This section of Lamentations 3 continues the theological turning point of the book. “If God is indeed so good and so merciful, and if the people have sinned, the natural next step is that the people must repent and then they will surely be forgiven.”