Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament Paperback – March 21, 2019

Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, Discovering the Grace of Lamentby Mark Vroegop (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2019), 223 pp., paper, $11.69Following the stillborn death of his daughter Sylvia in 2004, Pastor Mark Vroegop experienced deep sorrow for the first time in his life. This period of sorrow started Vroegop on a lifelong journey in lament, which was a means of grace to his soul (p. 195). As he began to look at the world with new eyes, he understood that Christians do grieve during times of suffering great loss, but they grieve not as the unbeliever grieves. “Lament is how Christians grieve” (p. 21), and without it “we won’t know how to process pain” (p. 21). “Lament,” the author writes, “is the honest cry of a hurting heart wrestling with the paradox of pain and the promise of God’s goodness” (p. 26).Vroegop provides the layout for the book in the Introduction:This book charts a course for our journey. It will take us through an exploration of four lament psalms and the one biblical book dedicated to the subject: Lamentations. In part 1, I’ll try to help you learn to lament. In part 2, I hope to show you what we learn from lament. And finally, in part 3, we’ll explore how to live with lament—both personally and with others (p. 22).Time and again Vroegop articulates the four key elements of lament: turn [to God], present your complaint, ask in prayer (make a request), and trust the Lord (an expression of trust and/or praise) (p. 29). Turning to the Psalms, he notes how frequently the Psalmists asks two pertinent questions: Why and how? (pp. 43-54). In the first part of the book, Vroegop traces the four key elements, as well as two common questions through four lament psalms: psalms 77, 10, 22, and 13.Part two is a delightful study of lament in the often neglected Old Testament book of Lamentations (pp. 89-153). The heart of this examination is the four truths upon which Jeremiah anchored his soul and is drawn from 3:22-33 (pp. 112-119): God’s mercy never ends; waiting is not a waste; the final word has not been spoken; and God is always good.Part three is the application section of Dark Clouds. Vroegop writes the following:In part 3 we are going to explore ways lament can be practiced from a personal or corporate perspective. We are going to move from learning to lament and learning from lament toward learning how to live with lament (p. 158).Here we are told that “lament helps us embrace two truths at the same time: hard is hard; hard is not bad” (p. 184).The book provides four useful appendixes, including one identifying the psalms of lament by category, a bibliography, a general index, and a scripture index. These, along with the footnotes, are unusual but valuable features in a popular work such as Dark Clouds.The only portion of the book in which I had difficulty were examples that he gave of a prayer gathering with other pastors in which one pastor “called on God with an authority that was strangely refreshing” (p. 57). He was attracted to such bold authority when calling on God and transferred this attraction to the Psalms. I believe at this point Vroegop is confusing biblical confidence with questionable boldness that demands God to act, which I believe transcends confidence. No one, including the biblical authors, dare command God (cf. pp. 60, 66 where he confuses confidence and boldness again). I also question a prayer meeting at his church for parents of wayward children to return to the Lord. And while the grief of some parents seemed to be eclipsed by the boldness of the prayers of others, there was no indication in the story that any of the prayers were answered. My point is not that we should not pray with confidence, but that we go a step too far when we boldly tell God what He should do. Perhaps this is not what Vroegop is implying, but this section struck me as a bit over the top.At any rate, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy is a valuable and accessible study of lament drawn from the Old Testament Scriptures. Many will be comforted by what is written here.Reviewed by Gary E. Gilley, Southern View Chapel

Lament is one of those things that I've always known was important—at least from an intellectual standpoint—but have never sufficiently prioritized it to the point that I felt I truly understood it. A shocking and shameful admission from a worship pastor! I mean, a third of the Psalms are laments (not to mention having an entire book of the Bible called "Lamentations"), so lamenting ought to be a pretty major part of our corporate gatherings, don't you think? But for all my good intentions, I've avoided making lament a priority both personally and corporately, because it's much easier to just avoid it.Easier, that is, until tragedy and suffering arise, and we are left without the patterns and practices God gives us to cope, and to glorify him through our grief.Enter Mark Vroegop, an Indianapolis pastor whose own grief over the loss of a child drove him to dig deep into God's Word and learn to lament well. He preached through his own pain, turning the fruit of his study in grief into this wonderful book. The title comes from two verses in Lamentations: the dark clouds of judgment in 2:1, and the deep morning mercies of 3:22. As Vroegop writes, "lament stands in the gap between pain and promise."I love the simple but profound definition he gives for lament: “Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust.” After an introduction devoted to his own story of "life in a minor key," Vroegop turns to exposition of four psalms of lament (Psalms 77, 10, 22, and 13) which serve as guides for understanding and applying lament psalms as a whole. The second section is a chapter-by-chapter study of the book of Lamentations. Through all this exposition, we see three hallmarks biblical lament: First, it always addresses the Lord directly, as opposed to an impersonal crying out; true lament is only available for believers. Second, laments bring complaint to God. Believers aren't meant to pretend that everything is okay, but neither are we to gripe or despair; we are to take our complaints directly to the One who can actually do something about it. But lament cannot stop there! True, biblical lament always leads to an expression of trust and/or praise; notably, this trust and praise is given in the midst of grief, and is not dependent on deliverance from trial or suffering. Often, that trust and praise becomes the vehicle by which comfort and relief arrives.But what do we do with all this? It's much easier (for me, anyway) to grasp lament as a concept than to actually put it into practice, which is why the book's final section is so immensely helpful. Vroegop devotes a chapter each to practical, "real world" applications of biblical lament in our personal lives and in our churches. Speaking from his own experience in grieving deeply, as well as in shepherding church members through their own sorrows and guiding his congregation to grow in their ability to lament well, his counsel here is priceless, urgent, and immediately applicable. In fact, I am working already to begin implementing what I have learned into the corporate worship of my church, and know I will rely heavily on the chapter for personal lament when counseling others or, inevitably, facing dark clouds of my own.One last thing I found incredibly useful were the study questions at the end of each chapter. Often I skip questions like this in books—even in books I'm studying with a group—generally preferring to generate my own questions for reflection, or to follow up by pursuing my own interests in further study. But the questions in this book were truly challenging and thought-provoking in a way I rarely find, and I think this book would be an excellent choice for a group study. I consider it a "must read" for pastors and biblical counselors, and highly recommended for all believers.

This a great book. Grief, loss, disappointment, it helps it all.

This is an outstanding book for those who are experiencing the loss of a loved one.

Verses used is not KJV.If this book used the KJV I would give it 5 stars.The KJV is more precise and actually relates best with his points.Look up the verses yourself in the KJV!Besides that, it’s an excellent book and very helpful for the sorrow filled and broken hearted.

I'm a pastor who has worked with many hurting people. I've read many books about suffering and hardship, and this is one of the best books, along with "Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense" by Paul Tripp. He does an incredible job teaching us to walk through our darkest moments and reminds us, without cliches, how God is working during times of distress. He also walks the reader through turning from the point of lament and complaint to regain hope. I cannot say enough good things about this book. If you are mourning, dealing with chronic illness, or enduring other forms of hardship, I highly recommend this. This is also helpful to read if you are trying to minister to someone going through hardship because it does a good job of portraying the depth of sorrow that the sufferer is enduring. If you are questioning which books to get to walk through, or help someone else walk through hardship, this book and Paul Tripp's book on suffering are the way to go.