We might be surprised to find that a lot of the Psalms–most of them, in fact–are written in the midst of a terrible situation. Reading through the Psalms, it often seems like there isn’t any possible way the story will turn out well.
Nothing epitomizes that like Psalm 88. In this Psalm, we see one of the darkest and most raw expressions of despair in all of the Bible. Even a cursory look at Psalm 88 shows the depths of hopelessness the psalmist is experiencing: He is overwhelmed with troubles. His life draws near to death. He is like one without strength. He is set apart with the dead. He feels like God has remembered him no more. He finds himself in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. He has experienced personal betrayal (v. 8), chronic pain (v. 15), and unthinkable loneliness (v. 18). The final line sums up the dismal tone of the psalm as a whole: “Darkness is my closest friend.”
Even though many of the Psalms are laments, they nearly always have a turn halfway through where the psalmist has a change of heart. The mood lightens, God is seen on the throne again, and the lament is swallowed up in victory. But not Psalm 88. It actually gets worse as it goes along. How can one of the Psalms, chosen to be in God’s holy, perfect word, end like that? Why did God choose to include this Psalm in his Bible?
Because sometimes our lives feel like that.
The book of Psalms is written, in part, to present you with the enigma of the Christian life. Everyone will go through chapters in life—sometimes long ones—that feel like Psalm 88. But when we turn the page to Psalm 89, we see how darkness and despair cannot have the final say.
So what do you do when you feel like life will never get better?
PRAY Psalm 88 to God
It’s okay to pray a Psalm 88 to God. It’s okay to be honest with him about your pain and your troubles…even your anger and your doubts. You aren’t going to scare God away with your anger, your tears, or your doubts. He’s big enough to handle them and, in fact, he welcomes them.
In a dark season, one of the biggest acts of faith you can do is to write a lament proclaiming your despair. Ironically, in giving voice to your despair and hopelessness, you are saying, “God, somehow I think your love is deeper and greater than all of this!” You may ask, “Where is the faith in Psalm 88?” It’s in the fact that Psalm 88 is recorded the way it is—unresolved and messy and painful—showing that even in our darkest hours God is transforming the story of our lives into the total praise that’s in Psalm 89.
We all have seasons of Psalm 88. Some of us will stay there for years. Some of us may even reach the end of our earthly days without any resolution to our greatest pains. Be honest with God about it. But don’t stop there.
PREACH Psalm 89 to yourself
Psalm 89:1 says, “I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.”
After praying Psalm 88 to God, we must preach Psalm 89 to ourselves. The hardest part of this is that you can’t experience the hope of Psalm 89 until you’ve sat for a while in the pain of Psalm 88. Psalm 89 faith that ignores Psalm 88 pain isn’t faith at all. We can’t sing about deliverance from suffering until we’ve truly walked through that suffering.
But we have to sing! When life is falling apart, it may be easier to pray a lament to God than to cling to the promises of God’s faithfulness. But both are valid. So when you’re in a Psalm 88 season, don’t abandon the principles of hope and belief from Psalm 89. When you feel like darkness is your closest friend, choose to believe that God is with you. When you feel like life is spiraling, choose to believe that God is still in control. When you feel like life will never get better, choose to believe that God is still good.
Sing to the Lord and make known his faithfulness in your life—even before you can feel it. Keep on praying Psalm 88 to God, and keep on preaching Psalm 89 to yourself.
