Introduction
I enjoy
blues music. I don't know why I like it because it is actually quite sad music.
When the African people came to America
As I said,
it is very sad music. One song with the title, "Learnin' the Blues"
includes the following words:
"When you feel your heart break - you're learnin' the
blues
When you're at home alone, the blues will taunt you
constantly
When you're out in a crowd, those blues will haunt your
memory
The nights when you don't sleep - that whole night you're
cryin.'"
It isn't
only the words that are sad, but also the very music itself. I've asked Jeremy
to play a portion of a blues song, just to show how sad even the music is.
We sometimes use the phrase,
"I'm feeling kind of blue" to describe times when we are sad. Psalm 88 , however, is much deeper
than occasional sadness. I believe that it is a description of depression. Last
Sunday we spoke about God as present in troubles and in looking at Psalm 91 , we were encouraged by
the hope that is always ours. Psalm
88 is much different and invites us to ask "Where is
God?" at a time when things are very dark. Where is God when there seems
to be no hope? Where is God when we are going through depression? Where is God
when He seems totally absent? This is the theme of Psalm 88 and it speaks to a
reality which some people find only too near to them.
I.
Singing
the Blues!
I would like to invite you into a
place that most of us prefer not to go. Yet Psalm 88 is in the Bible and we need to think about it. So I invite you to take careful
note of the expressions of suffering and sadness found in this Psalm.
A.
Anguish
Expressed
People have suggested various
settings for this Psalm. Some suggest that it is written by someone who was
suffering from a life threatening illness, others that it was written by
someone who had been betrayed by close friends. The expressions of suffering in
this Psalm are quite varied.
There are descriptions in this Psalm
of someone who is experiencing physical anguish. In verse 3, 4 he says,
"my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the
Pit…" These words speak of someone whose life is in danger and who feels
that he is near to death. Verse 15 has a similar description when it says,
"Wretched and close to death from my youth up…" One of the most
difficult experiences most people face is physical illness. When our body does
not work well, we feel near to death. It can be a bad cold, a flu or a serious
and debilitating illness which causes us to be in this situation and it is a
difficult place to be.
The writer also says, in verse 3, "my
soul is full of trouble." In verse 7 we read, "you have overwhelmed
me with all your waves." In verse 8 he says, "I am confined and
cannot escape." In these and other statements, we sense that the writer
feels as if he is drowning. Everywhere he looks there is trouble. He cannot see
any way out. The trouble in these verses seems to be emotional trouble.
Loneliness
is also a part of this Psalm. In verse 8 we read, "You have taken from me
my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them." In verse 18
he says, "You have taken my companions and loved ones from me."
We also
read of his spiritual anguish. He feels that God is against him. In verse 6 he
writes, "You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. In
verse 14 he blames God. "Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face
from me?" Along with blaming God, much of the Psalm is also a struggle
with the feeling that God doesn’t hear or answer prayer. He feels as if God has
forgotten him or worse, deliberately rejected him. We read this in verse 14,
"Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?" When he
feels that he is separated from God, he also feels as if he is experiencing the
wrath of God. He expresses this in verse 7, "Your wrath lies heavily upon
me."
B. Depression
Although we see all of these
expressions of anguish, I believe that when all of them are taken together it
is a description of depression. As I have spoken with people suffering from
depression, they tell me that this Psalm has connected with them. Charles
Spurgeon who was a great preacher and teacher and has written many commentaries
on the Bible suffered from bouts of depression. As I read his comments on this
Psalm, it seems to me that he understood this Psalm to be descriptive of
depression.
The
Canadian Mental Health Association website describes depression saying, "Someone experiencing depression is
grappling with feelings of severe despair over an extended period of time."
That certainly seems to be what is expressed in this Psalm.
The Helpguide.org website identifies
a number of signs and symptoms of depression. Clearly I am not a psychologist,
but it seems to me that many are expressed in this Psalm.
1. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. The feeling
that nothing will ever get better and there's nothing you can do to improve
your situation.
2. Loss of
interest in daily activities and the loss of ability to feel joy and pleasure.
3. Sleep changes
including waking in the early hours of the morning seem to be expressed
in the fact that in verses 1, 9 and 13, the writer speaks about being awake at
night, in the day and in the morning.
4. Feeling agitated, restless, or even violent. Your
tolerance level is low, your temper short, and everything and everyone gets on
your nerves.
5. Loss of energy so that even small tasks are exhausting or
take longer to complete.
6. Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. You harshly
criticize yourself for perceived faults and mistakes. These feelings are
frequently expressed by the Psalmist especially as feelings that God has
abandoned him.
7. Thoughts of death or suicide.
Spurgeon comments, “Death
would be welcomed as a relief by those whose depressed spirits make their
existence a living death.”
8. The feeling
that there is no “light at the end of the tunnel.”
There are other symptoms of
depression and the Psalm does not express all of them. If one or two of the
symptoms were expressed, we might just consider this a sad Psalm, but when so
many symptoms are expressed, I believe that this Psalm is written by someone
who was in the midst of depression. Although there are many aspects of trial
and difficulty expressed in this Psalm, I believe that depression is prominent.
II. What Hope Is There?
The most
powerful thing we notice about this Psalm is that it never resolves. There is
no expression of what God has done. There is no declaration that this is what
the writer experienced, but now he has come through it and everything is OK. The
final word in the Psalm is "darkness." The Psalm leaves us in the
dark valley of despair.
There are
times when people are in this place and the question is, "Where is God in
this place?" Why is such a Psalm in the Bible? Are we not to live a
victorious Christian life? How can we be expected to live a victorious
Christian life if Psalm 88
allows for us to be in the darkness?
