The Psalms in a Season of Prolonged Darkness

Scripture Reading

Psalm 88 NIV84

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. 1 O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. 2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. 3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave. 4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man 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 upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah 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, O Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you. 10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah 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? 13 But I cry to you for help, O Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 Why, O Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me? 15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered 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 my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.

Introduction

We come this evening to a Psalm that is rightly considered to be the darkest Psalm in all of the Scriptures. Indeed, taken as a unit, this text may present for us the darkest single literary unit of text in all of Scripture, apart from portions of the Passion narratives, where Christ is crucified.

But this Psalm teaches important truths as Christians, that very often we are not taught, and to be honest, we don’t like to be taught. We do not like the idea that darkness may be a prolonged experience in our lives.

As those who live with hope (as Scripture teaches us we ought to do) we often think to ourselves that it is out of place for a Christian to go through prolonged depression, or a prolonged season of dark days.

When we see others around us that are struggling or suffering in this way, we may be tempted to think that they are perhaps unspiritual, perhaps backslidden, lacking faith in Christ, or something of the like.

But let me suggest that this is not necessarily the case. The Psalmist in this Psalm cries out from a place of darkness. It is a place of deep darkness. And it is a place of prolonged darkness.

And while typically in the Psalms, they end with some measure of hope being placed in God for a recovery out of this place of darkness, the same certainly cannot be said of Psalm 88, which we consider this evening.

The Psalm presents to us a season of prolonged darkness. As some have called it, the dark night of the soul. One commentator writes...

Psalms, Volume 2: (Psalms 42–106): An Expositional Commentary Psalm 88: The Dark Night of the Soul

What is the dark night of the soul? It is a state of intense spiritual anguish in which the struggling, despairing believer feels he is abandoned by God.

Let me encourage you that if this is your experience, or has been your experience, you are not alone. And I trust that this Psalm, although a dark Psalm, and one that doesn’t paint a wonderful picture of future hope, will be an encouragement to you when you recognise that God is yet in the midst of the storm, and there are those who have gone before you that have experienced this darkness of the soul that you are perhaps enduring even now.

We will consider this text under 7 main points. The first six of those points are taken straight out of the text, and then the seventh will be some commentary on the passage as a whole, with a view to how we should rightly use this Psalm, and be encouraged by it.

The first main point...

1. Crying Out Day and Night (vv.1-2)

In this Psalm, we see the persistence of the cry of the Psalmist as he endures his prolonged struggle. Verses 1-2 read...

Psalm 88:1–2 NIV84

1 O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. 2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.

The opening line of the Psalm could be considered to be the only truly positive expression that is to be found in this Psalm. But it is an important one, and it is yet a cry of faith from the Psalmist.

Even as the Psalmist cries out, he does so to the one that he acknowledges to be the God of his salvation. This is the God that saves him. His faith has not entirely let go, despite the turmoil of his life, and the duration of that turmoil. He still acknowledges that God saves, and God alone saves.

As an encouragement to us, let us be assured that the God we serve is the true and living God. He is the God who saves. He is the only one capable of bringing true salvation to people.

And let me further encourage you, that when you are in the midst of turmoil, this does not change the fact that God is Saviour. Our experiences do not alter the truth of who God is. He is steadfast and certain. He is the unchangeable one. And so, irrespective of the turmoil or depression that you may face in this life, cling to the truth that God is the God of your salvation.

Turning back to our text, we see in verse 1 that the Psalmist cries out day and night before God. Here is a persistent and ongoing cry to God. The indication from the text is that this Psalmist fails to find any respite from his affliction. Rather, the affliction persists.

And his burden is experienced both day and night. He has no rest from this turmoil. Even in the night watches, he is crying out to God for deliverance.

His simple plea is that God would hear him.

“May my prayer come before you.”

“Turn your ear to my cry.”

Already in these words of verse 2, we see that the Psalmist’s experience within his context is that his cries are falling on deaf ears. He has been crying out, and continues to do so, but the sense is that the cries are not heard.

Now, we do need to ask, Is this the truth? Is it true that God was not hearing him in his cries.

It certainly is not the truth of Scripture. We are encouraged through Scripture to know that God hears the cries of his people. We are particularly told that God’s ears are attentive to those who are in distress, and more specifically those who are called by His name, who are in distress.

Psalm 34:15 NASB95

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.

The truth for those who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ is that God always hears our cries. His ears are truly open.

Now again, we must realise that when the Psalmist writes these words, he is speaking out of his own experience. Although he cries out to God, he does not sense a response from God. He continues to face his struggle. But the truth of Scripture is that God truly does hear!

