23.250 | A Plea For Escape From Despair| Psalms 88:1-18 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

God’s Word for Today

19 Oct 2023

-Psa 88:1-18 ESV

A PLEA FOR ESCAPE FROM DESPAIR

Obviously, the writer is overcome with trials and sees no way out of the situation. Thus in desperation, he prays to God (v.1-2). 

O LORD, God of my salvation,

    I cry out day and night before you.

2 Let my prayer come before you;

    incline your ear to my cry!

Seeing himself at the brink of death, he expressed his despair for being destined for doom (v.3-5). 

3 For my soul is full of troubles,

    and my life draws near to Sheol.

4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

    I am a man who has no strength,

5 like one set loose among the dead,

    like the slain that lie in the grave,

He feels overwhelmed by rejection. He feels as if he has been abandoned alone to die by both God and friends (v.6-8). 

6 You have put me in the depths of the pit,

    in the regions dark and deep.

7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

    and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

8 You have caused my companions to shun me;

    you have made me a horror to them.

He needs God’s saving power urgently. Otherwise, it would be too late(v.9-12).

9     my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O LORD;

    I spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you work wonders for the dead?

    Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,

    or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

These four rhetorical questions he asked need no answer. The answers are obvious, are they not? The psalmist implores to continue to live in order to worship God.

 

Looking back, the writer sees that all his life he has had nothing but suffering, yet God still seems to ignore him. [v.13-15]

13 But I, O LORD, cry to you;

    in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14 O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?

    Why do you hide your face from me?

15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.

In his experience, it seems that God has deliberately attacked him, crushing him with sorrow and taking away from him even the comfort of friends. (v.16-18).

Your wrath has swept over me;

    your dreadful assaults destroy me.

17 They surround me like a flood all day long;

    they close in on me together.

18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;

    my companions have become darkness.

In spite of this, he does not turn away from God, but brings his burden to him daily.[v.13] We realize that the posture of daily praying is what God is after in our lives. It’s the wisdom why God allows us to go through despair. 

 1 O LORD, God of my salvation,

    I cry out day and night before you.

2 Let my prayer come before you;

    incline your ear to my cry!

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