The Light in the Darkness
Psalm 88
Before we begin to unpack this Psalm, we must understand this song’s context & background because this Psalm is at least 2,400 years old; written in a different culture than our Western American culture; it was initially written in the language of Hebrew. Therefore, there are a lot of obstacles that could lead us to misinterpret this song possibly.
Thankfully this Psalm has a descriptive title to give us some of the contexts.
We read in the title of this Psalm that this is “A Song, A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.” Its genre is essential to keep in mind because it sets the literary context; It’s a “song,” and it’s a song from the sons of Korah.
Who are the Sons of Korah?
According to 1 Chronicles 6, the sons of Korah were the gatekeepers and musicians in the temple at Jerusalem. They were the “Sunday morning worship team,” and these sons wrote 11 Psalms, including this one which some have called “The saddest Psalm in the Psalter.”
The title also tells us that it was written by Heman the Ezrahite. In 1 Chronicles 6:33, David named Heman to be a leader of the sons of Korah. And Heman, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes this sad song; this song is a lament.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but laments are not a popular genre of music these days. To give you an idea of how out of touch we have become with laments, consider the latest version of iTunes:
It contains 178 genres of music, and (surprise, surprise) “Laments” did not make the list. “Euro-techno” and “Fast Fusion” made the list, but not “Laments.”
So, I think a brief definition of a lament would serve us:
A song of lament expresses deep sorrow or grief.
… And Why Are We Spending Time Considering This Lament?
All of us have (a) gone through the darkest times of our lives, (b) are going through the darkest times of our lives, or [c) will go through the darkest times of our lives.
My friends, Psalm 88 will help you. You will be helped in your preparation for the darkness in your own life; you will be supported when you’re in the midst of the thick darkness, and you will be helped out of the darkness as your soul begins to heal. This Psalm will help you prepare for, be in the midst of, and recover from your moment of darkness
*** BONUS *** It will help you with how to care for others in their darkness, too.
I will break this article up into the following three sections based on the time frames of Heman’s prayers:
◾️ The first section begins in Verse 1 — “I cry out day and night.”
◾️ The second section begins in Verse 9 — “Every day I call upon you”
◾️ The third section begins in Verse 13 — “In the morning my prayer comes before you”
And just as it only seems like the sparkling stars in the sky shine brightest when it is night, we press into this dark Psalm to have our souls freshly amazed at the brilliance of The Light, Jesus Christ.
Day & Night
So with that as our background and context, we begin to look at Heman’s first section of prayer.
Verses 1 and 2:
“O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!”
The first words out of Heman are the only apparent glimmer of hope in this Psalm. Heman identifies God as “my salvation.” This man knows his God, and he trusts God as his salvation. But while there is trust, there is also anguish in Heman’s soul. The first word out of Heman’s mouth is “O”; O LORD. This one letter expresses a soul, and not just a soul, but a soul that is longing/yearning. “O” is a soul word, a human’s way of communicating to God the depths of his soul.
Not only is Heman crying out to God day & night, but in verse 2, he is appealing to God to hear his prayers, “Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!”
Heman doesn’t assume that God will hear his prayers.
In fact, by not assuming upon God, Heman shows his desperation for God to hear his prayers because if God doesn’t hear his prayers, then praying is useless, and Heman has NO HOPE. But, Heman is unassuming and desperate and “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)
So Heman is appealing to God, and now in verse 3, he begins arguing with God; he begins to make an argument for why he is praying to God.
Why do I say that he begins to make an argument? What is the first word in verse 3? “For”… Heman’s prayer has arguments/reasons, and he gives the grounds for why he is praying so earnestly. Prayer is emotional and rational. “O, Hear my cry because…”
And now, in verses 3–9, Heman begins his argument for why he is praying with such intensity. So let’s try our best to feel Heman’s feelings and why he is praying with such passion.
We read verse 3,
“For my soul is full of troubles and my life draws near to Sheol.”
His life and his soul are experiencing darkness. There are indeed two types of darkness we can experience: There’s external darkness (his “life”) and internal darkness (his “soul”).
1. External Darkness
This darkness has to do with circumstances. Here are Heman’s external troubles:
- All his friends & loved ones hate him. Verse 8, “You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them.” All his friends and loved ones are repulsed by him & despise him. Their loathing and disgust replaced what once was a friendship with smiles & love.
