Psalm 88 Somewhere to Turn in the Darkness

Psalm 88

Psalm 88 NIV

Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you. May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength. 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. You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you. Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you? Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me? From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.

Are you encouraged yet? Right? This guy was in a bad way, but despite that he faced the Lord and shared his heart. Let’s work through this passage and see what we can discover. First, the Psalm consists of two parts, verses 1-9 express the man’s suffering, and verses 10-18 convey prayer for mercy and deliverance. Let’s begin in verse 1.

Psalm 88:1 NIV

Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.

Here we see a turning to the Lord, an acknowledgement that it is God who saves him. He recognizes that there is nothing or no one else that can save him from his present circumstances. This by the way is the only glimmer of hope in the entire Psalm. Then the Psalmist cries out to the Lord unceasingly, all day and night. You can just sense his desperation, his suffering, his sorrow. Notice the Godward orientation the psalmist has. He directs his emotions to his Father in heaven asking that He hear his cry, as recognized in verse 2.

Psalm 88:2 NIV

May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

Not only is Heman in great difficulty but he believes he is near death.

Psalm 88:3 NIV

I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.

Many of us know what it is like to be overwhelmed with troubles, it is often difficult to put words to our suffering in those moments. The lament psalms like psalm 88 have ways of identifying with our suffering. We read the anguish of a particular psalmist and suddenly find their words become our words. We say, that’s it! That is where I'm at right now. That is how I feel. This is one way the Lord ministers to us through His Word. In verses 4-5, Heman goes on to describe what others think about his situation.

Psalm 88:4–5 NIV

I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength. 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.

People looking at Heman’s life see him as one who finds himself down in a pit, without strength, and set apart with the dead as one who has been forgotten. Psalm 31:12 sums this up nicely, Psalm 31:12 I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.

Psalm 31:12 NIV

I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery.

He feels like God has forsaken him, like he has been cut off from His care. Excruciating circumstances can lead us to believe that God is absent, and that He doesn’t care about our present suffering. Heman expresses this in verses 6-8 when he says.

Psalm 88:6–8 NIV

You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;

The reality is that God’s plan for us includes suffering, and no suffering enters our lives that He did not first allow to be there. Here is a quote from the book When God Weeps, by Joni Eareckson Tada and Steven Estes. “In God’s wisdom and love, every trial in a Christian’s life is ordained from eternity past, custom made for the believer’s eternal good, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Nothing happens by accident…not even tragedy…not even sins committed against us.” If you are looking to grow in your theology of suffering, I highly recommend this book When God Weeps. I have a few copies in my office if you would like to borrow a copy. Heman accurately recognized God’s involvement in his suffering, and we see other passages of Scripture that speaks to this as well. Philippians 1:29 says.

Philippians 1:29 NIV

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,

And we have Jesus’ words in John 16:33.

John 16:33 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

And again, Jesus said,

Acts 9:16 NIV

I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Scripture tells us that,

Acts 14:22 NIV

strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

The psalmist states that even his closest friends have been taken away, and that he is now repulsive to them. It feels to him like he is confined and cannot escape his horrific circumstances. Perhaps Heman was suffering with a chronic progressive disease, this would explain his lament, but we really are not told for sure. One thing is certain, he feels trapped like there is no way out of his present turmoil, and yet he continues to share his deepest pain with the Lord. As discouraging as this psalm is, Heman still continues to face God and pour out his grief.

Psalm 88:9 NIV

my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

What a wonderful example of faith this is, not only is Heman facing the Lord, but he is calling upon the Lord. This is exactly who we are to be in Christ.

Hebrews 4:14–16 NIV

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

This is such a powerful spiritual reality, one that provides help and hope in our darkest hour. I guess the questions we must ask ourselves is are we taking full advantage of God’s throne of grace? Do you find yourself calling upon the Lord regularly? Are you crying out to Him and honestly sharing your heart with Him? Are you recognizing God’s grace in your life? These are helpful questions to ask ourselves, and I hope we will provide honest answers. Back to our Psalm, in verse 10-12.

