My Heart Cries Out

First sentence: I am not a poet; I am a pilgrim. I am not attracted to formal, overly romantic Christian verse, but I think that we do not train our eyes to see enough, our hearts to consider enough, and our emotions to celebrate enough the glories of the grace that is showered down on us in a thousand ways every day.

My Heart Cries Out is a new devotional book by Paul David Tripp. The devotions are poems. But don't let the poetry scare you away. This book is far from intimidating--it's refreshing, honest, genuine. I enjoyed most--if not all--the entries. Which is saying a lot considering the fact that it's poetry. I am not a big reader of devotional books. I like books with weight, substance, heart--not light, fluffy, feathery nonsense. This book has substance. But again, it's not intimidating. Truth resonates.

I have come to understand that if I fail to love your law, I will fail to esteem your grace.
If I fail to respect your judgment, I will fail to celebrate your mercy.
If I have come to acknowledge that if I fail to fear your anger, I will fail to seek your forgiveness.
If I fail to admit my idolatry, I will fail to cry out for your rescue.
I have come to grasp that it is only when I accept the worst news ever to be written, that I will then gladly hear the best news ever to be proclaimed.
It is only when I give up hope in me, that I will put my hope in you.
It is only when I abandon my righteousness, that I will rest in your righteousness.
So, I pray that you would grant me the race to see and accept the indictment of your law, so I will seek and celebrate your grace.

Mr. Tripp has a written a heart felt cry of what our broken hearts yearn for. It is honest and it prepares your heart to be broken so that will be fixed by the only one who can. The one who knows us more than we know ourselves. It takes the gospel and makes it beautiful among the pain of sin and our deceitful hearts. Each segment is short and draws us near to the heart of God. Mr. Tripp has also shared some pictures that gives us a reminder of God's glorious creation.

There is no other! A Worshipful way to be reminded of God and how we need him so.

A Special Thank you to Crossway Publishers and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest revie

This book contains one man's soul outpouring before God. It traces his personal devotional journey with the intention of enabling others to take and use these words for themselves. Though the topics vary a bit, they centre on having a right relationship with God, with the benefit of receiving his forgiveness, grace and love.

The section images are lovely, acting as an integral part of using this book as a daily devotional. They are helpful in aiding contemplation and meditation, which stem from the suggested bible verses and reflective questions at the end of each poem. These devotions are quite confessional in tone but they cover topics that are relatable.

However, I didn't find them particularly poetic at all, and they are quite repetitive as well. The poems look like split up prose masquerading as lines of poetry, but not very successfully to my mind. Although it might have been the author's intention to leave them open-ended to interpretation as poetry or prose prayers, in which case, he succeeded in that goal. And he claims to be more of a pilgrim than a poet.

With a few notable exceptions, I couldn't connect in the way I hoped with these heart-cry devotions/poems. Many of them left me disengaged even though I love poetry and it usually speaks to me. But that wasn't the case here, sad to say, because I couldn't relate well to the author's style. Thanks to NetGalley and Crossway Books for the ARC.

I appreciated how honest and refreshing these poems were. As a long-time reader of Tripp’s works, I loved being able to see this new side to him. However, from a “poetic” perspective, while I loved theese, they weren’t quite as literarily well-done as something like Ben Palpant’s Sojourner Songs or John Blase’s Jubilee poems. So 4 stars for something lovely from a beloved author; one star off just from a literary joyment persoective.

This is a beautiful book. Tripp helps us to train our eyes to see God’s amazing grace in everyday life as well as situations that are discouraging and hard. Each poem has a verse, questions to think about and apply, and something to read if you want to look into the topic further. These poems are accessible and easy to understand. I found myself offering them up as a prayer. I feel they brought me to a deeper intimacy with God. It reminded me a lot of “The Valley of Vision.”

Tripp writes with openness and humility. He really understands human nature. I found myself saying, “Yes, that’s right.” He put things into words that I felt but couldn’t express. This is a book to read over and over again. I’d highly recommend it.

Thank you to Crossway for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

#MyHeartCriesOut

Simply refreshing to see this great book by a great author of our time. This book will bring God-glorifying encouragements to many. Do yourself a favour by brewing the contents of this book in your heart and soul.