“Getting beyond self-absorption and self-pity?”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, November 15, 2024

Psalm 88 (Forward, p. 17) CEV p. 609

It is hardly surprising, not surprising at all, the pronouncements of today’s psalmist, Heman the Ezrahite, given his state of mind. Like so many folks when they are desperate and depressed, he cannot see past his own sad and unfortunate situation. Almost everything he says is focused on himself:

“I am deeply troubled and close to death” (verse 3).

“I am as good as dead and completely helpless” (verse 4).

“I am no better off than those in the grave…” (verse 5).

“I am a prisoner who cannot escape” (verse 8b).

“I am almost blind because of my sorrow” (verse 9).

“I am shattered by your furious attacks…” (verse 16b).

And, in all this, he placed the blame securely upon God. God, he feels, is behind all this:

“You have put me in the deepest and darkest grave” (verse 6).

“Your anger rolls over me like ocean waves” (verse 7).

“You have made my friends turn in horror from me” (verse 8).

“Why do you reject me? Why do you turn from me?” (verse 14).

“You have terrified me and made me helpless” (verse 15c).

“Your anger is like a flood! And I am shattered by your furious

attacks that strike every day and from every side” (vs. 16-17).

“My friends and neighbours have turned against me because of you,

and now darkness is my only companion” (verse 18).

Such is our psalmist’s litany of woes. However, it is well-worth noting how he begins this psalm. Verse one read, “You keep me safe, Lord God. So when I pray at night, please listen carefully to each of my concerns.” That means that this incredible outpouring of grief, this litany of woes, is a plea to God, a plea to a God whom he is sure will not desert him or fail to listen.

And what is even more incredible is that in spite of his recriminations toward God, his blaming of God, he still feels that he can go to God with his prayers, no matter how anguished or raw or blaming. It is a good model and example for all of us. No matter what, we can always go to God in prayer—even, I might say, when we are not happy with Him or with what we feel He has allowed to happen!

Forward notes: “O Lord, my God, my Saviour, by day and night I cry to you. Let my prayer enter into your presence; incline your ear to my lamentation” (verses 1-2).

“I have a love/hate relationship with the psalms. I love that they are so expressive, yet sometimes, the drama of them makes me cringe. The psalms take me to the highest moments of praise when it seems even the seas and mountains are bowing down to God and then to the lowest points of faith when it feels I have been abandoned entirely. In seminary, my dean relied heavily on the psalms in his preaching. He taught that even when the psalms made us uncomfortable, they showed us how to be raw and honest in prayer. The psalms remind us that there’s nothing about us God doesn’t love. Even when we feel terrible or like we’re floundering in a pit of despair, we can pray. Prayer, the psalms show us, is simply pouring out our hearts to God, no matter what’s in there. Hope, love, joy, despair, loneliness, aching: there is every emotion in the psalms, and God can handle every emotion.”

Moving Forward: “Pray using one of the psalms. What feelings does the psalm evoke in you? What would you express if you were to write a psalm to God with what’s in your heart today?”

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