Complaint Versus Lament

“And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled.” – Numbers 11:1

At last—after the tabernacle and law and census and camp arrangements—the Israelites set off from the mountain on their journey. The first recorded incident, only three days in, is this one. The first implied casualty is not to disease or battle, but to God’s anger. Does His reaction seem like (the use a word popular amongst 10 year-old girls these days) overkill?

Perhaps that points to the fact that we don’t take complaining seriously enough. Complaining strikes me as a sly sin. The Hebrew word is anan, literally “murmur,” and that is how it starts, a murmur in our minds. Like a fire, it is kindled, with under-the-breath grumbles, then louder, around others who join in, until it becomes a normative part of our language without us realizing it. What we are ultimately doing is declaring, directly or indirectly, that God is not sufficiently good, competent, loving or faithful. We are accusing him of doing wrong. We are saying that we know better and what we want is better. It is a subtle but unmistakable assertion of pride.

Warnings against complaining or grumbling litter the New Testament: Jesus said, “do not grumble among yourselves” (John 6:43); Paul wrote, “do all things without grumbling” (Philippians 2:14); James exhorts, “do not grumble against one another” (James 5:9). How do we stop complaining? We try to be aware of the consumeristic, comfort-oriented, self-centric tendencies of our culture. We take inventory of our words and thoughts. We may avoid people who tend to complain. We examine ourselves for attitudes of entitlement or ingratitude. 

We also, I think, learn how to lament. There is a kind of honest groaning, an expression of the frustration and sadness we feel living in a broken world, that is okay, that is encouraged and modeled in the Bible. About one-third of the Psalms are songs of lament. Some of Jesus’ last words on the cross were a lament. God wants us to pour out our troubles to him, as we’ve read (Psalm 42:4); to sing them, to pray them, privately and corporately. Complaining is speaking against God; it is a distorted view of reality (“we remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing”). Lament is speaking to God; it is an honest view of reality. Complaining is easy, and all too natural at times. Lament takes insight, courage, vulnerability and faith in a compassionate and listening God.