Singing Our Lament & Our Questions

David Bjorlin

The issue of Liturgy entitled “Fruits of the Liturgical Renewal Movement,” guest-edited by Stephanie Perdew, includes essays by members of the board of The Liturgical Conference (publisher of Liturgy) describing how liturgy and liturgical studies have been affected by liturgical renewal. –– Melinda Quivik

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One of the most common pieces of advice given to fledgling hymnwriters by their more experienced colleagues is to write about topics that are underrepresented in congregational song. Yes, a general song of praise for creation or a hymn on the costliness of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is always appropriate, but the hymn will need to be almost perfectly written to stand alongside “All Creatures of Our God and King” or “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” So rather than attempting to match these classic hymns, the new hymnwriter can ask: What are we not singing about in our congregations that we need to be addressing? By not singing about particular topics, which emotions, reactions, and themes have we placed outside the life of faith?

When I started asking these questions several years ago, two themes that I was drawn to write about were lament and doubt. Both have received a good deal of attention in scholarly articles and spiritual reflections over the last decade, but both (to my mind) are themes still underrepresented in congregational song . . .

“Come Now, O God” first began with my love for the Finnish folk tune to which it is set (For my Lutheran friends, they might recognize it as the setting for “Lost in the Night”). The melancholic, almost haunting, melody has always moved me and suggested a cry of lamentation. I tried for several years to come up with fitting words but could not come up with the right scriptural or thematic frame for the text. These both came on the First Sunday of Advent in 2017 (Year B) when I heard the opening lines of the Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 64 read: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” I began thinking of all the places and situations where we need Christ to come into our world and into our lives, and I used that ancient Advent cry—Come, Emmanuel!—as the refrain.

In “Ask the Complicated Questions,” I hoped to explore the concept of doubt using Christ’s famous call from Matthew 7: “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you . . .” (vs. 7–8). In the evangelical tradition in which I grew up, this passage was often interpreted as the conversion process of a new believer. While not wrong, I think this interpretation is too narrow. It seems to me that for faith to be living, it must continually be asking and seeking and knocking; it must be honest about its questions and doubts and see these not as signs of backsliding or unbelief, but as invitations to a deeper faith that will not be mollified by simplistic questions, easy answers, or stale ideas.

I also chose to highlight these two hymns because they were printed in two new denominational resources: the ELCA’s All Creation Sings (2020) and the Mennonite Church’s Voices Together (2020) . . . If you are a pastor or worship leader, both collections are a valuable resource for worship planning and formation.

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The rest of this essays and the two hymns described are available in the full digital and print editions of Liturgy. All of the essays in Liturgy 36, no. 3 are available by personal subscription and through many libraries.

David Bjorlin is a teaching fellow in music and worship at North Park University and pastor of worship arts at Resurrection Covenant Church in Chicago. GIA published his first collection of hymns, Protest and Praise: 50 Hymn Texts, in 2020.

David Bjorlin, “Why Don’t We Sing about That?” Liturgy 36, no. 3 (2021): 17-19.