There are times when we will cry out to God, and we will ask for God’s grace and mercy to come upon us. There are times (and sometimes these are long seasons) where we will ask God to remove our afflictions and pains, and yet in his providential working the will be no respite. The struggle continues. The pain and suffering may be prolonged.

But as those in Christ Jesus, those redeemed by His blood, trusting in Him as the God who saves, let us be assured that God will not close his ears to us, despite how we may feel.

The second main point from this text...

2. Crying Out In the Valley of the Shadow of Death (vv.3-5)

The depths of the pain and the struggle of the Psalmist are clearly portrayed in these verses.

Psalm 88:3 NIV84

3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.

The extent of the Psalimst’s troubles have reached such a point that he refers to them as having come to a place of reaching fullness. It’s as if they cannot possibly increase more. That is the sense that he has of his struggles.

He also speask about his life drawing near to the grave. In the original language, the word that is used is Sheol. It was the place in Hebrew thinking where the dead were, almost in a suspended state.

Notice how the Psalmist continues here.

Psalm 88:4–5 NIV84

4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man 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.

So dark is the darkness that the Psalmist sees himself in that he counts himself as though he were dead. He speaks as if does not even experience God’s cognisance of him. He speaks as if God has forgotten him. So alone he feels in his present experience.

While God has never left any person, and his eyes are certainly aware of every person and everything that happens in the world, there are times that a person may have a sense of God not being present. There may be a sense that God does not care.

Even the Psalmist knew well that no person could flee away from God’s presence. But again, this is his experience.

And this is where the Psalmist now finds himself. His struggles are so severe that he has the view that he has almost literally descended into the grave, where the dead are, and are remembered no more!

The third main point from our text is...

3. Crying Out to the One Who Brings Darkness (vv.6-9a)

In these few verses (6-9) the Psalmist will go on to speak about the utter darkness that has swept over him. He speaks about being in the darkest depths…

We know what it is like to be lost in darkness. If anyone can understand the contrasts of darkness and light, it must be the Christian who has been taken out of the place of walking and living in the darkness of sin, and being brought out into the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

But even children can understand what it’s like to be lost in darkness. Put them alone at a young age in a dark room, and you’ll hear their cries. It’s not a pleasant experience. You feel afraid, and alone, and unable to get a sense of direction .

Such is the experience of the Psalmist in this moment.

But it’s even in this circumstance that he makes a very striking observation in this text, and it’s one that often doesn’t sit well with people who believe that God is all-loving, and so loving that he couldn’t possibly bring any kind of pain or hurt or suffering upon any person.

Many atheists / agnostics will cite the presence of suffering in the world as their grounds for believing that God doesn’t exist.

But that’s not the conclusion that should be drawn.

As we look at the Psalmist’s words here in verses 6-8 in particular, we see that he has a different perspective on this. Note that he speaks about God’s hand in these struggles.

V.6 - “You have put me in the lowest pit in the darkest depths...”

v.7 - “Your wrath lies heavily upon me...”

v.7 - “you have overwhelmed me with all your waves...”

v.8 - “you have taken from me my closest friends...”

v.8 - “you have made me an object of loathing (repulsive to them - NIV))...”

What we must keep in mind is that the Psalmist is not accusing God of acting wrongly or in a manner that is out of line with his character and nature. But he is acknowledging that God, whether it be expressly or simply though his allowing it, has providentially brought this to pass.

We see a number of similarities between the Psalmists words here and what Job says as he is afflicted in his own life. One commentator notes...

Psalms, Volume 2: (Psalms 42–106): An Expositional Commentary This Present Darkness

Job was a godly man whom God blessed with a large family and many possessions. Suddenly these were all taken from him. His life became so miserable that he condemned the day he was born, stared death in the face, and prepared to perish miserably.

This is very much where the Psalmist finds himself at this time, although we don’t find any record of the Psalmist having had the abundance that Job did previously. But even Job acknowledged that God’s hand was involved in his struggles.

Job 1:20–22 NIV84

20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

From our position in history, we know that God certainly had a hand in these struggles, and what it was that God was doing. But Job never understood why he faced the struggles that he did. He had not committed sin on his part. He was not living in disobedience to God. In fact, much of the prompting of his circumstances was his very righteousness!! And yet, his trial was severe.

So we find in the case of this Psalmist. Although we don’t know all that has taken place in his life, it certainly seems as though he is calling out to God perpetually, and seeking to live in a manner pleasing to God. And yet he finds himself in deep darkness.

Let us be encouraged that struggles in this life are not necessarily a punishment for sin. And for many of the struggles that we face in this life, we may never know the precise reasoning behind those struggles.

