A Heart Set Free: A Journey to Hope through the Psalms of Lament

by Christina Fox

For many of us, we might busy ourselves with projects or work long hours to keep our mind off our pain. We might look at our circumstances and seek to change our situation in the hope that we will finally feel at peace once our life has changed.
The question is - How often do you look to God in His Word for help and hope? How often do you turn to Him when you feel anxious, distraught, or abandoned? How often do you bring your burdens to your Savior? Take a journey of hope through the Psalms of lament with Christina Fox.

Genres: Faith, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Christianity, Theology, Christian Non Fiction, Grief

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Christina Fox is a blogger at where she chronicles her faith journey. She writes for a number of Christian ministries and publications including Desiring God and The Gospel Coalition. She lives with her husband and two sons in sunny South Florida.

Reviews

[Jenica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasantly written, but slightly disappointing- I was hoping for an actual journey through the Psalms of Lament themselves.
We love reading and singing the Psalms of joy and victory and praise, but most of the time, our eyes glaze over the laments, and we never acknowledge that yes, the Bible does recognize depression and despair, and the Psalmnist spends (for everyone who is focused on their "best lives now" or living a "victorious Christian life" at least) a shocking amount of time on laying out their woes and (literally!) crying out to God.
Christina Fox has a sound and solid foundation in finding our ultimate hope in God, but A Heart Set Free was mostly a friend-to-friend confidential, with a laid-out, step-by-step plan for dealing with emotional troubles (using the Psalms of Lament as a guide). Very little time was spent on the actual Psalms, which were relegated to post-chapter reading "assignments" and guides for personal devotions.

Decent, but not at all what I was looking for.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not what the description makes it sound like. I thought "A Journey Through the Psalms of Lament" meant that the book would study the psalms of lament. Instead, it was a basic overview of lament, and I do mean basic. The first 40% of the (Kindle) book is Christianity 101 and a discussion of what the psalms are. After that, the book looks at the parts of psalms of lament, but not at the actual psalms themselves. At least a quarter of each chapter is personal anecdote.

Also, the huge number of quotes (often paragraph long quotes) from other authors is irritating. If you want to say something, say it in your own words unless there is an amazing quote from someone else. I don't buy a book to see what books the author thinks I should have read instead of theirs.

Side note - David did not write Psalm 88, as the author in one place says he did. I know this because the Bible attributes the psalm to the sons of Korah.

This would be a good book for completely new Christians who know nothing about the psalms and want to learn the basics of how Christians should deal with emotions like fear or despair.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at a CCEF conference I was attending a few weeks after a devastating loss in our family. I didn’t read it right away & once I started it, I kept putting it down as life continued on.

But as I finished it up, I realized how perfect this book could be in a small group setting or even as a book to be read with a friend. There are a few questions to journal or discuss at the end of each chapter, which is one of the reasons it took me so long to get through. The “thorough” side of me had a hard time moving to the next chapter if I couldn’t get to the questions the way I wanted to.

This is a very simple book. It reads more like the author’s personal Bible study notes, which isn’t a bad thing, but if you’re looking for a detailed, exhaustive study on the laments, this isn’t it. But for an easy-to-read introductory book on what the laments are about, the topic of emotions & the importance of lamenting, I would recommend this book.

“We need to be believers who know how to lament, not simply for the sake of catharsis or emotional relief, but because we believe that God rules and reigns over all things.”

[Lexi Zuo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book so much!!! It's probably one of the best Christian books I have read on the topic of emotions for women. Christina Fox writes with such a beautiful balance of firmness and kindness, all the while always pointing the reader back to the Word of God! I highly recommend this!!

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Heart Set Free would be perfect as a one-on-one study book with a new believer who is learning to break away from the world’s “you are enough” message to women. It teaches one to not deny emotions, but rather to speak Biblical truth to them. I highly recommend this book. #YouWho

[Tabitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great personal Bible study and a good process to go through, especially if you're processing some things that are hard. It was recommended to me by a woman in our church that I respect. I would definitely recommend it for a group or personal study.

[Chloe Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately I found this book left me wanting a lot more! The content of the book isn’t necessarily bad, but I think the title of the book ‘a journey to hope through the Psalms of lament’ is slightly misleading. At times it felt that I was just reading a string of quotations from other authors rather than from Fox herself.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very basic introduction to this subject that is mostly faithful to Scripture and keeps Jesus central. (There was one, short section on the subject of God having emotions which contradicts the orthodox doctrine regarding the impassibility of God.) If you’ve already gone through decent study on the Psalms (ex. Kathleen Nielson and/or Nancy Guthrie), this book will be review. If you have not yet done a study of the Psalms and want to embark on one, I’d be more inclined to recommend going to her source and drinking directly from it. The meat of the book is info. from Tremper Longman’s work, “How to Read the Psalms” and would also be covered in the aforementioned studies by Nielson and Guthrie. While I appreciate the fruit of Fox’s personal study, I think folks will be helped better in the long term by working through the laments alongside Nielson or Guthrie for themselves as opposed to merely reading the fruit of Fox’s study. Doing the study work for oneself really makes you own it and tends to make it more memorable and personally meaningful. Nielson and Guthrie are excellent guides for such a venture. Fox and I have been drinking from similar streams (John Piper, Paul Tripp, Jerry Bridges, Tim Keller, etc.), so there wasn’t really anything new here for me.

