Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament
Overview
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.
- Examines individual chapters in Psalms and Lamentations
- Explores the Biblical process of grief
- Address related themes of grace, hope, and prayer
Part 1: Learning to Lament | Psalms of Lament
- Keep Turning to Prayer | Psalm 77
- Bring Your Complaints | Psalm 10
- Ask Boldly | Psalm 22
- Choose to Trust | Psalm 13
Part 2: Learning from Lament | Lamentations
- A Broken World and a Holy God | Lamentations 1-2
- Hope Springs from Truth Rehearsed | Lamentations 3
- Unearthing Idols | Lamentations 4
- A Roadmap to Grace | Lamentations 5
Part 3: Living with Lament | Personal and Community Applications
- Making Lament Personal
- Let Us Lament
Top Highlights
“Honestly praying this way recognizes that pain and suffering often create difficult emotions that are not based upon truth but feel true, nonetheless.” (Page 34)
“Biblical lament offers an alternative. Through godly complaint we are able to express our disappointment and move toward a resolution. We complain on the basis of our belief in who God is and what he can do.” (Page 44)
“Lamentations shows us that hope does not come from a change of circumstances. Rather, it comes from what you know to be true despite the situation in front of you. In other words, you live through suffering by what you believe, not by what you see or feel.” (Page 110)
“It’s noteworthy that at least a third of the 150 psalms are laments. It is the largest category in the entire Psalter.” (Pages 29–30)
“You need to know that lament does not always lead to an immediate solution. It does not always bring a quick or timely answer. Grief is not tame. Lament is not a simplistic formula. Instead, lament is the song you sing believing that one day God will answer and restore. Lament invites us to pray through our struggle with a life that is far from perfect.” (Page 33)
I had never read a book like this before. If you are hurting or trying to help someone who is, or if you are attempting to lead your church to recover and experience what God’s Word teaches about lament, this is a book you will want to read.
—Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Born in a father’s grief and marked with a pastor’s wisdom, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy teaches each of us and the church how to pray along the journey of loss and despair. Vroegop presents biblical guidelines for bringing honest complaint and bold petition before God and for choosing to steadfastly trust in the One whose mercies never end.
—M. Daniel Carroll R., Blanchard Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College
Too often Christians feel the pressure to pretend the gospel diminishes pain, while others lament their pain void of biblical truth and hope. I have longed for years for a book to demonstrate a balance on this issue. Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy captures beautifully the unique and powerful grace of the gospel in Christian lament. The book is well written, winsome, and refreshingly transparent. I wept as I read it.
—Brian Croft, Senior Pastor, Auburndale Baptist Church, Louisville; Founder, Practical Shepherding; Senior Fellow, Church Revitalization, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Title: Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament
- Author: Mark Vroegop
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 2019
- Logos Release Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Laments in the Bible; Bible. O.T. Psalms › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. Lamentations › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Grief › Religious aspects--Christianity; Suffering › Religious aspects--Christianity
- ISBNs: 9781433561481, 9781433561511, 9781433561498, 9781433561504, 1433561484, 1433561514, 1433561492, 1433561506
- Resource ID: LLS:DRKCLDSDGRCLMNT
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T23:22:20Z