A Song or Psalm for the Sons of Korah, to the Chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil, of Heman the Ezrahite
O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee.
Let my prayer come before thee; incline thine ear unto my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
I am counted with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength.
Free among th dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more, and they are cut off from thy hand.
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up and I cannot come forth.
Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
LORD why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up; while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; they terrors have cut me off.
They came round about me daily like water, they compassed me about together.
Lover and friend hast thou put far from me; and mine acquaintance into darkness.
In verse 18 we read "You have taken from me friend and neighbour - darkness is my closest friend" (NIV). This is where this psalmist is - depression is one of the most common complaints among people today. It is not a physical illness that makes the headlines such as cancer or heart problems but even amongst the most famous of people we hear so many who have known deep depression in their lives. For this psalmist he had known it for a long time in his life (verse 15). And you know that is true for a lot of people - they can know life long bouts of depression. But as a Christian is this still the case? It seemed to be for the psalmist and yes if we are honest as Christians I think we all could admit to having times when things seem bleak and despairing. It may be for a short period of time due to circumstances in life or illness, maybe for longer. But God intends to comfort us by helping us to reflect on his word today. That gives so much hope. It is as if God is saying to us "I know you and I know your struggles, I am showing you that you aren't the only one who feels this way."
Courtney Reissig in her book Teach Me To Feel explains that the origin of despair is as varied as the genetic makeup of every person - a chemical imbalance in the brain or a relational difficulty, or a change or lack of change in circumstances or physical suffering, or a combination of all those things.
Sometimes there is just no explanation for despair. Reading that last paragraph back I recognise some of the times when I personally despaired. For me it was the lack of change in circumstances. And at times it still haunts me. For me it is in relation to friendships and relationships. In our service on Sunday night past our preacher described how Christ calls us to follow him. But we are saved to serve. As a Christian it is our responsibility to witness and tell others of Christ. For me that begs the question - but what happens if there is no response, today, tomorrow, next week? This is the despair I have known and not for mere days but years. Continually trying to live my life as a living epistle before others as scripture tells me and seeing no results for it. Sometimes there is a glimmer of hope but other times the despair is relentless. I am sure a lot of ministers and preachers must feel it - knowing that you are preaching week in and week out and the people are just dead to all that is being said. I long to have friends who are Christians - isn't that awful to say that - in a church full of people who know Christ personally and yet how many friends do I have that I see week after week? Friends that I could call during the week and have a good talk with them about the scripture I am reading or things that have happened in my life that speak to me about my Christian faith. It is a sad reality that we are in the minority today - at work, in our homes and yes even in our church situations. The most notable thing about the early Christian church was that they had love for each other. I wish that could be seen today in our world and in our churches.
This psalm is known as the darkest psalm of the psalter but it is actually a psalm to be sung. Most of the psalms were written as songs for the children of Israel to sing during worship. Here in the opening words we read that this is both a song and a psalm. Imagine singing this in our churches on a Sunday morning. This is known as a lament psalm and usually they follow a certain pattern:
a cry to God
a complaint about circumstances
a turning point of trust
then praise for deliverance
Except in this psalm you find something absent - there is no turning point of trust. The psalm ends in darkness. Look at Psalm 55 for example. In the first 4 verses you see David's feelings expressed as he earnestly asks God to listen to him. Then in verse 5 we see his fear. In verse 7 he fantasizes about flying away and being at peace. In verse 12 we see his frustration but then suddenly in verse 16 we see David's faith come to the surface - "As for me I will call upon God and the Lord will save me." This is the turning point of trust. David continues by praising God in the remaining verses of the psalm.
Psalm 88 however is different. There is despair - through physical suffering, relational suffering and even depression of the mind. It is dark and there is no resolution - no "but" comes anywhere in this psalm.
Is there comfort in this psalm? Yes. Just look at verse 1 "my salvation", verse 2 "let my prayer come before thee", verse 9 "I have called daily upon thee", verse 13 "unto thee have I cried O LORD".
It is hard to deal with someone who is going through a time of depression. Usually we avoid them. However this psalm shows that we should actually encourage that person to continue to trust in God and to cry out to him during those times of sorrow and despair. We may be able to come alongside them but no words need to be spoken, simply sit with them and pray in their presence asking God to open their hearts to him.
What is the context of this psalm? It was written by a man called Heman the Ezrahite. He is mentioned in 1 Kings 4 verse 31. There we see him described as a wise man or in our modern day an intellectual man. But Solomon was wiser than Heman. Proverbs 9 verse 10 reminds us that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Heman was a very godly man and a very wise man. But he was in the depths of despair. Maybe you are in the same position as Heman. Your faith speaks volumes to others but you cannot seem to shake off this feeling of hopelessness and despondency. Look at Heman's feelings in Psalm 88 -
verse 3 - he feels afraid and anxious
verse 8 - he is lonely
verses 9 to 12 - he feels as though no-one is listening to him
verse 18 - he feels despair
This is not the kind of person who we think should have a crisis of faith and yet scripture records it all. Why? To bring comfort for others who may feel despair. Remember - your despair is not a commentary on your faith or standing before the Lord.
Heman feels something else - he is certain about God's sovereignty over his suffering. He makes it clear that he knows who is responsible for his despair - God. Look at verses 6 to 9
"Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them; I am shut up and I cannot come forth. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction; Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee."
He recognises that all he is going through comes from the sovereign, unfathomable hand of God. He cries out "it is you who has done this God." I am sure he was confused. It only adds to his grief. But knowing this gives him hope - he cannot change his circumstances but he can ask God to do that for him. The only reason Heman can cry out to God is because he knows God and he knows that God is the only one who can save him - verse 1. He knows where or rather to whom he can turn. He knows God is in control and he knows he can cry out to God.
This is the amazing thing about the Psalms. It appeals to what is true and what we have been promised even when all around us is telling us a different story.
The rest of Psalm 88 tells us about real life and how we can respond to it.
Look at verses 10 to 12 "Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?" Basically what Heman is saying is this - "I know I am meant to praise you but I cannot do it when I am dead so help me now.!
In his darkness Heman does not stop praying. He does not stop being honest. Maybe you will not get relief now and you don't see any solution to your problems but you can still cry out to God as Heman did day and night - verses 1, 9 and 13.
You know sometimes despair and depression may stay with us for a very long time, maybe even for a lifetime. We can know only darkness for a long period of time. There is no tidy solution to our problems but remember - you are not alone. This psalm ends with darkness, not light.
As Courtney says in her book "we live in a broken world where all manner of things lead to depression and despair. God did not originally design the world to be full of suffering and sin."
If we turn back to Psalms 1 and 2 we are told what is promised and what is to come. For the present we are waiting for Christ to return and make all things new. Until then even the godliest Christians feel despair or struggle with depression.
This is a psalm of unanswered prayers. But we are not alone - God walks beside us and provides help and comfort when we need it most. We are not the first to feel despair and we will not be the last.
"There are years that ask questions and there are years that answer" Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
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