Opening Prayer
Thank you, Father, for your unfailing love and constant presence that are mine today.
Read PSALM 88
Psalm 88[a]
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.[b] A maskil[c] of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 Lord, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
3 I am overwhelmed with troubles
and my life draws near to death.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like one without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.[d]
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, Lord, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction[e]?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help, Lord;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, Lord, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
Footnotes
- Psalm 88:1 In Hebrew texts 88:1-18 is numbered 88:2-19.
- Psalm 88:1 Title: Possibly a tune, “The Suffering of Affliction”
- Psalm 88:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 88:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 10.
- Psalm 88:11 Hebrew Abaddon
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’1
Think Further
Globally, we went through one of the most difficult periods we can remember with the Covid-19 pandemic. The challenges we faced in our workplaces, churches, and homes were unprecedented. Many colleagues and loved ones succumbed to the attack of the virus. I have attended more funerals in these few years than in the previous decade. One of the most difficult issues raised is that we feel that God seems to be silent in these challenging situations. It leaves us feeling forgotten and rejected.
The psalmist in our reading today had gone through an extremely difficult situation. He expresses his feelings of being depressed, forgotten, grieved, outcast, and terrified. The range of emotions we read about in Psalm 88 can be overwhelming. In his cry to God, he wonders if God is ever present. The ending of the psalm is probably the most depressing: ‘darkness is my closest friend’ (v. 18). It is not surprising that this psalm is acknowledged as the saddest psalm of lament.
However, the psalmist’s hope is found not in its ending but in its beginning: ‘Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you’ (v. 1). Before he pours out his lament and gives a long list of things that have gone wrong in his life, the psalmist declares his hope in the Lord, even through his experiences of the dark night of the soul and the silence of God. Throughout this psalm, he continues to cry out to God repeatedly (vv. 1, 2, 9, 13), not to any other gods or persons. The psalmist has the quiet confidence that God hears him. His dark seasons in life do not mean that God is absent, but rather how much he desperately needs God.
Apply
Remember that in the darkness of life, we need God even more. He will never leave nor forsake us.
Closing prayer
I look to you, Father, for those who are suffering, particularly those prone to depression. Help them to feel your presence; comfort them with your love.
Last Updated on April 14, 2024 by kingstar
