A reflection on Psalm 88 for Sunday, March 14 2021 at Mosaic Baptist Church
O Lord, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
I am like those who have no help,
like those forsaken among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?
Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your dread assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long;
from all sides they close in on me.
You have caused friend and neighbour to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.
Psalm 88 (NRSVA)
Psalm 88, and others passages of lament can be difficult to read. Our culture is not one that embraces suffering and sorrow. We shun and bury sadness.
We are not practiced in lament.
Of course, the Bible invites us into a very different space. Jeremiah was know as the ‘weeping prophet’. His prophecies come to us through a broken heart. The little book named ‘Lamentations’ is another example of a weeping soul brought before God.
The Psalms also embrace – and give us words – for times of sorrow, loss, and lament. Such seasons can, of course, bring us closer to God. They can also have the opposite effect and cause us to recoil from prayer.
These are, however, good times for us to consciously turn to the Psalms of lament. Whether we are left speechless – or with abundant words of complaint – these Psalms can give us words, permission, and companions. They can remind us that we are not the first to know heart-ache.
Psalm 88 is a especially potent. It begins with an affirmation of God’s presence:
O Lord, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.
This prayer is not denying that God is near.
Although the psalmist twice points to the ‘wrath’ of God in this translation, there is no confession of sin. This is not a Psalm of repentance. Nothing here points to a link between suffering and sin.
Yet, this poet does suffer. There is comparison here to the the experience of death. Friends seem to be lost. The writer cries out continually – ‘night’ and ‘morning’ seem to cover the entire day. There is desperation.
Perhaps we imagine physical suffering. Perhaps there is profound loss. Is this a reference to some kind of disaster or the experience of war?
Fortunately, we do not know the exact circumstances. It gives us license to apply this lament widely – to bring our own pain to the prayer – and to God.
There are two additional characteristics of this Psalm worth noting. First, this Psalm, like many, includes the term Selah. We believe it is a musical term -pointing to something like an instrumental break.
There is space allowed in this lament.
Second, this psalm is not resolved. The Psalm does not take us on a journey from lament to joy. Psalm 88 remains in sorrow. Prayer has not bought an instant-fix. There is no miracle before the prayer ends. It invites us to bring our complaint before God – but this has not promised resolution or the removal of suffering.
And yet, the Psalm – and others like it (consider Psalm 130, 42-43, 10) – invite us to bring our complaint to God in faith.
They invite us to believe that God knows what God is doing – even when we do not.
Conversation Starters:
Do you agree that we are a culture prone to avoid lament? If so, what are the ways we avoid sadness?
How significant is it to recognise in this Psalm that suffering and sin are not always linked?
In what circumstances can you imagine turning to Psalm 88 for inspiration in prayer? What would it look like to embrace this lament for yourself? For another? For a suffering community?
How do you respond to the unresolved nature of Psalm 88 and the other lament Psalms mentioned here? Does this inspire you to – or discourage you from – prayer?