The Psalm
leaves us in a dark place, but it does not leave us without hope. There are
some very important and profound things we must notice about this Psalm.
A. God Knows
One of the most powerful things
about this Psalm is that it is there. It is in the Bible and it is in the Bible
as an unresolved Psalm. There are writers who suggest that it could not have
ended as it does. They suggest that part of it must have been lost. I do not
believe so. I believe that this Psalm is in Scripture because God wants it
there. I believe that it is an important word of God that tells us that God
knows. The presence of this Psalm in the Bible tells us that when we are in
depression or any other dark and difficult place God is completely aware of it.
Just the fact that this Psalm is in the Bible assures us that God understands
that place because His word speaks about it.
If you are experiencing depression,
this Psalm tells you that God knows about it and understands just what you are
feeling.
B.
Jesus
Knows
Some writers have drawn a comparison
between Psalm 88 and Psalm 22 . There are certainly
points of contact between the two Psalms. Psalm 22:1 , 2 says, "My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of
my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but
find no rest." In Psalm
88:14 the same note of forsakenness appears when the writer says,
"O LORD, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?"
Since Jesus
was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, we know that Jesus also understands.
When we are in the deepest, darkest pit, God's Son, Jesus Christ knows what
that place is like. He also is "acquainted with grief" and
understands our suffering. The presence of these things in Scripture assure us that
there is someone who knows what our burdens are like.
C.
Do We
Understand?
The question is, "Do we
understand?"
Dan Glazer wrote in Christianity
Today in March 2009, "Studies of religious groups, from Orthodox Jews to
evangelical Christians, reveal no evidence that the frequency of depression
varies across religious groups or between those who attend religious services
and those who do not. So in a typical congregation of 200 adults, 50 attendees
will experience depression at some point, and at least 30 are currently taking
antidepressants."
But do we, particularly those who
have never experienced depression, understand this. Our temptation is to
encourage people to get over it. Our temptation is to think that something is
spiritually wrong with them. Our temptation is to not understand the depth of emotional
and spiritual anguish which some people experience. If God speaks clearly and
understandingly about depression and if he does not speak, at least in this
Psalm, about "everything being OK" then shouldn't we also seek to understand?
Brueggemann
is right when he writes, “Psalm 88
stands as a mark of realism of biblical faith. It has a pastoral use, because
there are situations in which easy, cheap talk of resolution must be avoided”
Instead of encouraging people to
"get over it" or offering solutions to fix them, we need to learn
from what God does. We need to listen and to stand with people who are in the
depth of despair and to learn what it means to love in this place. We need to
keep people who are suffering depression before the throne of grace because
often in that place their feeling of abandonment by God leaves them unable to
pray and we need to pray for them.
III.
How
Does A Christian Live With That?
As we have
already noted, the Psalm comes to no resolution. But that does not mean that it
is a faithless Psalm. The Psalm contains an important lesson for those who are
in depression or any difficult situation.
A.
Prayer
In the very first verse we notice
that the writer lives his depression in the presence of God, in prayer. Notice
that all of the expressions of difficulty and despair are expressed to God. Psalm 88:1 , 2 , 9 and 13 are all prayers. He
prays, "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…Every day I
call on you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you…But I, O LORD, cry out to
you; in the morning my prayer comes before you."
Notice also that the prayer is
expressed not as a laundered declaration of faith, but as a "cry."
The person praying is desperate and feeling hopeless, and in that place, cries
out to God.
Even though he feels abandoned, he
still expresses his feelings and experiences to God. He may not always feel it,
but he continues to hold on to the hope that God is his salvation.
What a powerful encouragement to
keep on praying even if it feels like the ceiling is made of brass and no
answer is forthcoming. It is a word of direction for those in depression and
encourages them to keep on talking to God, to keep the conversation going.
B.
Honesty
In the prayer that the Psalmist
expresses, we also see that it is an honest prayer. Particularly in verses
14-18, we notice how he blames God and tells Him exactly how he feels. We read,
"O LORD, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me? …I suffer
your terrors…Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me…They
surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me…You
have caused friend and neighbor to shun me…."
God does not chastise him for such
honest language. His prayer is not made pretty for the purpose of public
presentation. His prayer is raw and honest and expresses exactly what is going
on in his heart. The fact that this also is written in Scripture, encourages us
that we can be honest with God. We can tell him how we feel. We can express our
hopelessness to Him. God accepts our honesty as long as we keep talking to Him.
This is faith.
Conclusion
In this
Psalm the writer is singing the blues in the deepest sense of the word.
One writer
has described this Psalm in terms of the Easter experience. Friday is the time
of crisis, the time of loss and the death of hope; Sunday is the time of
surprise, celebration and restoration of hope but Saturday is the time of,
confusion, the silence of God, and the time of hopelessness. We don't like to
linger on "Saturday" but Psalm
88 reminds us that some people live on Saturday. Living on
Saturday is hard. Joy is absent and hope is hard to come by.
What do we
do with Saturday? God has put Psalm
88 in the Bible to show us that he knows that sometimes we live in
this place.
Faith is not only having the
certainty that there is always a resolution to every problem. Sometimes faith
is living in God's presence when there doesn't seem to be a resolution. This
Psalm invites us to that kind of faith.
It invites the person suffering
depression to keep the conversation with God going.
It invites the person not suffering
depression to be gracious and loving because God is gracious and loving.
It is OK to sing the blues and to do
so before our Father in heaven, who loves us!
No comments:
Post a Comment