A Cry Of Desperation

INTRO

We can interact with Scripture in a number of different ways: we can study Scripture; we can sing Scripture (which is commanded in Scripture); we can meditate on Scripture; we can simply read Scripture; we can pray Scripture back to God; we can hear Scripture when others read it. Originally, more people would listen to the Word of God rather than reading it. We can memorize Scripture. This one is often missed—we’re commanded to write out Scripture in Deuteronomy 17:18. Another way we can interact with Scripture is speed reading in order to get volume in. Varying the way that we interact with Scripture can help us grow spiritually.

TEACHING

Psalm 88:1-9: This psalm is universally known as the dark psalm—the saddest in Scripture. Verse 1 contains the most positive statement in the psalm, “You are the God who saves me.” The psalmist asked God to listen to his cries (v. 2). He could have asked God to save him or to speak to him, but he simply asked God to listen to him. The great thing about God is that when He’s not speaking, He’s listening.

The psalmist was overwhelmed to the point that he felt like he was dying (v. 3). His reference to the pit was a reference to Sheol or the grave (v. 4). He was without strength (v. 4). He felt forgotten and cut off from God (v. 5). He felt God had placed him in the lowest pit (v. 6), and felt the heaviness of God’s wrath (v. 7). Grief often comes in waves, sometimes minute by minute, to overwhelm us. He was lonely (v. 8). He could not escape his grief (v. 9a). But he called out to God every day (v. 9b) to tell Him how he felt.

Psalm 88:10–14: The psalmist wanted to know if God’s wonders could be known by someone who was dead (v. 10). Could someone facing such despair and darkness know God’s love and faithfulness (vv. 11–12). Despite his grief, the psalmist cried out to God for help through his prayers each morning (v. 13). He wanted to know why God had rejected him by hiding His face (v. 14). Now the psalmist is asking, “Why?”

Psalms 88:15–18: Not only did this person declare his despair, he stated this had been his lot in life—since he was a young man, he had suffered and been close to death (v. 15). He had lived in terror so long that he felt destroyed by it (vv. 15–16).

This psalm sounds so different from the other psalms. While other psalms talk about going through difficulties, almost every psalm has a “but you, God” moment when the psalmist turned and started to praise God in the midst of those difficulties. But this psalm never does that. This is a very real experience for many, many Christians. Most every Christian goes through moments like this at some time in his/her life. It may last a few minutes or a few hours or a few days, but for some, it lasts for an awfully long time. Sometimes they experience times of utter hopelessness.

We may be familiar with prayer patterns such as ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) and PRAY (Praise, Repent, Act/Ask, Yield), but we’ll never see this as a prayer pattern. Even when all hope was gone, when he was in the depth of despair, this psalmist cried out to God every single day. The one crucial thing in this psalm is this psalmist was committed to keeping on praying and talking to God in the depths of his despair.

Let’s compare Psalm 88 with Psalm 22. As you read Psalm 22:1–15, it is so obvious that this psalm describes the crucifixion. It describes everything Jesus went through, from His thirst to His bones being out of joint on the cross, to being forsaken by God. One of the encouragements from this is that no matter what we go through in this life, Jesus has experienced it. He’s experienced every weakness, every bit of hopelessness, especially the suffering on the cross. When we go through these times, there’s a fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. There’s a closeness we have to God, having gone through the suffering, that we could never have experienced before.

CLOSING

If you’re going through a time of hopelessness, cry out to God—it will not be the end. Keep crying out to God. Get someone around you who can pray for you. Psalm 88 is so useful to us because it’s such a good example of what is available to us today.