Slices
Prepare
What is your mood like today? Tell God how you are feeling – about life, about the things ahead of you, and about spending time with him. Don’t be afraid to be honest (he already knows).
Bible passage
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 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.
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?
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 neighbour –
darkness is my closest friend.
Explore
For many believers, times of deep despair and depression can be a persistent part of life. The psalmist here is clearly in a dark season and has experienced suffering and sorrow since his youth (v 15). His struggles surround him, his friends have abandoned him and even God feels distant.
Yet look at his faith, even in the midst of this torment: although his trust in God is deeply shaken, still it is to God he turns. He knows God is the only person who can save him (v 1). And he knows God is in control. He says, ‘You have put me in the lowest pit … you have overwhelmed me’ (vs 6,7, emphasis added).
He also appeals to God’s glory (vs 10–12). This is a similar appeal to the ones Moses makes in Exodus 32:11–14 and 33:15,16 – God’s reputation is at stake. If for no other reason, he should save his people so they can witness to his goodness.
It is not sinful to feel sad or despairing. This psalm reminds us that in our darkest moments we can still speak honestly to God and call on him to help us.
Respond
If you are feeling low or suffering, write an honest prayer expressing how you feel. Pray for those you know who are suffering, particularly those prone to depression.
Deeper Bible study
‘Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.’1
Globally, we are going through one of the most difficult periods we can remember with the Covid-19 pandemic. The challenges we face in our workplaces, churches and homes are 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 (vs 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.
Remember that in the darkness of life, we need God even more. We can always believe his promise that he will never leave nor forsake us.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Deuteronomy 23,24; Romans 5
Pray for Scripture Union
Praise the Lord for the new Bible engagement resource called Family Quest produced by SU in English speaking Canada. Pray that this engaging, interactive, experiential activity will connect parents and children with the Bible and each other.