Psalm 88:10–12 NIV

Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you? Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

Heman asks several questions, 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? 12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? These Godward questions focus on Heman’s mortality. He asked the Lord these questions to make a point, and that point is, if I die will I no longer be able to praise you. These questions were intended to convince God to deliver him from his afflictions so that he could go on declaring His glory on this side of eternity. It seems like Heman is trying to make a deal with God. If you do this, then I will do that kind of bargain with the Lord. Maybe you have had conversations like this with God, I know I have. But the Lord is patient with us in our suffering, and He knows and will do what is best always. Heman stated in verse 13

Psalm 88:13 NIV

But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you.

This is the third time in this psalm that there is a crying out to the Lord as seen also in verses 1 and 9. There is a sense that Heman is weak and needy and crying out to the Lord for help. He prays in the morning, and believes that his prayers reach God, but feels as though God is not answering him. Verse 14,

Psalm 88:14 NIV

Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?

David had these same thoughts and feelings when he wrote psalm 13,

Psalm 13 NIV

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

There have likely been times in your prayer life when God seemed absent, unwilling to answer. When those times occur it is essential to honestly share what those moments are like with the Lord. Expressing our innermost thoughts and feelings to God like Heman and David did, enables us to grieve the darkness we find ourselves in. In verse 15 Heman shares more about his suffering,

Psalm 88:15 NIV

From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

This has been a prolonged and intense kind of suffering that has kept Heman close to death. He is able to put a word to his suffering, despair, and this despair comes from the terrors he has endured for so long. Verses 16 and 17 state,

Psalm 88:16–17 NIV

Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.

Heman is in such severe suffering that it feels like God’s wrath is being poured out on him. Terror surrounds him on every side, and he feels completely engulfed and destroyed by the terror he is experiencing. This is similar to how Job felt when he went through his afflictions.

Job 6:4 NIV

The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me.

This is an extremely difficult state of being, one that produces a sense of aloneness. Verse 18,

Psalm 88:18 NIV

You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.

All alone in the dark under what appeared to be God’s wrath. Fortunately Heman continued facing the Lord and crying out to Him in prayer. No matter how bad things got, the psalmist’s faith convinced him that God was his only hope. He trusted God to be his savior and Jesus certainly understands suffering at this level. We know that all of Scripture points to Christ, and Psalm 88 is no different.

Christ in Psalm 88

We recognize Jesus endured significant trials in His life. He was in despair. He cried out to God day and night to the point of sweating blood while in the garden of Gethsemane echoing the psalmist, “For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to death.” He felt the full weight of God’s wrath and the abandonment of His friends while hanging on the Cross. God seemed far away-so far, darkness had become His closest friend. See Jesus stepped into the darkness on our behalf so that we could have the light of righteousness. Jesus took our sins on Himself, on the Cross, and gave us His righteousness. This is the greatest exchange of all time! Jesus said,

John 5:24 NIV

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

Romans 10:9–13 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1 John 3:1 NIV

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Jesus is the Light

Praise the Lord that even on our darkest days there is a light that shines bright and His name is Jesus! May we remember to turn to Him, cry out to Him, Share our deepest pain with Him, grieve the darkness with Him, and trust His promises. In order to trust His promises, we must first remember His promises. With the exception of verse 1 in Psalm 88, “you are the God who saves me…” there is no recollection of God’s promises. And we have seen how this Psalm ends as a result of this absence. Heman felt left to himself completely engulfed by his circumstances, without help or hope that comes from remembering the promises of God. Darkness is not our closest friend because we have a good Father who cherishes us, and will care for His beloved children. We have a Lord and Savior who has promised to never leave us or forsake us. No matter how isolated and forgotten you might feel at times, you are never alone, the Lord is close to the broken hearted. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and

Romans 8:16–18 NIV

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

In conclusion, this is what we learned from our study of Psalm 88

We can cry out to God

knowing that you don't need perfect words; you can simply pour out your heart, and the scriptures remind us that He hears when we cry out.

We can share our deepest pain

we find comfort when we bring our honest pain before the Lord, remembering His faithfulness to us.

We can grieve the darkness

you can honestly lay your deepest struggles before the Lord, knowing He cares, understands, listens, and offers comfort.

We can trust our Savior

Leaning on our Savior brings unwavering peace and direction when we remember His presence, power, and promises.

Let’s pray and thank our God. Father thank you for being the God of all comfort, and help us to remember your goodness and your promises to us. Thank you Jesus for fully identifying with our suffering and always making use of our suffering for your glory and our good. And it is in your precious name we pray, Amen.