Psalm 88 - 3.1.2024
Scripture - Pick one verse that stood out to you.
Psalm 88:1
Lord, you are the God who saves me;
Observation - What about this verse stands out to you?
I was drawn to this verse, Lord, because I am ashamed to admit I felt I did need saving…from my own company. The familiar song and dance of my annual performance reviews have come and gone. The dejection and cries of injustice had set in. And then You met me in Psalm 88.
Psalm 88 is one of the most somber songs I have encountered in the bible. While I could sympathize with a portion of the mood, I could not match the poet Heman’s depth of life circumstances, longing for God, and humble perspective.
Lord, I feel like you showed me what an actual deep pit might look like.
Lord, I feel like you showed me the way a man of God responds.
The Keil and Delitzsch Bible Commentary explains psalm 88:
The poet finds himself in the midst of circumstances gloomy in the extreme, but he does not despair; he still turns towards Jahve with his complaints, and calls Him the God of his salvation.
Application - How will you apply this to your life?
I will not despair. Nor will I blame God for my circumstance! In my prayer today I will turn to God with my complaints. Yes I will still do that. But God will still be my salvation! And I will stretch out my hands towards God!
Prayer - Write out a prayer.
Father-God, Lord Almighty, God of Mercy, God of Peace, God of Justice, God of Salvation, God of Love, I call out to you this morning in my prayer! I stretch my hands out to you! Thank you for this Psalm this morning. Thank you for your poet and singer Heman the musician. Thank you for my family. Thank you for my friends. Thank you for my…job. Thank you for the increase I did receive. Thank you for Your Word! The next time I find myself in a pit, please remind me of psalm 88!
In the name of Jesus do I pray, amen.
-kenneth lee
Psalm 88
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 neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
