After Lament: Psalms for Learning to Trust Again

As he did in his previous volume, Hurting With God, Glenn Pemberton has again showed us how we can use the book of Psalms to communicate our every thought, feeling and desire. After Lament is built on the solid foundation of his previous work and shows how those who lament do not all end up in the same place. Pemberton identifies six different places author's of the psalms landed after their seasons of lament. Some are obviously more desirable than other but as Pemberton points out, we do not get to choose when we land. I appreciate the author's authenticity as he feely shares his own struggles with severe pain and especially in this volume, with his understanding that God is not going to answer his plea for healing and so he must accept that answer and move on. This book contains wonderful insights for those who have been in a season of lament, those who minister to others, and those who want to grow deeper in understanding how the psalms may be used in prayer and worship.

What happens when the disease is not healed, the hurt is not removed, and life doesn't just "get better"? Too many books expect people to get past their mourning and return to a cheery life, even when the hurt lingers. Glenn Pemberton, however, knows better.This book stands out because of the steady, measured approach to "moving on" it takes. Pemberton acknowledges that at some point, people do need to move to a next phase in life, but that next phase looks very different for everyone. In his first book (Hurting with God), Pemberton outlined the Biblical approach to lament. In this book, he discusses how to move from the lament phase to a life that does not ignore the pain but that acknowledges the "no" from God and works to live in that new reality.Instead of picturing an ordered progression out of lament, Pemberton pictures a "wheel of lament" with many possible spokes outward: trust/confidence, thanksgiving, rejoicing, instruction, etc. The author knows well that life during and after lament is anything but orderly and certain. Yet he is committed to a life that includes praise and thansgiving.This book will be a welcome companion for those who have cried out in lament, not gotten the answer they had hoped, and are wondering what to do next.

Great book, I certainly recommend reading "Hurting with God" by Pemberton before reading this, but both are excellent books that help anyone who has ever dealt with pain of any kind and asked the question "why?" (which is pretty much everyone). This is the kind of book that every Christian should read

Great book. Helpful as a Pastor and I believe would also be to anyone who finds themselves hurting and wondering where God is in their hurts.

Finally, someone found the courage to write out loud what hurting people fearfully or mistakenly keep buried deep inside. When a book shakes you up and comforts your soul at the same time, it's a keeper.

After the tears, after the screams, after the anguish subsides there are moments, hours, and days of praise. Great reminder of those truths.

Glenn Pemberton’s eagerly awaited follow up to HURTING WITH GOD (ACU Press, 2012), AFTER LAMENT honestly and sincerely brings the reader back into Pemberton’s struggles with chronic pain, his acceptance of a life therewith, and what life looks like after lamenting, all through the use of the Psalter. Not holding back his feelings concerning the pat answers of many Christians in the context of pain and suffering, some may find their toes getting a bit crushed by Pemberton’s trampling on what “church language” has become, but it all comes from love and his own experience with hearing the same unhelpful words for years. This is why I highly recommend first reading HURTING WITH GOD for better understating the language of lament, the necessity thereof, and from what perspective AFTER LAMENT is written.The first two chapters reorient the reader into a position of appreciation for lament before moving on, a must for those who have not read HURTING WITH GOD, but a nice refresher and life-update on Pemberton for those who have. The last eight chapters deal with Pemberton’s use of Psalms as a way of relating to and moving from lament into any of the following: 1) trust and confidence, 2) thanks, 3) praise, 4) joy, 5) instruction, and 6) broken hope, none of which is a guaranteed since varying journeys have varying outcomes. A discussion guide for each chapter is also including at the end of the book for those who wish to go through the book as a group or more personal introspection.Lamenting is a journey, not a destination. Life AFTER LAMENT won’t always be that for which we’ve asked, but we must eventually move out of lament. To this, Pemberton states, “It is easy to serve God and shout hallelujah as long as the payoff is there—a good life, the answer I wanted to my prayer. But what if there is no payoff, just pain? Will you serve the Lord for absolutely no reason other than that the Lord is God?” (197). Along with Pemberton, I’m sure, I pray those who read AFTER LAMENT will find it helpful in answering him (and God!) in the affirmative.*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from ACU Press/Leafwood Publishers as part of their ACU Press Bookclub Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”