Darkness in Lamentations 3

"I am the one who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light;
indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.
He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.
He has beseiged me and surrounded me with bittnerness and hardship.
He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead.
He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains.
Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.
He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.
Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion hiding,
he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help.
He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.
He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.
I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long.
He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall.
He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has tramped me in the dust.
I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is.
So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord."
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me."

At this point, probably those reading this expect me to go into the popular set of verses that follow about God's faithfulness and his mercies that are new every morning and how, despite my trials and sorrows, God is still faithful. But I can't quote those verses - they are unreal to me! I am not experiencing new mercies every morning. I am not experiencing God's faithfulness - in part because I do not even know what it means anymore for God to be faithful.

I suppose the following may come across as quite negative, but really it's just an observation. I find it interesting that most people (myself included) have forgotten about the book of Lamentations, or if they do remember it, they only remember the famous verses "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Yet these are only TWO verses out of the entire book. Most of the rest of the book is complete despair and grief and hopelessness. Why do people only look at the "good" or "spiritual" verses and ignore the rest? Are we afraid to acknowledge the "bad" parts, those that utter heart-wrenching and "blasphemous" words against the Lord? I find that disturbing.

For me, I am much more comfortable with the dark places right now, and the words of Lamentations are soothing to read. They are real to me. And I know I am not the only one that needs them. People like me need to be free to embrace the blackness of suffering and despair, when God seems absent. Do not deprive us of that. It is part of the road to healing.

God was much more tolerant of Job's complaints and accusations against Himself than Job's friends were. I think that is significant.

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Edit: Please know that I am not directing this towards anyone, I am simply making a statement.