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.