Introduction: Suffering is no stranger to humanity. Millions of people are trapped
in human trafficking. Countless suffer from a physical, mental, or emotional
disability that ostracizes them from society. The stress of losing a job,
paying debts, natural disasters, broken relationships, unmet longings, or the
loss of a loved one plague us on a daily basis. It has been observed in Bible
resource books and commentaries, that the 88th Psalm is the most mournful of
all the psalms. According to Barnes this Psalm is “altogether of a mournful and
desponding character”. Adam Clarke describes Psalms 88 in this way “this Psalm
is the earnest prayer of a person in deep distress, abandoned by his friends
and neighbors, and apparently forsaken of God”. Matthew Henry calls “the entire
is mourning and woe.”
Every word in this Psalm is literally heartbreaking, and the Psalmist
of this Psalm literally does not want to continue living and wanted to die V:
15. The root of his problem stems from
his youth, v. 15. We are not sure what his affliction was, but we only can
assume by the words he spoke in verses 3-7; 8-9; 15-18 that leprosy might be
the cause for his sufferings. One thing is sure the Psalmist was very defeated,
discouraged and deeply depressed due to the affliction he went through. Uncertainty,
hopeless future (V.1-7; v.3-4), and loneliness (v: 8) literally deteriorated
his life. Verses 9-12 say he was without foundation and had nothing to hold on
to. He feels that even all his reaching
out to the Lord for help has been in vain. Dear friends are you in the same
situation? Have you fallen into the depths of despair? Do you feel lonely and
abandoned by your friends and relatives? This Psalm poses challenges to the
hurting saints and hope to all those who are in hopeless condition. Let us
learn together about the challenges that this Psalm gives to the suffering
saint.
I. DON’T STOP PRAYING (VS:
1, 2, 9, 13): The first challenge and the hope for
the suffering servant that we learn from this Psalm is prayer. The prayer of
the Psalmist in this Psalm teaches us how to pray. First, the Psalmist even
in the midst of all his problems kept calling the Lord his God. Verses 1, 9,
and 13 say that he prayed unto God
continually. Dear friend, don’t give up, the Word of God encourages us to
pray incessantly. The Psalmist in Psalms 55: 16-17 says, “As for me, I will
call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he
shall hear my voice.” Second, the Psalmist didn’t pray
just like that instead he poured his heart or in other words he prayed with the
burden. In verse 1 the Psalmist says I “cry” and in verse 9 the he says “My
eyes were worn out from crying”. This gives us the picture of a small child who
pesters his or her parents until they give heed to its cry. As a little child,
the Psalmist reached up to the Lord and cried at His feet until his prayers are
answered. In Hebrews 4: 15-16 we read
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and
find grace to help in time of need.” The throne of grace is open to us
therefore let us approach it to obtain grace and the help in time of our need. Third,
we learn the Psalmist directed his prayer toward God and God
alone. He called out to God Who hears
and answers the prayers of His saints. The Word of God encourages us in this
way “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” 1 Peter
5:7. The Word of God further says “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray
about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ” Philippians
4:6-7 (NLT). Our God is the God who can do the impossible, any time and in any
place.
II. DON’T STOP PERSEVERING:
The second challenge is perseverance; there is no hint throughout this Psalm
that God spoke or answered the prayer of the Psalmist. The Psalmist continued
or persevered in his prayers even though there was no answer for his prayer
from God. It is baseless to argue that God completely ignored this man on the
basis of God’s silence. It simply means that God chose not to answer here. We
are told that the Psalmist does begin to question God’s silence, v. 14. It is
hard to go forward when it seems that the heavens have turned to brass! Still,
he never gives up! Do you think that your prayers for deliverance are
unanswered? Remember God did not answer a single one of Job’s questions however
his perseverance was rewarded by what the “Lord finally brought about” (James
5:11). Abraham, too, waited patiently and “received what was promised” (Hebrews
6:15). Jesus is our model in all things, and He demonstrated patient endurance:
“Who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Perseverance is
the only criteria to measure our faith in God’s timing, omnipotence, and love. Therefore, dear friends no matter how hard
the winds blow, God is Ruler of the winds.
No matter how rough the sea becomes, He is still the Master of the sea!
So, even when God does not answer you, keep on looking to Him! Persist in your faith and it will pay
dividends in His time! Never give up!
III. DON’T STOP PRAISING: Praising is not merely shouting, to be true there is no spirituality
in shouting. The Word of God defines the term “Praise” beautifully. The book of
Psalms (sacred songs) is well-known for its focus on praising God. The Hebrew
word for “praise” is YADAH, which means to praise, give thanks, or confess. Apart
from the word “YADAH”, there are multiple Hebrew words that can be translated
as “praise,” and it does not necessarily just have one definition. For example,
there are two different Hebrew words for “praise” in Psalm 149:3: “Let them
praise [halal] His name with the dance; Let them sing praises [zamar] to Him
with the timbrel and harp.” Halal means to praise, glorify, boast, commend,
etc., and zamar means to make music or sing praises. In all of these instances,
praising God is simply giving Him the recognition He deserves. One way we can
define what we mean by praising God is to consider the end result. The end
result of giving God praise is to exalt Him and His name.
Here in this Psalm in Verse: 1 the Psalmist exalted God’s name and
called Him as his Savior. He calls out to “The God of his SALVATION!” No matter
how dark the valley, how deep the trial, or how difficult the way, He is still
God of our Salvation and we are to exalt His name and confess Him that He is
our Savior. Exalting the Lord our Savior may not do with our pain but it will
bring us into the Lord’s presence Psalms 22:3. In this Psalm the Psalmist cried
bitterly, wept and emptied his heart of bitterness of sorrow and called on the
name of the Lord His Savior and offered up thanksgiving for all He has done for
Him. Similarly, you also: cry as the Psalmist did in this Psalm, weep, empty
your heart of the bitterness of sorrow; call on the Lord and offer up
thanksgiving for all He has done for you! In His time and in His Own way, He
will lift your burdens, “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain you:
He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved,” Psalms 55:22.
Conclusion: Sometimes life hurts. When
it does, we need to do as the Psalmist did in this passage. We need to keep on
praying, keep on persevering, and keep on praising. It may not always change
the situation, but it can change us in the situations we face in life. C. S.
Lewis once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our
conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf
world.” Sometimes life hurts, but when it does, there is help and hope for
those who know the Lord!
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