- Heman is the object of such ridicule and mistreatment, and he can’t escape; he’s trapped. So again, in verse 8, “I am shut in so that I cannot escape.”
A few years ago, I took my family to the Denver Zoo. When we got to the gorilla exhibit, this massive gorilla was sitting in the grass, next to the metal bars that kept him in. There were rows of people looking at the gorilla, and one man in the front row began throwing sticks & grass at the gorilla while verbally making fun of it. And although the gorilla was powerful enough to rip out the arm, which threw such demeaning things, it just sat there, in the grass, with nowhere to go… trapped… and unable to change its circumstance.
And if you are moved to pity the gorilla, that is exactly how this man feels: trapped and completely exposed & vulnerable to mocking & shame.
The external troubles continue in verse 9,
“My eye grows dim through sorrow.”
Heman is crying his eyes out; his eyelids burn from his salty tear, and he must close them; there’s only darkness.
The last external trouble we see here is that he is exhausted. He feels like death and is powerless to change the circumstances: Verses 4 and 5,
“I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength”
Heman then gives three comparisons in verse 5 to communicate to God what he feels like…
- “Like” one set loose among the dead… imagine being buried with your eyes open and you can still breathe & see the other dead bodies around you, but you can’t move… His living space is among the dead.
- “Like” the slain that lie in the grave… picture the dead bodies from a Nazi concentration camp, being thrown on top of one another in a pile of carcasses.
- “Like” those whom You remember no more… as one who God forgets.
These are the external troubles in Heman’s life. However, as horrible as that darkness feels, there is a second type of darkness that is even thicker & darker and without hope: The internal darkness of the soul.
2. Internal Darkness
Here’s what troubles Heman’s soul: He believes & feels that God has acted against him. Notice that in verses 6–8, Heman attributes God as playing an active role in his troubles:
- (verse 6) “YOU” have put me in the depths of the pit
- (verse 7) “YOUR” wrath lies heavy upon me
- (verse 7) “YOU” overwhelm me with all your waves
- (verse 8) “YOU” have caused my companions to shun me
- (verse 8) “YOU” have made me a horror to them
Let’s consider just one of these to get in Heman’s skin:
“You have put me in the depths of the pit”
Imagine how that would feel. Suddenly air, just air, is worth a million dollars. Helplessness, desperation, apparent hopelessness…
What would this look like in your life? The breaking point for the over-worked businessman, the outer limits of exasperation for the mother of three constantly crying children, the impossible social expectations of Jr. High & High School to always appear cool/in control, the grinding stress of a lingering illness, the imminent attack of a powerful enemy.
We don’t know precisely what Heman’s pit is, which is good so that we can see ourselves in this pit. Heman is in the depths of the hole so much that the worst part is that he feels it’s God’s doing and that God is against him. Heman is in the depths of the pit; Are you? Marriage problems, financial stresses, loneliness, constant anxiety or fear, inability to sleep; Do you feel like God has put you in the depths of the pit?
The bottom line: This is how Heman feels. It’s not actually true, but it feels like it’s true; it’s the truth about how he feels. Heman feels like God’s wrath is on him, to be overwhelmed by God’s angry waves that crash against him again and again and again, to destroy him.
What we see with Heman is his honesty with God about how he feels.
And in this dark Psalm, we see Heman expressing trust in God by crediting to God these actions. Of course, Heman might not see everything perfectly that God is doing in his life (we NEVER do), and he might not be able to say what he’s experiencing with Biblical nuance & theological accuracy (who CAN when they’re in the darkness?)… But many today want to come to the defense of God by asserting that He is not sovereign over all calamities and every single atom & molecule in this world, thinking, “My God would never treat me like this.”
Yet, Heman does not try to rescue God’s governing of all matters in the world, for he knows that if God were not entirely in control of everything, there would be no reason to pray to Him!
It’s like Heman thinks, “If God couldn’t stop me from falling in this pit, then how can God help me now out of my darkness?”
Therefore, by Heman declaring God’s active role in his troubles, HE HAS REASON TO HOPE! Reason to pray to this all-powerful and all-loving God.
I don’t write this article offering hope as one with merely a “book knowledge” on the topic of despair. Depression is a constant battle for me; two bouts almost took my life. I’ve spoken candidly about my experience here & here to comfort others.
