“The one remaining lifeline”
BY Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, November 12, 2021
Psalm 88 (Forward, p. 14) CEV p. 609
I have known depression in myself and I have known it, seen it, in others but I don’t think that I ever seen it quite as bad as what is being experienced by today’s psalmist. He is possibly as depressed as ever it could be. His depression has several dimensions, physical, social, emotional, and most of all, spiritual. Let’s, then, take them in turn.
First, the physical: it is his conviction, his belief, that he has always been sick—or at very least, that it is the way that it seems to him:
“Ever since I was a child, I have been sick and close to death. You have terrified me and made me helpless” (verse 15).
Then, there is the social: he feels that everyone is against him. He feels utterly and totally alone:
“You have made my friends turn in horror from me” (verse 8a);
“My friends and neighbours have turned against me because of you, and now darkness is my only companion” (verse 18).
The emotional part, the emotional pain and suffering, is no less of an issue as it is ever present, ever with him:
“I am deeply troubled and close to death; I am as good as dead and completely helpless. I am no better off than those in the grave, those you have forgotten and no longer help” (verses 3-5);
“I am almost blind because of my sorrow” (verse 9).
But worst of all, at least as far as the psalmist is concerned, is the spiritual desolation, the seeming abandonment by God:
“You have put me in the deepest and darkest grave; your anger rolls over me like ocean waves” (verses 6-7);
“Every morning I pray to you, Lord. Why do you reject me? Why do you turn from me?” (verses 13-14);
“Your anger is like a flood! And I am shattered by your furious attacks that strike me each day and from every side” (verses 16-17).
And yet, incredibly, surprisingly, he does not turn his back on God or give up on God—even though he feels that he has been treated disrespectfully
and unlovingly. He continues to pour out his heart to God, he continues to pray, at night (verse 1), each morning (verse 13) and every day (9b). Yes, even though he feels that he is at risk of his life and is drowning (hence the ocean waves) and is about to sink down forever, he reaches out for the one lifeline that he knows of, which is none other than God. I cannot not even imagine how it felt for this man, how awful it was, and how hopeless and desperate it was for him, but to think that, even then, even in the midst of this living hell, he was still able, still willing, to reach out to God, gives me pause, gives me encouragement, to reach out to God for help no matter what is taking place in my life. He is indeed there, and willing to help, whether it seems like it or not. And so it can be, for each of us. Amen.
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. For I am full of trouble; my life is at the brink of the grave. I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I have become like one who has no strength” (verses 1-4).
“Psalm 88 reminds me of when I first got clean and sober. Like the psalmist in the depths of the Pit, I felt like I had hit bottom. But could I have gone lower than that? Was there still a foundation to stand on? I burned all my bridges, and people avoided me. I was spiritually bankrupt.
“Psalm 88 is a prayer cry. I had to take the first two steps:
1. I admitted I was powerless over alcohol—that my life had become unmanageable.
2. I came to believe that a Power greater than myself could restore me to sanity.
“Thanks be to God that I found the answer to the question the psalmist asks: ‘Do you work wonders for the dead?’ Yes. God did for me, and God will for you too. Take the first steps, and God will give you the strength to continue the walk. God will help you rebuild a firm foundation to stand on. There is hope.”
Moving Forward: “What steps do you need to take toward healing and health?”
