Suffering and Singing: Knowing God’s Love in the Pain and Despair

Union

by John Hindley

As we walk through life the personal reality of suffering, its pain and anguish, becomes something we all experience. Tears, despair and hurt are commonplace in a broken world.
So how do we even contemplate singing at a time like this?

The writers of Psalm 44 were faithful men who were nearly overwhelmed by the pain of suffering. Why would God let them suffer so terribly yet undeservedly? John Hindley takes us carefully through the Psalm teaching that ‘God has sent our suffering for His sake. Suffering is not a mark of God’s indifference towards us, or His hatred of us. Suffering is a mark of His love for us. It shows that we are His.’ We have a Saviour who is familiar with suffering, and we must run to Him not from Him.

The storm can be troubling and dark, but this Psalm will show you that even in the midst of the darkest times, God is working and you can trust and worship Him.

‘This is one of the most tender, moving and perceptive books on the sufferings of believers that I have ever read.’ Faith Cook ~ Author of Surprised by God

Genres: Christian, Theology, Christian Living, Nonfiction

72 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

I really enjoy writing. I discovered this when I was working on Serving without Sinking, the first book I wrote. I am delighted to be a follower of Jesus, a husband and a father. I find my work as pastor of Broadgrace, a church in Norfolk a blessing (www.broadgrace.org.uk). To also have the opportunity to spend time writing feels like the icing on the cake.

The books I have written come out of struggles and tensions I have found as I have read the Bible, served in churches and followed Jesus. When I have observed others with similar fears, concerns, hopes and dreams it has encouraged me to pray, think and then write. I hope the books that result will bless the church.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book and exposition of psalm 44 and 45. I would absolutely recommend for anybody going through a hardship currently, but also for those who will in the future. Hindly walks the reader through the psalm with explanation for the age-old question of what is the relationship beween God and human suffering. But the psalm doesnt merely adress the question abstractly, it sits in the suffering with the reader of psalm 44 and 45 and brings eternal encouragement that God is supreme and appoints suffering. He does this not only for the good of His people, but for His own purpose and glory. In wrestling with this question personally, and not coming up with great answers in the past, I'd say my mind was blown by the purposeful, personal, good, and Biblical answer to suffering that Psalm 44 and 45 provides in Suffering and Singing.

[James Brixey]

Great short book

[Phil Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but very helpful message from Psalm 44 that isn't glib about suffering, but points us to the great comfort and hope in Jesus. Well worth the 40 minutes it takes to read and inwardly digest.

[Jelena Hristov · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an eye-opening book about suffering!
It was new to me to find out that Heavenly Father allows us to suffer, as His children,
because He loves us like He loves Jesus and treats us as He treated Jesus.
So if Jesus has suffered, we suffer as well. And this suffering can actually lead us
to worship God more and to seek His presence as we go through pain and affliction.
The last sentence in the book was pretty impressionable to me:
"Our suffering is terrible, but our suffering will not end in a funeral. It will end in a wedding."
I recommend this book to all people who suffer, and we all do, in one way or another.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding little book! It is exceptionally helpful and exegetically sound. I learned a lot about the psalms of the sons of Korah. It is also written in an easy to understand style, and so it would be very helpful to give to anyone suffering or wrestling with the concept of suffering and it’s place in the Christian life! Highly recommended!

[Isabella Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent little accessory read to Psalm 44. Succinct and solid.

[Austin Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suffering is temporary. There is great love in suffering. This reminds us that Christ is the one that suffered the most for us. Great little read

[Ben Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the brevity of this book is the cause of its major problems. It raises some interesting points and takes suffering very seriously. This shouldn’t be undervalued, as Christians can sometimes be very dismissive of suffering.

However, there simply isn’t time for a full unpacking of this issue and the writing gives what appears to me to be quite an ambiguous message. The author appears to state that suffering is good, but it’s bad. We should pray for it to end, but we also shouldn’t. So much time is dedicated to getting suffering in focus, then any kind of ‘answer’ to suffering seems to be quite rushed.

While it’s good to try to write short and accessible books on theology, it would take a writer of incredible skill to condense it into 72 small, large print pages. Not that the author here is bad, but this issue requires either a lot more unpacking or near miraculous skill with concision.

[Will Turner]

I'm realizing how much I hate 5 star rating systems. Books are far too complex to limit to a reductionistic and overly simplistic rating system.

Likewise, the problem of pain, evil, and suffering is far too complex to limit it to 72 pages. While I generally agree with Hindley, I still find it remarkably unsettling. "Suffering is a mark of his (God's) love for us. It shows that we are his." (54).

I agree that suffering is part of how we are being conformed to Christ's image. Christ, suffered after all and if we are being remade in his image then we must share in his suffering. But it seems easier to say if we keep our suffering light. Most Christian books on suffering only pull out the small levels of suffering. They fail to address the crushing weighty ones. The ones that leave us writhing in agony and broken to pieces.

How does child abuse, rape, murder, genocide, racism, etc. express God's love to his people?

On one level I agree with Hindley and I think his argument is biblically sound. On the other hand... I just cannot wrap my head around the logical conclusions of his argument when seen through to their end.

