The sweet cry of lament

I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

—-

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light in every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Source, history of this song

There’s a depth of honesty in this lament which is alluring. It’s a depth that we are uncomfortable with– almost repulsed by– but drawn to because of its connection to our story.

The human experience unites us together. In our best and weakest moments we are all left to sing Hallelujah to something.

We lament. We mourn. We feel the pains of loss. In doing so we don’t fail to acknowledge God. Instead, we acknowledge our humanity and need for a great big God who heals lament that shreds body from soul from spirit.

My eyes fail from weeping, 
   I am in torment within; 
my heart is poured out on the ground 
   because my people are destroyed, 
because children and infants faint 
   in the streets of the city.

  They say to their mothers, 
   “Where is bread and wine?” 
as they faint like the wounded 
   in the streets of the city, 
as their lives ebb away 
   in their mothers’ arms.

 What can I say for you? 
   With what can I compare you, 
   Daughter Jerusalem? 
To what can I liken you, 
   that I may comfort you, 
   Virgin Daughter Zion? 
Your wound is as deep as the sea. 
   Who can heal you?

Lamentations 2:11-13