Book Review: Songs of Suffering

The first thing I noticed was the cover. It took me by surprise. I didn’t expect Songs of Suffering to be covered in linen. As my hand felt its way along the binding, I knew this was more than a devotional. This was a book to be left out for friends to peruse and find comfort in. A coffee table book.

The next thing that caught my notice was the photography. This book is filled with two-page spreads of photos from up and down the coast of California, Joni’s home. There are breath-taking sunsets over the Pacific, hundred-year old oak trees too big to fill the frame, cliffs and waterfalls, and night skies. The photos are just as precious as the words that fill this book.

But the thing that stood out the most were the hymns Joni chose to share. I’ll admit, I’m a hymn girl. I’m pretty sure I had “How Great Thou Art” memorized before the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you, First Baptist Church of San Lorenzo Valley. I find comfort in familiar hymns, some of which are in Songs of Suffering: “Be Still My Soul,” “Standing on the Promises,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Songs of truth. Songs that stir my heart to praise God for his goodness, even on the bad days.

But Songs of Suffering includes many hymns I don’t know — a pleasant surprise. I learned new hymns including “Far From My Heavenly Home,” “I Must Tell Jesus,” and “Whatever My God Ordains is Right.” That last one has a beautiful verse of surrender. It oozes trust in the sovereignty of God.

Whatever my God ordains is right; though now this cup, in drinking,
may bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
and pain and sorrow shall depart.
- words by Samuel Rodigast 1675; translated by Catherine Winkworth 1829-1878, alt.

Joni separated the hymns into three sections: Songs of Comfort, Songs of Strength, and Songs of Hope. I love that she organized them this way. You can read the book from front to back, or reach for a hymn based on what you need this day.

With each of the 25 hymn in this book, Joni includes the lyrics, a devotional thought, and the sheet music—for those of us who remember how to read a hymnal. Truly, I appreciated the sheet music because for hymns I was unfamiliar with, I could pick out the tune on my piano.

Suffering is Universal

The first devotional made me cry, not out of sadness, but from a sense of connection I have never before felt to Joni. She described what it felt like to have COVID as a paralyzed person. In her words, it was “suffocating.” Seeing that word in black and white took me back in an instant to being in the Emergency Room in 2021 and feeling like I was suffocating from the bleed in my lungs. I described it as feeling like I was drowning. To open this book and read words that I have said jump off the page, well, it was hard. My pulse raced and tears I couldn’t stop leaked out my eyes. Something of the fear of that memory returned but this time, it was accompanied by a feeling of knowing. Joni knew what it was like for me because she had felt it too.

That feeling of being known and understood returned several times as I read through Songs of Suffering. Our situations are remarkably different, but Joni shares many of the same feelings I have experienced. I’m sure that is true for other readers and for other reasons. Perhaps even you.