Saturday in the Word | The Beauty in our Hurts

“The only friend I have left is Darkness…”is how Heman the Ezrahite chose to close his psalm of pain. Psalm 88 has been painted as the darkest corner of the Psalms. A friend once observed how the psalms are a journal of our human experience—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Being human is hard, after all.

Heman, a Levite musician appointed by David, is said to have been known for his wisdom and musical talent. Heman is the grandson of Samuel the prophet. His name is said to mean “trusted.”

In Psalm 88, we encounter a different side of him—a side grappling with deep despair. He speaks to all of us through his lament—a stark, unvarnished plea to God that is bulleted with pain and stretched thin due to the heaviness of his unrelieved suffering. Psalm 88 describes the most dismal spiritual and psychological darkness.

It’s hard to see the beauty in our hurts.

Mahalath Leannoth, found in the subtitle, is an old Hebrew term meaning “to afflict”. It refers to the affliction that this psalm portrays. In Psalm 88 we encounter genuine affliction, seemingly beyond repair, but for God.

In a powerful example of how we should respond in times of trouble, Heman recounts his troubles and takes them to the Lord, whom he views as the ultimate source of his trouble as well as its ultimate solution. Heman believes his rescue is coming through God’s direct help. Inspired by God, Heman recorded his distorted thoughts and feelings for future generations so that we can turn to God for help as well.

No fracture is isolated, and no healing is solitary.

Makato Fujimura

When we find ourselves not in our right mind, we can distort reality as we recount the past, understand the present, and anticipate the future.

God, you’re my last chance of the day. I spend the night on my knees before you. Put me on your salvation agenda; take notes on the trouble I’m in. I’ve had my fill of trouble; I’m camped on the edge of hell. I’m written off as a lost cause, one more statistic, a hopeless case. Abandoned as already dead, one more body in a stack of corpses, And not so much as a gravestone— I’m a black hole in oblivion. You’ve dropped me into a bottomless pit, sunk me in a pitch-black abyss. I’m battered senseless by your rage, relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger. You turned my friends against me, made me horrible to them. I’m caught in a maze and can’t find my way out, blinded by tears of pain and frustration. I call to you, God; all day I call. I wring my hands, I plead for help. Are the dead a live audience for your miracles? Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you? Does your love make any difference in a graveyard? Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell? Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark, your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory? I’m standing my ground, God, shouting for help, at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak. Why, God, do you turn a deaf ear? Why do you make yourself scarce? For as long as I remember I’ve been hurting; I’ve taken the worst you can hand out, and I’ve had it. Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life; I’m bleeding, black-and-blue. You’ve attacked me fiercely from every side, raining down blows till I’m nearly dead. You made lover and neighbor alike dump me; the only friend I have left is Darkness.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭88‬ The Message Bible‬‬

Just as Heman trusted God for his deliverance from his troubles, so can we. Friend, I don’t know what you’re going through right now. Rest assured—be confident—that you matter to God and to those who love you.

We don’t lament well. I think, as Christians, we can learn a lot from our predecessors. They can teach us a thing or two about how to grieve in a righteous, God-honoring way.

Pray through this psalm as you read it. May you be encouraged by its wisdom. God is for you, not against you.

Thanks for reading, my friend. Until my next post…

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

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References:

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ps 88:1–9). Lexham Press.

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., Whitehead, M. M., Grigoni, M. R., & Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ps 88:title). Lexham Press.