The Hidden Face of God: Finding the Missing Door to the Father through Lament

by Michael Card

Publisher:

NavPress

, 2007

Overview

At some point in our lives, most of us experience the sense of God’s absence. Rather than letting the distance widen, Michael Card says that this is exactly the time for a deeper pursuit of God. The method he proposes is recovery of the profound, biblical practice of lament.

Lament allows our sorrows and suffering to surface in free and courageous expression to God. Lament is the groan of the Holy Spirit within us: our cries and tears, our longing for God’s forgiveness of our sins, his healing of our inner and outer wounds, and the mercy of his salvation. Lament is finding the language of the deepest contents of our hearts and pouring out our hopes and hurts before the Father.

In The Hidden Face of God, Michael Card leads us through 40 reflections that help us learn the lost language of lament. Journey with this popular artist and writer toward a more profound and intimate connection with the heart of God.

The Logos Bible Software edition of this volume is designed to encourage and stimulate your study and understanding of spiritual disciplines. Scripture passages link directly to your English translations and to the original language texts, and important concepts link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. In addition, you can perform powerful searches by topic and find what other authors, scholars, and theologians have to say about faith, meditation, and Christlikeness.

Key Features

• Discusses how to learn from times of lament and biblical parallels
• Seeks to understand lament and sadness
• Includes questions for discussion and thoughts for meditation at the end of each chapter

Contents

• Part One: A Safe Sanctuary
• Part Two: A Place for the Poor and the Prisoner
• Part Three: A Gathering of the Guilty
• Part Four: The Man of Sorrows

Top Highlights

“The place where these two inescapable realities meet is in lament. Here, the suffering of man for God embraces the suffering of God for man. Here we surrender our running from the inescapability of suffering and raise the white flag to the ever-present One whom David celebrated. Job, overwhelmed by the ordeal, cried out, ‘I recant and relent; being but dust and ashes’ (42:6, jps). The stumbling, exhausted, world-weary place where suffering and God meet is lament.” (Page 26)

“The lesson is that without hesed nothing can be good. Nothing has any real meaning apart from a relationship with God on His gracious terms.” (Page 42)

“d how can we know what He is worth unless we have met Him in the wilderness?” (Page 46)

“To get a glimpse into the Jewish hearts of his listeners, we need to understand that their security and confidence was based on a simple triad: Land, King, and Temple. As a result of the exile, they had effectively lost the land and their king. All they had left, though they were physically separated from it by more than six hundred miles, was the Temple. ‘The Place,’ they called it, ha makom, the center of the Universe. It was their one remaining source of hope, pride, and confidence.” (Page 34)

“Even those who, because of their lack of education, were unaware of Isaiah’s prophecy that He would be a Man of Sorrows acquainted with our deepest grief recognized in Him someone whose tears were somehow their tears as well. He was not only weeping for them, He was weeping with them, becoming acquainted to the darkest depths with their poverty and pain.” (Page 58)

Praise for the Print Edition

What does the church have to say when our shame and sadness is unbearable, our loneliness excruciating, and our faith empty? In his amazing book, Michael Card reminds us of the most profound answer–Jesus’ presence is all there is. Lament leads us to the hidden face of God.

—Scott Roley, pastor, Christ Community Church, Franklin, TN

Michael Card is plowing ground that has been fallow for far too long—the field of lament, which has a rich and fertile past in biblical history. His book is a place to plant your tears, a well-watered place where your heart will surely grow.

—Ken Gire, author

Michael is the rare combination of a Jesus-glorifying artist/educator/musician/theologian/philosopher/writer. He expresses my heart’s deepest longings for which I had never before found words. In his God-given gifting, he encourages me to release every emotion to the Creator and Redeemer of us all.

—Don Finto, director, The Caleb Company

Product Details

• Title: The Hidden Face of God: Finding the Missing Door to the Father through Lament
• Author: Michael Card
• Publisher: NavPress
• Publication Date: 2007
• Pages: 181

About Michael Card

Michael Card has recorded over thirty-one albums, authored or coauthored over twenty-four books, hosted a radio program, and written for a wide range of magazines. An award-winning musician and performing artist, he has penned such favorites as “El Shaddai,” “Immanuel,” and many other songs. He has branched his ministry beyond music and written numerous books, including Scribbling in the Sand, A Sacred Sorrow, A Violent Grace, The Parable of Joy, and Sleep Sound in Jesus (a children’s book). He has also written the Biblical Imagination Series, with a book and accompanying music CD for each of the four gospels.

A graduate of Western Kentucky University with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biblical studies, Card also serves as mentor to many younger artists and musicians, teaching courses on the creative process and calling the Christian recording industry into deeper discipleship. Card lives in Tennessee with his wife and four children.