... in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen. Through the prayers of our
holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things,
Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us
from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy
Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the
Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the
beginning, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
A Song [or]
Psalm for the sons of Korah,[2] to
the chief Musician on Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.
Lord
God of my salvation, I have cried day [and]
night before You. Let my prayer come
before You. Incline Your ear to my cry: for
my soul is full of trouble. My life draws
near the grave. I am counted with those
who go down to the pit. I am as a man [who has] no strength, free among the
dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom You remember no more. They are cut off from Your hand.
You have laid me in the lowest pit, in
darkness, in the deeps. Your fury lies
hard on me. You have afflicted [me] with all Your waves. Consider.
You have put away my acquaintances far from me. You have made me an abomination to them. [I am]
shut up. I cannot come forth.
My eye mourns by reason of affliction. Lord, I have
called daily on You. I have stretched
out my hands to You. Will You show
wonders to the dead? Shall the dead
arise [and] praise You? Consider.
Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? [or]
Your faithfulness in destruction? Shall Your
wonders be known in the dark? and Your
righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
But to You have I cried, Lord. In the morning my prayer shall
greet You. Lord, why cast off my soul? [Why] hide Your face from me? I [am]
afflicted and ready to die from youth up. I suffer Your terrors. I am distracted. Your fierce fury goes over me. Your terrors have cut me off. They came round about me daily like
water. They circled about me together. Lover and friend have You put far from me, my
acquaintance in darkness.[3]
[1] Psalm
88 expresses the bitterest lament. We know
of no sufficient occasion to cause such lament during the life of David. The Presence of Yahweh’s Glory, the Shekinah
remained in Solomon’s Temple until the times of Ezekiel. It is equally hard to see the Babylonian
Captivity as cause for such tears: for devout Israelites believed their punishment
was just, and God would return to them again.
The only setting that seems to us to justify such frustration is the continuing
absence of Yahweh from the Second Temple.
Heman writes as one whom God has abandoned. He weeps as though on the brink of death, and
in great pain. His anticipation of death
in not that of the believer he is, but since God has forgotten him and not
returned to him in life, he despairs of the fellowship of God in heaven as well.
His life is like Lazarus of the New Testament. He is already in the tomb. He has drowned in the sea. The living will have nothing to do with him.
He prays, and he prays, and he prays; but to no avail. Will he be allowed to sing with the angels
after death? He despairs even of this.
Heman continues his morning prayers faithfully, but his overwhelming
despair finds no comfort, no hope.
The only evidence of hope in this Psalm at all, is the placement
and use of the word consider, which asks the question, “Is death really the
end?” This is a heavy Psalm and the
question remains unanswered. This is a
Psalm for Holy Saturday: for without the Resurrection, the question has no answer,
and we are without hope in this world.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, trampling down death by
death. Heman is no longer without hope
for Christ has spoiled Hell and opened Paradise. ΙΣ ΧΣ ΝΙΚΑ! Hell is
vanquished and embittered! Christ is
Risen! Hallelujah! “Come receive the light that is never
overtaken by night. Glorify the Christ, risen from the dead.” Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!
[2] We
stumbled upon this very instructive article concerning the Sons of Korah. In Numbers 26:11 we learn that they were not
slain with Korah in his rebellion. Later
we discover that they likely served in David’s divisions of the priesthood
under that same name, and likely continued as a choral group after the exile. Because their music is so filled with
post-exilic material we suspect that their hymnody is from this period. An alternative view would require that they
observed the post-exilic suffering prophetically. However, they left no clues that this is the
case, they write as firsthand observers.
http://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/ korahites-sons-of-korah.html
[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations in
Psalms, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.
These meditations are not controlled by
Creative Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or
ND. They are designed and intended for
your free participation. They were
freely received, and are freely given.
No other permission is required for their use.
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