Today we reach the very bottom of depression in the Psalter. There is no sadder psalm of unrelieved gloom. From beginning to end the darkness deepens. Well may you ask today, why should we be afflicted with the sorrow of this Son of Korah as he considers death from the other side of Christ's resurrection? Our reason for studying this psalm, is to highlight the necessity of Christ's resurrection through the despair of our psalmist. Before we delve into the sorrows of this man, we would do well to listen to Paul's teaching about the resurrection in his first letter to the Corinthians in Chapter fifteen, verses twelve to nineteen. In these words, Paul answers the deathly despair in this psalm."But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men."
In these verses we have the answer to the theme of the Eighty-eighth Psalm. Now, in the style of a popular game show, we must supply the question. This we will find in the painful prayers of our psalmist. The high point of our psalm is to be found in verse one. The New International Version translation brings out the sense of the original Hebrew which reads: "God of my salvation, I cry out". We may know that Heman the Ezrahite is a believer from this solemn declaration and the earnest nature of his prayer. The subject of this prayer has been regular both day and night and he begs for an answer in verse two. He admits the trouble in his soul in verses three to five. This troublesome question grows as Heman draws near the grave.
The unanswered question has left him in a despair like those who suffer from leprosy. Just as the sufferers of this disease are cast off from society, so our psalmist's emotional troubles set him apart from the crowd. Now this separation may or may not be physical. Some people can be lonely in the midst of a huge crowd. But, why is Heman so set apart and alone? We see in verse six that Heman's emotions mirror those of Jesus on the Cross so many centuries later. This Old Testament saint is submissive even as Christ was submissive. Like Christ on the Cross, Heman feels the fierce wrath of God. He is so overwhelmed by the sense of lostness that he feels he is on the verge of death:
"I am confined and cannot escape; my eyes are dim with grief."
One commentator suggests that the situation described here may be the aftermath of a battle. The wounded have not yet been collected and the battle line has moved on leaving our psalmist to wonder about his fate.
I am reminded of the story of a young man who had a motorcycle accident after he had been drinking heavily. Like many of the reports of after life experiences, he was conscious on the other side. However, unlike those after life experiences reported in the media, this young man was very aware that he was not in paradise. When he returned to consciousness, he imitated the actions of our psalmist in the middle of verse nine:
"I call to you, O Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you."
This young man committed his life to Christ in the first conscious moments he remembered! Now, we cannot know the details of our psalmist's situation. All we have for certain are his prayerful thoughts on the close edge of death. In verse nine, like a little child reaching out for mother, while crying its little heart out, our psalmist reaches out for comfort from our God and our Father. Here in this section we come to the question that burdens the soul of our psalmist. He phrases it in verse ten:
"Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?"
Here in this verse is the second "Selah", a call to stop and meditate. The first was back in verse seven where the psalmist had been completely overwhelmed by the wrath of God. Now he wonders about a concept that is yet to be revealed completely. This concept is the resurrection. It is an unspoken hope here. After all, in these verses we realize the Heman has known the wonders, love, faithfulness and righteous deeds of the Lord in this life. But, now as he is facing death and the loss of those precious moments of God's revelation of Himself, Heman cries out in despair:
"Why, O Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?"
Please note that this is a question and not a statement! The possible utter loss of God's close comfort in this life prompts this heart wringing question of what the Lord will do with His elect when they cross over to the place of death. Heman senses that he has been waiting for that crossing all his life. From his youth he has known affliction and has been close to death. Even as he writes these words his unanswered question causes terror and despair. What will happen when I die? Is that a question that has ever been on your mind? How could you who belong to Christ face death without the hope of resurrection? How could we live a life in service to Christ if there was no resurrection? We see in this psalm the terror of losing hold of what little knowledge we have of God's love, mercy and grace if death is not conquered in Christ's resurrection. The closing verses show what life would really be like if we did not know the answer to the question of our psalmist today!
"Your wrath ... your terrors have destroyed me ... they have completely engulfed me."
In verse seventeen he complains of a constant flood sweeping him away. The psalmist is alone; even his companions and loved ones have been taken away. Darkness begins to close in. Is death to be his closest friend? I wonder if this psalm was dictated on a death bed? If so, he must have had a very pleasant surprise when he crossed over from death to life eternal. The words here show us what death is like without a knowledge of what Jesus Christ has promised for those who belong to Him. In perspective we may see this psalm as a reminder of what Paul tells us in Romans 8: 18-25:
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
Certainly, the glass which we see through is not as dim as that held by our psalmist. Our hopes may be clearer and brighter because we know of the Christ and His promise of eternal life. May that knowledge drive all the darkness of doubts away, both now and forevermore. Amen.
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