Thoughts for the Day

A Psalm of the Korahites. A Maskil of Heman.

O Lord, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.

For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
I am like those who have no help,
like those forsaken among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves...

Every day I call on you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise you?...

But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Do you sometimes wake in the night with your thoughts stuck in replay - thinking about world tensions, your own health or that of a loved one, or perhaps some difficult issue at work? Somehow all seems worse at night. So it's not easy to look at Psalm 88, for it's the saddest of psalms. But there is much we can learn and apply to our own life.

The psalm is written by Heman a member of the Korahites - a division of the tribe of Levi who produced sacred music before the Lord (2 Chronicles 20.19). He is one of King David's three great leaders of sacred choral and orchestral music, whose families helped to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. We don't know why he is so immensely sad, but we should remember that for Hebrews 'Sheol' is the place for the dead, where humanity's enemy the devil, exists. It's considered his hunting ground, the gates are barred and no praise of God is heard. One theologian described its gates as like: "the Black Gate of Mordor, unassailably guarding Sauron’s territory in 'The Lord of the Rings'. Human beings on their own cannot escape." (Matthew Emmerson).

Yet Sheol is still under God's authority, and Jesus would ultimately break its power. We say in the Apostle's Creed: "Jesus .. was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again." By entering the realm of the dead Jesus defeated death and the grave, and filled the darkness with the light of His resurrection.

Whatever our fear and panic in the darkness, no matter how terrible the night terrors, Jesus Christ our Saviour will lead us through them into the light, when we put our trust in Him.

Lord Jesus Christ,
when we cannot sleep for fear -
whether for a loved one,
or for ourselves,
or for our world -
calm our minds and hearts,
and help us to remember
that you broke the power of death
and of hell,
and that we may confidently pray
for a solution to our worries.
Amen.