[Perpetual Felicities Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Nothing earth shattering but a great encouragement to keep processing through emotions in an effort not to get rid of them or be perfectly even-keeled, but to bring glory to God. She says, "The purpose of this book is to help us face the reality of our emotions. Instead of hiding them, distracting ourselves from them, or avoiding them, we are going to face them head on. We are going to walk right into the pain. We are going to learn how to express our emotions and bring them before our loving Heavenly Father."

Her practical application to use the laments in our lives is well organized, biblically based, encouraging, and easy to use. The book is short, full of scripture, contains practical examples, and is so inspiring.

The questions at the end of each chapter are perfect for studying on your own or doing this one on one with someone else. Not sure it'd make a great small group book, but would definitely be useful in discipling.

[Jen Judd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book 5 stars because even though it has many grammatical and spelling errors, it is WELL DONE. The concepts, scripture references and relatable references to life helped me and gave me so much comfort in a very sad, depressed time in my life. I found this book the year (2019) I lost my grandpa, mother-in-law, and great grandma. My family also lost our dog that year. It was such a sad year and we were SO ready to roll into the new year...and the world shut down the following year...I loved this book. 💔

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed. The title implied that this was “through the Psalms of lament.” That was not the case. The end of some of the chapters had a Psalm you could study but no journey through that from the author. If the subtitle was different, it might be a better book.

The author writes quite a bit about emotions and shares her own struggles. She does touch on the elements of lament.

[Scquest · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this book, not because the content was bad, but that the majority of the book was two parts: 1) quotes from popular evangelical authors; 2) personal illustrations.
This is a series of blog posts.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful book for those who struggle with emotions.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book that is a start to learn how to read the laments. I was thinking it was gonna to go through the lement but it doesnt. But that doesn't take away from what was written! Highly recommended!

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good devotional book. Would work well as a group study/discussion as it has application/Bible study questions at the end of each chapter. . . . "In Western culture, we have lost the art of lament."

[Hanna Ray Hardman · Rating 4 out of 5]

big lamenting fan

[Marybeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to process the pain and suffering we all experience in life.

[Lynnette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Nothing earth shattering but a great encouragement to keep processing through emotions in an effort not to get rid of them or be perfectly even-keeled, but to bring glory to God. She says, "The purpose of this book is to help us face the reality of our emotions. Instead of hiding them, distracting ourselves from them, or avoiding them, we are going to face them head on. We are going to walk right into the pain. We are going to learn how to express our emotions and bring them before our loving Heavenly Father."

Her practical application to use the laments in our lives is well organized, biblically based, encouraging, and easy to use. The book is short, full of scripture, contains practical examples, and is so inspiring.

The questions at the end of each chapter are perfect for studying on your own or doing this one on one with someone else. Not sure it'd make a great small group book, but would definitely be useful in discipling.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

An effective guide to applying the balm of the Psalms to "pesky" emotions

As someone who has now been a Christian for a while, I have to admit that I have come to a point in my walk where I often confront my laments in a somewhat rote or formulaic way, rather than dealing with the real, underlying emotions I experience.

Since I do think God wants me to deal with my emotions in deeper and more constructive ways that can seem quite a bit uncomfortable, vulnerable, and scary, this book is a timely companion. Christina's writing is quite personable, making her book incredibly accessible and easy to apply its teaching. Her insight and obvious depth of study will effectively guide her readers to apply balm of the Word of God in the Psalms in meaningful ways to those "pesky" emotions. I plan to re-read and soak in several chapters soon. Highly recommend.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that helps Christians to connect and give voice to some of the darker emotions (anxiety, depression, grief) using the Psalms as a guide. The author talks about her own story with transparency, pointing back again and again to prayer and Scripture as the anchor in her own life. She commends this to the reader, giving guidance about how to express our emotions and live in our emotions without being overcome by them.

[Jackie Eason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book addresses an excellent topic- how to handle hard emotions. Christians all too often come down hard on feelings of despair, worry, anxiety, loneliness etc and yet many of the Psalms exude those emotions. These are common sin struggles that Christians feel the need to hide instead of address properly, but we can't have that response. This book gives you help to face those difficulties head on with biblical truths.

[Catherine McNiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heartily agree with the author that Lament is an ancient expression we have all but lost today, and desperately need to regain. using the Psalms and real life stories, she shows us how to meet with God, with hope, through Lament.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and encouraging book.