Heman's Dark Night of the Soul

In studying through the Psalms, a typical pattern is that the writer is experiencing trials and cries out for mercy to God.  Then we see the writer realizing that God is the God of grace and mercy and it is almost as if the writer then comes to maturity and writes about it.

Psalm 88 is no such psalm.  It is written by an otherwise anonymous writer named Heman (keep wanting to call him Herman like in Munster).  Heman is experiencing a deep depression that winds its way through the entire psalm.  There is no good news in this psalm.  In fact, Heman actually blames God for his troubles in vv. 6-8 and then accuses Him of ignoring his pleas for help.  You come away thinking Heman had absolutely no hope.  Yet Heman still had the conversation with God.  Have we ever been there before?  Have we blamed God for our situation and felt He was ignoring our pleas for help?  I know I have.  I find myself there often.  Yet I still have the conversation with God and absolutely trust His provision for my life despite its pain.  The Bible is not a book of all good news.  God has included Psalm 88 for us to identify with. Thank you Heman.

The problem is that God's timing is not our timing.  We stand on this side of the resurrection and it is only when we are raised with Christ, we will see the entire picture.  Imagine Jesus on the cross today and today is the darkest night of the soul!!  All hope is lost and it is Psalm 88.  But then there is the resurrection and victory and Psalm 89 that follows 88.  Psalm 89 starts out with praise and it is a psalm of God's covenant (hesed) love.  But that is Sunday's post.