A prayer of lament for the families of Sandy Hook, adapted from Psalm 22.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken Sandy Hook?
Why were you so far from saving your children,
so far from their cries of anguish?
My God, they cried out by day, but you do not answer,
by night their parents will find no rest.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one we are supposed to praise.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But these parents are broken and barely able to breathe,
how can they praise you?
Do not be far from these families,
for heartbreak and trouble are all around them
and there is no one to help.
They are poured out like water,
and all their bones are out of joint.
Their hearts have turned to wax;
they have melted from all the pain.
Their mouths are dried up like a desert,
and their tongue sticks to the roof of their mouths;
for you have laid them down in the dust of death.
Hounds of media surround them,
like a pack of villains they encircle them;
they pierce their hearts and trample on their souls.
All their pain and grief and loss is on display;
people will stare and point at them for days to come.
But you, Lord, do not be far from them.
You are their strength;
come quickly to help the families of Sandy Hook.
Deliver them from the gun,
their future from the power of the despair.
Rescue them from the mouth of death;
save them from the darkness that is all around.
You are the Lord on high,
you can do this.
Do not forsake your people.
Amen.