Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy

Discovering the Grace of Lament

By: Mark Vroegop, Joni Tada - Foreword

Narrated by: Bob Souer

Lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting God's goodness.

Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God - but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust.

Exploring how the Bible - through the psalms of lament and the book of Lamentations - gives voice to our pain, this book invites us to grieve, struggle, and tap into the rich reservoir of grace and mercy God offers in the darkest moments of our lives.

©2019 Mark Vroegop (P)2019 eChristian

lament

I enjoyed the stories and Bible references. I recommend this book to anyone grieving life's events.

I didn’t know

I was never aware of the art of lament. I learned so much and I have been talking about the book to others.

Anthropologically interesting

I am an atheist, but I like to think about religion. One thing that I was thinking about lately was how religion interacts with lamentation. I decided to pick this up and listen to it so that I could get an inside view of what Christians think about it. I don't necessarily approve, but I did enjoy listening to it. I could have done without the advocacy of an immoral anti-abortion view, though. Abortion is critical healthcare and whosoever loves life or childhood is morally compelled to defend it. Children are safer when they are not born to unwilling or unready parents, and women live longer, happier lives when they are not pressured to keep pregnancies that endanger them and their plans.

A fresh look at the Lament psalms

A biblically sound look at the practice of lament. Timely book, thoughtfully written. I would recommend to anyone living with sorrow and difficulty (so, really all people)

These words have long been needed!

These words have long been needed in our churches and homes in the USA! As our family walked through a very long valley of illness, losses, and grief, we found that many Christians are very uncomfortable with expresson of emotions that are perceived as "negative," and will quickly try to talk a grieving person out of honestly expressing their heart's cry. This response usually deprives both parties of any opportunity for true comfort and encouragement to be shared.

While we understand the discomfort of many, we will never forget the few rare souls who listened well; wept with us; and encouraged us to pour out our prayers of lamentation to God - for this is where healing was found and our faith strengthened. The pastor who wrote this book understands this well. Many churches in our culture practice empathy and caring, but stray from biblical Truth. Others work hard at teaching the Truth of Scripture, but have little understanding of how to apply it in a truly loving manner in the face of deep grief. This book nailed both the proper doctrine, and lbetter attempts at loving application. Whether you are the one grieving; preparing your heart for that inevitable time; or needing to learn how to better support others who grieve, I highly recommend this book.