[Lizette Vega · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title, Suffering and Singing does not correlate with the content of the book. It is sad that the publisher/author failed to deliver on the promise given with the title of the book. Instead of telling us how to correlate singing while suffering, which would have been a new way to deal with suffering, the booklet is a generalization of Psalm 44, and the sufferings of the Sons of Korah. There is no mention of singing, and nothing concrete to change your thought process while suffering. I'm disappointed.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done exposition of Psalm 44. Chief highlight is his careful discussion on how suffering for the Christian is good because it means we are counted as one in Christ. In giving us suffering (for various reasons, such as drawing back a heart wandering, about to wander, or simply to grow is in joyful dependence and union with him) the Father treats us as he treats his Son. Jesus suffered before entering glory and this is now the other of all his people, as Paul writes in Romans 8:17.

[Kim Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful short book for those that are suffering. The author walks through Psalm 44 and 45 and shows a biblical response to suffering. It contains short chapters so those who are in the midst of heavy trials can digest the words more easily. A truly helpful book for all Christians.

[Rebecca Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely beautiful exposition on the 44th Psalm. Very thankful for this resource.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short book on suffering in Psalm 44

[Chris Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this punchy little book, John Hindley has set out to help us understand the purpose of suffering in the Christian life by expositing Psalms 44 and 45. He shows how the sons of Korah experienced suffering in a way similar to us, and asked the same difficult questions: "In their confusion and agony of suffering the sons of Korah caught each other's eye, clutched their instruments, struck a chord and sang. They sang with tears, but they sang to God. And the Holy Spirit gave them words to lead our heavy hearts back to Jesus along with theirs. They raise this most sickening of questions - how can God allow our suffering? - and they answer it."

He goes on to outline the thesis of the book, which is to show that our suffering is not aimless but rather is under God's sovereignty, is used for our good, and serves to show that we are his: "The scope of this psalm, and this book, is to set up the horrendous pain of suffering and then to give us one answer which cuts to the heart of of our confusion and fear. It is simply this: God has sent our suffering for his sake. We do not suffer primarily because we may have sinned; we suffer because we are his. Suffering is not a mark of God's indifference towards us, or his hatred of us. Suffering is a mark of his love for us. It shows that we are his."

As Christians, there is also a Christological element to this that we need to keep in focus: "What Psalm 44:22 is teaching us is that when we are suffering at the hand of the Lord, our Father is treating us like Jesus, his Son. Suffering is a mark of God's love. If you suffer as a Christian, it is not because God is powerless, and more than he was powerless to end the sufferings of Christ. If you are a Christian and you suffer, it is because God loves you."

This puts us in a better position than the Sons of Korah, as we can see clearly what they saw dimly: God has acted decisively in the person of his Son to pay the due penalty for our sin, remove the guilt of it, and restore us to communion with him. In light of this, how God uses suffering in the Christian life is much the same as in the lives of believers under the Old Covenant: "There are different ways that the Father uses suffering to bring us to share in Christ's glory. He uses it to discipline us, to refine us and to show us how precious his love is - more precious than whatever we lose through the suffering. He may do this by taking away things that tempt us to worship them instead of him, or he may simply bring suffering to grow us in our dependence on his love or our compassion towards others. He wounds us to draw us back to himself (Hosea 6:1), and he sometimes does this as we only just begin to wander. He also leads us through a valley darkened by the very shadow of death, not because we are wandering but so that we will see more truly that there is no light but Christ. The path to Christ's glory is the path of the cross. There is no other way."

So, suffering is an inevitable and indeed essential component of the Christian life. We are called to take up our crosses and to follow Jesus. But an obvious question is whether we are then to embrace the suffering itself, or even to seek it out? In answer to this, Hindley states emphatically that, "So then, if suffering is a mark of God's love for us, if it is where our Father meets us, sustains us, refines us and draws us to a deeper understanding that we are his children, then should we embrace it? Should we see our pain as a good thing? Wonderfully, we should not. We should revel in the good that the Lord brings out of our hurts and struggles. We should stand in awe of a Father who brings us into the glory of his Son by the same path of suffering that Christ walked. But we do not need to call the suffering itself good."

In conclusion, Hindley points to Psalm 45, where the Sons of Korah get the full answer to the questions raised in Psalm 44. In Psalm 45, we see the wedding feast of the king: "Our suffering is terrible, but it is also where our Father shows that we are his children. He shows us, and he shows the world, that he loves us like he loves Jesus as he treats us as he treated Jesus. He will draw us to himself to feel the warmth of that love even as we feel the cold grip of pain and bitter confusion. He will draw us to himself, and make us more like his Son. Our suffering is terrible, but our suffering will not end in a funeral. It will end in a wedding."

This is definitely not a full treatment of the Christian understanding of suffering, nor is it a comprehensive apologetic for how suffering is compatible with God's goodness. But what Hindley has written is an edifying and thoughtful introduction to the topic, accessible to all Christians as they face their own suffering and bear with others as they suffer.

[Casey Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy to read book on suffering. It shows that our suffering isn't always tied to our sin but can be tied to our relationship with God "Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long".

He also deals with God's allowance of suffering. Why He doesn't immediately remove it from our lives. Connecting our suffering to the cross, he shows that we catch a glimpse of God's love for us through our suffering. As well as our suffering is not an end in itself but a means to and end. A way to bring us to glory and to glorify God.

[Phil Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful, and easy to read, book on suffering. It starts by showing the nature of suffering in a way that readers will identify with. It then provides very practical pastoral Biblical teaching on how suffering can provide assurance that we are Christ's and loved by God. It demonstrates that in God's plan suffering is only 'a means to an end' and gives assurances that suffering cannot overcome us.

[Emma Schramm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful and encouraging brief book!