'Ôy: In Desire and Woe
“Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, “Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it.” (Jeremiah 10:19)
Jeremiah howls in lament.
His heart breaks daily within him as he witnesses Israel choosing idols and denying justice.
God’s people were exploiting the poor, turning away the orphan, ignoring the widow, rejecting the immigrant, and bowing down to Baal.
The rich basked in their wealth at a distance while the prophets, priests, and kings manipulated spiritual practices for personal and national gain.
The best analogy Jeremiah could come up with was to describe Adonai’s children like a spouse seeking the benefits of covenant marriage in one hand while having an affair in the other.
In one poem, he wrote: “My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns” (Lamentations 2:11). It’s without question that “the Weeping Prophet” carried a heavy soul within him, all too often echoing the simple words: “Woe is me!”
Woe - 'ôy in Hebrew - is an interjection and an exclamation of deep emotion. It’s a passionate cry of despair and grief.
When “'ôy” ascends from our lungs, it’s an act of acknowledgement regarding the impact of torment and tragedy on our hearts. 'Ôy is our gateway into finding Adonai in the valley place, particularly when we don’t see Him or know what He’s doing.
Like the preamble of a funeral dirge, our 'ôy is a burst of sorrow before the Lord at the witnessing of darkness and death looming near. It’s a plea for mercy and closeness - regardless of whether we choose to blame our enemies or friends or demons or God or ourselves.
'Ôy is a state of both vulnerability and intimacy as we beckon God to be the containment of our suffering and sin as we metabolize our anger and fear into sadness.
This sadness is practically built into the word itself.
Try it. Say the word “'ôy” (o-ee) a few times, and feel the two facial expressions that form as you do.
At first, your mouth is in a circular shape (”oh”), an expression that typically precedes speaking. But then, your mouth grows horizontal (”ee”) as your teeth come together - almost grimacing - and your cheeks elevate, causing your eyes to squint. Your face is physically moving into a more emotive position, one that can quickly turn speaking into tears.
But there’s another layer to this.
The term 'ôy also appears to share the same root etymology as āvâ, a common word for desire and longing. This is meaningful because our experience of heartbreak is never devoid of the yearning for something to be relieved, returned, restored, or redeemed.
Whether it be a longing for what hurts to go away or for vacant space to be filled with goodness, it is in the thick of great pain that our most passionate desire often surfaces.
But this carries great risk.
As man exists in the tension between darkness and light, groaning all the more loudly for a new heaven and earth, such hopeful longings always carry overwhelming opportunity for disappointment. Indeed, Hope has always endured astounding adversity, for there is no hope - nor the need for hope - without the recurring threat of suffering and presence of grief.
Yes, it is most certainly true that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).
As a broken world awaiting King Yeshua to restore all things, lament acts as the intersection of our abundant desire and profound sadness. Lament is both a gift and a form of worship, and like a clearwater brook, it cleanses our wounds of bitterness as it refreshes the roots of our hope.
As we each find ourselves amidst varying darkened shadows, may we all experience the catharsis of bringing our “woes” before God in holy lament, planting our tears as seeds of desire deep into the soil of Yeshua’s new and redemptive creation, knowing they will sprout in due time.
BONUS:
Lots of bonus materials today - hope one sticks out!
If you didn’t know, we are currently in the Jewish period known as the 3 weeks of Sorrow, which leads up to the Fast of Tisha B’Av (on August 12-13). While very different contextually, I believe it could be a timely way to practice lament during the current election season. (You can find out more in our guide here)
Speaking of the election season, I shared a Facebook post recently about carrying ourselves faithfully amidst political hostility and making space for ourselves to grieve (along with an extensive book list I put together). I hope you can find something encouraging in here.
A resource that wonderfully captures the spiritual practice of lament is Soong- Chan Rah’s book, Prophetic Lament. Highly recommend!
Lastly, I wrote a song of lament last year called “Tears and Tossings” that my friend Wes put to music (even recorded on his phone his voice sounds amazing!). If you haven’t heard it yet: link here.