We all experience outer darkness and internal darkness will not be a rarity for Christians. But the combination of these two shadows forms the ultimate darkness for Heman. He is plagued from within and without simultaneously. Not only have his friends left him, but it feels like God has abandoned him, too, leaving him feeling alone and forsaken by all. Yet,
He continues to cry out to God day and night
Every Day
In the middle of verse 9, we begin the second section of Heman’s prayers, as he prays every day. Verse 9,
“Every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you.”
Although his friends have abandoned him and his strength has left him, Heman still calls upon the LORD daily, with his hands spread towards God. Like one in “the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep,” his hands are spread out towards God, desperately waiting for His touch.
We lost power overnight during an Arizona monsoon years ago. My toddler son could be heard scream-crying out of terror, confused and frightened as he was alone in his crib in a very dark room. I’ll never forget what I saw when I opened the door: He was already standing with shaking arms stretched out in front of his frightened body, tears streaming down his cheeks and his eyes closed. He stood there waiting, anticipating mom or dad to rescue him.
That’s what Heman is doing here; that’s how we should pray to our Father in our time of darkness. If you are “above” that kind of praying or think it to be childish, it’s not childish but childlike — to cry out for your parent to save you with faith like a child (Matthew 18:1–5).
Continuing, we’ve seen Heman (1) appeal that God would hear his prayers, and we just saw him (2) argue why he needs God to hear his prayers.
In verses 10–12, Heman asks four rhetorical questions to make his point; He needs God to hear his prayers and to answer him, so he’s still arguing why God should answer him with these rhetorical questions. In all four questions, Heman is expecting the answer to be “No”:
1. “Do you work wonders for the dead?” — Answer: No
2. “Do the departed rise up to praise you?” — Answer: No
3. “Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?” — Answer: No
4. “Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” — Answer: No
The meaning of these questions is to show the desperate nature of the situation and implore God to act before death takes over. These questions call on God to vindicate Heman now by acting in a way that shows God’s faithfulness.
Heman is saying to God, “Please hear my cry because if I die, there will be one less person to praise you. If You don’t deliver me from death then I won’t be able to praise you on earth.”
Heman understands what life is about. “If I die, then I won’t be able to worship you!” He lived to praise God.
It is peculiar that a worship leader penned such a dark psalm. Yet this is what Heman lived for, to praise God. It looks like David had chosen the right guy to lead the Sons of Korah, for even in his darkness,
He continues to call upon the LORD every day
Morning
Whether it is day & night, every day, or (now we’ll see) in the morning, Heman is not wasting any time and is not sparing any effort to sense the nearness of his God.
We now look at the third and last prayer section found in verses 13–18, beginning with verse 13,
“But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.”
Heman begins with contrast because he just argued that he couldn’t praise him if he were dead. “But” (Heman says), “But I’m not dead now, O LORD… I CRY TO YOU; in the morning my prayer comes before you.”
In this third section of the prayer, there are questions and answers which are similar to the rest of the Psalm; “Why” questions begin in verse 14, death and God’s wrath are mentioned in verses 15–16, and statements about being abandoned by friends in verse 18.
However, this third section is unique in that there is an emphasis on God’s role of rejecting Heman by not answering his prayers and their effect on him.
In verse 14, the personal pronouns ‘my’ and ‘me’ are used, which differs from the more objective questions in verses 10–12. In Hebrew, the verbs in verse 14 signify a repetitive, ongoing action: “Why do you go on casting my soul away? Why do you continue to hide your face from me?”
This is Heman’s despair: It seems as though God is not with him; it seems as though the God of his salvation is rejecting him.
It feels to Heman that God has rejected him so that he is afflicted, suffering the terrors of God, overwhelmed by God’s wrath, and surrounded by God’s dreadful assaults. Of course, it’s not what actually is happening, but this is the truth about Heman’s perspective of his life, and it is dark & bleak.
The only thing Heman feels is darkness, which is how the Psalm ends. The last word of this Psalm in the original Hebrew text is “darkness.” This is different from all the other Psalms, which have some kind of movement toward hoping in God. Not Psalm 88. It is the only Psalm that ends in despair.
And while this is how the Psalm ends for Heman,
He continues to cry out to God in the morning
Christ is The Light
Now, up to this point, we have been considering the darkness which Heman fought against by faith through prayer. However, the midnight sky is set, and it is time for us to see The Light of Christ. Oh yes, there is indeed light in the darkness.
The sons may have sung this Psalm of Korah, but the Son of God lived it.