But let us be sure that there is a purpose in the wisdom and providential working of God. And He is God. And He is to be praised even in the midst of the struggles.

In the case of Job, God’s purposes are known to us. We, in hindsight, have a glimpse into the fact that primarily, Job’s suffering was to demonstrate to Satan and the demons that Job would serve God, irrespective of his material abundance or lack thereof. He would continue to worship God even if everything was taken away.

Even if we never understand the full reasons for our own suffering, let us be encouraged that God is working out his plans and purposes.

Fourthly from our text...

4. Crying Out with a Temporal Perspective (vv.9b-12)

The New International Version (1984) Psalm 88

I call to you, O LORD, every day;

I spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah

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?

In these few verses, the Psalmist is crying out from the perspective that if he were to go to the grave, then he would no longer be able to sing the praises of God.

It almost appears as if the Psalmist is looking at life with no view or understanding of the afterlife. He speaks as though there is no resurrection from the dead.

In one sense, it is true that the Jewish people in the Old Testament had a far dimmer view and appreciation of life after death. But it certainly was not absent from their theology!

But what the psalmist does here is speak from the perspective of the congregation in this world. The fact is that when a person goes to the grave, they no longer are able to sing the praises of god in the assembly of the people of God.

Derek Kidner writes...

Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary Death’s Alien Land (88:10–12)

From the standpoint of God’s congregation and his glory in the world, all that is said here is true. It is among the living that his miracles are performed, his praises sung, his constancy and acts of deliverance exhibited. Death is no exponent of his glory. Its whole character is negative: it is the last word in inactivity, silence (10), the severing of ties, corruption (Abaddon, 11), gloom, oblivion (12). The New Testament concurs, calling it the last enemy. Not death but resurrection is his goal; the psalmist’s indignant queries allow no satisfying answer short of this.

James Montgomery Boice adds:

Psalms, Volume 2: (Psalms 42–106): An Expositional Commentary No Praises from the Dead

Nothing is to be gained by denying this. It is not the whole truth; we know much more because of the New Testament and its revelation. But it is at least part of the truth and therefore rightly has its niche in Scripture.

Further to this, we must recognise that the Psalmist is here calling upon God to remember his character and nature. He is appealing to the character of God in order to encourage God to hear his prayers.

This thinking and rhetorical questioning was common in the mind of the people of the ancient near east.

But we can also learn through this. We’ve already seen something of this in our own study of the Psalms thus far, that there is an appropriate time to recall the promises of God, and to pray them to him, even asking him to answer according to that which he has promised.

If we find ourselves in the valley of depression and in the season of prolonged darkness, we do well to call to mind the promises of God, and to pray those promises to God, and ask him to answer according to His word.

Fifthly from our passage...

5. Crying Out into the Disconcerting Silence (vv.13-14)

These next two verses have the Psalmist expressing how apparently silent God is in the midst of his suffering. Despite his crying out day and night, and despite the duration of his cries, there truly seems to be no answer from God. In fact, his present experience is even that perhaps God has rejected him.

Psalm 88:13–14 NIV84

13 But I cry to you for help, O Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you. 14 Why, O Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?

He offers up continual prayers, but it appears that there is no answer. He cries out to God, but there is no response. There is no change in his circumstances. There is no respite from the suffering that he faces. Instead, he cries out as if to heavens that that are closed off.

Have you ever experienced such a time of crying out to God, and just having the sense that God is not hearing you? As you continue in your struggle as a believer, as a very child of God, your mind lingers with the nagging concern that if God is not answering you, can you truly be his child? Has he rejected you?

The truth is that God will never abandon his children, and those who in repentance and faith keep on crying out to him, remain always his children. Remember that we are held in the powerful hand of God. Our salvation does not depend upon our own sheer will.

As we continue in our text, our sixth main point is...

6. Crying Out Through A lifetime of Pain (vv.15-18)

In these verses, we find that the Psalmist has been crying out for many years. As time as passed by, and as he has cried out to God, things seem to have changed little, and he finds himself in a place of despair.

Psalm 88:15–18 NIV84

15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered 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 my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.

And so ends the Psalm. It ends on a note of despair, with no words of hope and courage. The Psalmist doesn’t say that he is confident that God is going to suddenly change his circumstances. If he’s learned anything in his life, it’s that despite crying out to God, there has been no change.

His experience is simply that the wrath of God has washed over him, and the terrors of God have destroyed him. Darkness is his closest friend!

Utter despair, dear friends. That’s where this Psalmist finds himself.

With all this in mind, my seventh point...

