From Lament to Hope: Wellbeing and Happiness in the Psalmsಮಾದರಿ

Psalm 137: The Strength of Crying Out Together

Wellbeing and mental health are common topics in the news: we know that mental health challenges are rife and rising in the modern world. Research also tells us that deprivation, conflict, isolation, disability, race, gender, and so on, all have an impact on rates of mental health challenges. And yet the solution almost universally offered is individualised therapy. Now, therapy is good; it is using the resources that God has put at our disposal to investigate and understand the world, and to respond to its struggles with the compassion and love that God calls us to.

And yet, it is important not to overlook the bigger picture: if the configuration of our societies and communities contributes to struggles with wellbeing and unhappiness, it stands to reason that the solutions need to have a communal perspective too.

The psalm writers know this well. This is why Psalm 1 had a fruitful tree. And this is why many laments are not just individual prayers: they are prayers to say together, prayers that help us weep with those who weep and share in the burdens they carry. The psalms also name the actions of individuals and groups as a source of unhappiness and struggle, and call to God to change, not just isolated people, but entire broken systems and structures.

Psalm 137 is not a popular psalm to read: it grates on our modern sensibilities because of its raw anger and vengefulness. It is easy to forget that it is a prayer—the prayer of a whole people oppressed and displaced by a mighty empire, Babylon. It speaks of the trauma of what has been done to them, and ends, not with hope, but with a shocking statement of hatred towards the Babylonians. It is difficult to imagine saying or singing this kind of song in church today; and yet there is something powerful about crying out to God together for the challenges we face together as people, whether because of external agents or our own choices as communities. Psalm 137 does not counsel vengeance; it counsels bringing the devastation and despair to God together—to ask God to change the fabric of life in the world we share. Truth-telling as a path to wellbeing is something we need to engage in together because we need one another to make change, and therefore wellbeing, possible.