Psalm 88 is infamous for being the psalm most empty of hope. The psalmist describes his miserable life as being "afflicted and close to death from [his] youth up" (v. 15). All the way through his life has been marked by affliction and being on the verge of death. He also says that his lover and friend have been taken away from him (v. 18a, NASB), and that "darkness is [his] closest friend" (v. 18b, NIV). Saying that darkness is his closest friend is saying that the only thing there for him and present with him is darkness, which is to say there is no one there for him and that he is all alone. Listen to the psalmist's list of sorrows: full of troubles, near to death, no strength left, as good as dead, forgotten by God, cut off from God's provision, facing God's wrath, friends taken from him, no escape, eyes dim from sorrows, afflicted and close to death from youth up, suffering terrors, helpless, destroyed, and utterly alone. Yet despite all this, there is still hope in this hopeless psalm...because the psalmist is still praying. He's in pain but he prays: "Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to me!" (v. 2). He's sad but he sings: "O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you" (v. 1).
O Lord, sometimes we read Psalm 88 and are tempted to accuse the psalmist of lacking faith. We don't want to believe that things can really get as bad as he describes for people who follow you, so we'd rather believe that his song is an exaggeration of his circumstances and emotions, or that he just doesn't have enough faith to see your work in his life. His sorrow is so heavy, we can be afraid to enter into it with him. But when we allow ourselves to open up and feel his heart-wrenching pain with him, we begin to see him not as a man of questionable faith, but as a man of rock-solid faith. Who else could experience all the tragedy he's endured and still turn to you? Who else could lose everything and still seek you? With man, this would be impossible, but with you, O Lord, the impossible becomes possible...not just for the psalmist, but for us too. You uphold us in our darkest days, and in our hardest trials you sustain our faith.
This psalm actually is a great gift to all of us with sorrowing hearts, because it reminds us that as bad as it all gets, you, O Lord, still listen to our cries. You are still here with us, even when it feels like we are all alone, even when it feels like darkness is our only friend. Lord, as our hearts ache with agony, let us continue to look to you as the God of our salvation (v. 1), continue to pray to you, and continue to sing...even if it is the saddest song in all the Bible. In the name of our most compassionate Savior do we pray, amen.
