After Lament: Psalms for Learning to Trust Again
Just as the Book of Psalms provides the words we need for lament (expressing our grief and hurt to God), the Psalter also provides theguidance and language we need for negotiating the time afterlament (learning to trust and give thanks). Nearly half of the psalms in the Book of Psalms are “laments,” expressions of grief,trouble, and suffering combined with calls for God’s help. Glenn Pemberton’s earlierbook, Hurting with God, describes how the lament psalms helped him express his hearthonestly before God. In After Lament, he masterfully explores the next stage of the journey, pointing out that lament does not always lead to thanksgiving. What happenswhen God does not answer our lament? In this rich book, Pemberton draws our attention to psalms of trust. How do we learn to trust God “after lament”? Even if God’s answer to our lament was “yes,” we cannot return to our life before thestorm. Scars remain. And should God’s answer to our lament be something other than we wanted, we have an even greater faith challenge. How do we live with a God who said “no” in our moment of greatest need? Focusing on the psalms of trust, this book shows the Bible’s answer to this question.
Top Highlights
“Even if God’s answer to our prayer was yes, we can no more return to life as it was as Job could return to the days before the LORD made his wager with the Satan, or as Abraham could turn back the sundial before the LORD devised his test, or as Naomi could return to her life before she buried her husband and two sons—or as if I can go back before the very first symptom appeared, or you can go back to when (you can fill in the blank). For better or worse, we are not the same person after our time of lament. Scars remain. And further, how do we speak with authenticity to the God who could stop the storm in my life, but chooses not to do so? If we are people of faith and the crisis was serious, then the end of crisis is not the end of the story. It cannot be.” (source)
Product Details
- Title : After Lament: Psalms for Learning to Trust Again
- Author: Pemberton, Glenn
- Publisher: Leafwood Publishers
- Publication Date: 2014
- ISBN: 9780891127277