7. Crying Out And Not Dispairing

How do we take such a Psalm and gain encouragement and hope. You might ask the question, why even come to such a Psalm to address or speak to people that are struggling with depression. Will this not drive the poor souls that are despairing into a far deeper pit?

That is a potential risk. But I do believe that there is some measure of encouragement to those who are struggling with this weariness of soul.

The first encouragement is the fact that this very Psalm is recorded for us in the Scriptures. In his grace and wisdom, God has seen it fit to include a Psalm that shows us that he allows such times of suffering. If every Psalm always ended with a word of hope, where would that leave those who truly did suffer long in their pain? Surely they would be completely devastated. But God teaches us in his word, that such prolonged darkness is something that will take place, even in the lives of his own people.

Note also that the Psalmist here, although he was in a place of deep darkness, didn’t neglect his crying out to God. Although he had cried out for many years, and God had not answered, he persisted in his prayers, one of which is recorded in Psalm 88. Here is the encouragement to us… even if you don’t have your prayers immediately answered, or even answered after many years of prayer, do not give up on prayer. In fact, is this not the place where you are invited to cry out into the bosom of your loving father?!

But then as we consider this Psalm and the way in which it is written. As we look at the perspective of the Psalmist, where life appeared to be a continual struggle, we must see that within this life, Christ’s journey to calvary was nothing less.

Christ faced continual struggles in this world. He was born into lowly circumstances. From the very outset of his ministry, he faced strong opposition. He faced all manner of rejection and suffering. Isaiah brings that out quite clearly.

If anything, his suffering and pain intensified towards his last hours. All of this reached a climactic point in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ was in such anguish that he sweated drops of blood.

Christ has endured all of this suffering and pain and hardship.

Isaiah 53:3 NASB95

3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Christ endured much suffering, even as the holy one of God!

You are not alone in your sufferings. You are not alone, even as you face depression and hurt.

In fact, the Scriptures are filled with examples of those who faced depression. David; Elijah the prophet, who said to God that he wants to die.

“We only need to be driven up into a corner, as Elijah was, and our folly will be discovered as was his; he ought to have prayed to live, yet he prayed that he might die.” “In the time of testing, you also will be as weak as other men.” [Eswine, Zack. Spurgeon's Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who suffer from depression (p. 103). Christian Focus Publications. Kindle Edition.]

But moving on from this, we must also realise that there is a future hope for Christians. Even though Christ suffered immensely in this world, and the pain of that suffering was great; Even though Paul suffered immensely in this world, and was afflicted, in his words, beyond what he could bear; there was a particular hope.

This was what kept Christ enduring… Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Christ endured the cross for the joy that was set before him…

Paul said that for him to live was Christ and to die was gain. He looked forward to his resurrection body.

And we too must keep our eyes fixed on Christ, and fixed on the hope that is to come.

That does not necessarily take away the pain of the struggle in the present hope, but we cannot lose sight of all the Scriptures teach us.

In the midst of all of this, we are called to cling to the hope that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Romans 8:35–39 NASB95

35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Conclusion

Words of encouragement…

To those who do not struggle with depression…

Do not be quick to judge those who do struggle with depression. And do not be too quick to judge the cause of the depression. The cause could be anything from overwhelming circumstances, to injustices in life to, relationship struggles, to the loss of dearly loved ones, to a deep struggle with sin and guilt. It is also true that some people are just more prone within their nature to being more downcast.

We are called, as the church, to encourage one another, and to come alongside one another. We are called to live in harmony with each other, bearing each others burdens. Let us do that to the best of our ability.

To those who do struggle with depression…

Firstly, know that you are not alone. And be encouraged to not stay alone and suffer in your own silence. As the church, we must be there to encourage and support you. If you are struggling with depression, the worst thing that you can do for yourself (and probably the first thing that you’ll want to do) is to isolate yourself, and sink further into your darkness. Let me encourage you, speak to an elder, or someone within the body that you trust, and let us help you bear your burden.

As we’ve seen this evening, the Scriptures do not promise absolutely that you will be taken out of your struggles in this life.

But the Scriptures do provide provide ultimate hope.

God love his people, even those who are struggle with doubts and fears and prolonged seasons of darkness.

In closing, I quote Kyle Johnston as he points us once again to Jesus:

“Christians know that Jesus took the ultimate darkness of God’s wrath.” In our pain and depression, we may feel that God has abandoned us—but he hasn’t. Because Jesus went into the deepest darkness for us, God, the Father, will now always be with us in whatever darkness we face. And so our Father is with us, even when we can’t feel Him. He is with us in the dark so that we can talk to Him, and we can wait for Him—persevering through sorrow in prayer.

May God grant us the grace and strength to do this!