What makes lament a good practice? (Mic 1:8-16)

We all know people whose constant moaning drags everyone down around them. In many Western cultures, such attitude is condemned and there is something to be said for not burdening others unduly with our troubles. On the other hand, it is sad that some people cannot find a way to share their difficulties. During my theological studies, I met a fellow student who was put into the same prayer group with me and a couple of others, so that we could support each other. She always showed a smiling face and seemed carefree and in control of her life until one day she left Bible college/seminary without a word of farewell. She was labouring under some crippling burdens but could not be open about them. If even sharing is so difficult for some, how much more alien to our way of thinking is wailing and shrieking in public, no less! What could be the point of that? And, beyond giving vent to pent up emotions, is there something more to lament here that we can learn from?

When Micah saw the coming fate of his people, he responded in the way his culture would have done to the death of a loved one, with visible and audible expressions of grief (Mic 1:8). The prophet saw that the coming devastation will extend to settlements dotted around the foothills of Judah known as the Shephelah (see map here). Micah himself came from Moresheth in the area (also known as Moreseth-Gath – Mic 1:14) and would have had friends and family in the region. Like the Twin Tower attacks for US citizens, or the Canterbury earthquakes for Kiwis, the distress of such events go deeper for those who call these areas home than the shock outsiders feel. No wonder that Micah responded with lament for Judah’s fate that seemed as inevitable as an incurable wound leading to death (Mic 1:9).

Micah’s long list of settlements that follow are artfully woven into a poem playing on the names of these places (e.g. Beth-le-aphrah, ‘house of dust’, should roll in the dust – v.10). Those who heard their own home identified would have felt the shock. Tragedy will fall not ‘somewhere else’ but where you are. Neither will it happen to just someone else, but to ‘the glory of Israel’ (Mic 1:15). This may be a reference to the cream of society (not even the nobility can buy its way out of disaster) or is meant to play on the conviction that God’s people are the chosen ones in whom God’s glory is reflected. The reference to Adullam evokes David’s flight from Saul when he hid in the cave of Adullam (1 Sam 22:1). Even God’s anointed experienced trouble and David was righteous, unlike Judah now (Mic 1:5, 13).

Micah’s setting of an example and calling fellow citizens to lament was meant to elicit a response. Perhaps, if they took the warning to heart and envisaged their devastation, it would bring them to repentance. The point of lament here, then, is to bring about a changed attitude. It leads us to ask, what is it that we mourn over? Do we grieve over friends or family members whose sinful choices led them away from the Lord? Does it nudge us to pray for them, for God’s gracious intervention in their lives? Do we mourn the state of our churches, not simply because we may miss out on biblical teaching or good fellowship but because it saddens us that Christ’s body does not reflect His presence in the world? Do we feel godly regret for the times we compromised our own faith? Jesus calls such mourners blessed (Matt 5:4; Isa 61:1-3). The point is not so much whether we can muster overwhelming emotions – not everyone is wired like that – but whether our sorrow prompts us to act, to intercede for those who strayed, to seek out those who are lost, to build up the church with the gifts God has given us and to renew our own commitment to the Lord.

For interest – some comments on the text

‘tell it not in Gath’ (Mic 1:10) – David said this in his lament over Saul and Jonathan’s death after the Philistines defeated them (2 Sam 1:20). Since Gath was a Philistine (i.e. an enemy) city, the quote warns not to spread the news or show pain in front of enemies and thereby give them occasion to gloat.

Play on words with cities

• Beth-le-aphrah (dust town) – roll in the dust (Mic 1:10)
• Shaphir (beauty, pleasantness) – shameful nakedness (Mic 1:11)
• Zaanan (sounds like ‘going out’) – shall not go forth (i.e. escape); v.11
• Beth-ezel (house of support) – will have its support taken away; v.11
• Maroth (bitterness) – waiting for good to happen (Mic 1:12)
• Lachish (sounds like ‘riding horses’) – harnessed to chariots to escape quickly (Mic 1:13)
• Moresheth-Gath (Moresheth sounds like ‘dowry’ that a father gives to a departing bride) – tribute paid to Assyria, while people depart into captivity (Mic 1:14)
• Achzib (sounds like deception) – town will deceive, i.e. lose revenue for kings; v.14
• Maresha (sounds like possession) – it will be possessed by Assyria (Mic 1:15)

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