🔸 Heman cried out to the Lord, but Jesus:
“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death” ~ Hebrews 5:7
🔸 In verse 3, Heman feels like he’s going to die… Jesus truly was born to die,
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ~ Mark 10:45
🔸 In verse 7, Heman feels like God’s wrath is upon him… Jesus truly experienced and absorbed the full wrath of God for sinners,
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed… the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” ~ Isaiah 53:5–6
🔸 In verse 8, it felt to Heman that all his friends had left him… Jesus was genuinely betrayed by a kiss (Luke 22:48) and abandoned by all his friends before the rooster crowed.
As Heman felt the horror of being exposed & vulnerable in verse 8, open to mocking while being trapped… Jesus was stripped, beaten, spit on, and mocked while LOVE compelled him & kept his hands and feet nailed to the cross; he hung naked as a public spectacle, despising the shame, suspended up on the highest part of the city, completely visible to all of Jerusalem, with a sign above his head, so all travelers would see him and despise him.
🔸 In verse 9, Heman spread out his hands to God… on the cross; Jesus’ arms were spread out as he cried to His Father one last time.
🔸 In verse 14, Heman feels that God has turned his face away and forsaken him… But Jesus was truly abandoned, alone, rejected (not by humans only), but by God His Father,
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”… and Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.” ~ Mark 15:34
Heman felt like he was buried among the dead, but Jesus was actually dead & buried.
All that Heman felt like he had experienced actually occurred to Jesus.
And we must ask this all-important question, “Why?” Why did the Son of God step down from his heavenly throne to become human so that he could actually experience in his sinless human body the pain, the suffering, the beatings, the mocking from sinful men, and actually experience the full wrath of God?
“Why would you do that, Jesus?”
Here’s why: So that all who trust in Jesus will never actually face the wrath of God.
Christians, you will never actually be rejected, abandoned, and alone. We Christians will have seasons where it will feel like we’re forsaken, but God, our Father, will never leave or forsake us since he already forsook Jesus in our place. We will have many times when it will feel like God does not love us, but nothing will actually ever separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38–39). “Darkness” will not be the last word in the lives of all who treasure the person & work of Jesus Christ!
Yes, Jesus was dead & buried, but He did NOT stay dead. Instead, Jesus rose from the dead three days later, defeating sin, death, and the devil!
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” ~ John 1:5
Christians, what are we to do with this Psalm? Here are a few closing implications for all of us to consider:
A word to those who are currently experiencing the darkness:
It saddens me that you are going through this kind of torment. I don’t know you or what causes your heart to cry. But I know enough of this darkness from my own life that I hurt for those who are crawling through it.
Without being presumptuous about your darkness, I believe the following counsel is derived from this Psalm and would profit your soul:
1. Recognize That Darkness Does Happen
This is helpful because when you’re in the thick of it, you can be tempted to feel like “depression wouldn’t happen if you had more faith.” This is a cruel lie.
Dark times come regardless if you’ve done everything right. Remember, Heman is David’s chosen worship leader; There is no indication in this Psalm of an awareness of any known sin causing God’s anger to be poured out on him. And as stated earlier, Heman is full of faith in God, despite his darkness. So the strength of your faith has nothing to do with your current struggle.
It is also helpful to recognize that darkness does happen because you can think that no one around you struggles, no one around you can know what you’re dealing with, and nobody understands — as if you’re crazy.
You’re not crazy. You are loved.
You can pray and pray like Heman, living rightly, calling out to God, and still be plunged into the darkness. And there’s no indication of how long the darkness will last.
2. Keep Praying to God
If you’re going to get help from this Psalm, listen to what Heman says and to whom he is saying it — He is talking to God.
The end of hope is not crying out to God; the extinction of hope is when you stop talking to God altogether. Keep talking to Him.
God doesn’t want us to be fake with a plastered-on smile. If you cry out to God, you know he’s your only hope. Cry out to God. It is beautiful when a humble man or woman genuinely cries out to God.
God has not abandoned you. On the contrary, Jesus was truly abandoned, so God would NEVER forsake you.
What is most remarkable about this Psalm is that Heman keeps praying. He continues to live by faith; though he sees nothing but despair, he trusts God.
3. Trust God’s Hold On You
Your anchor/righteousness is in heaven, apart from your sunny days and nights.
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain” ~ Hebrews 6:19
Be assured that you have perfect righteousness outside yourself in Christ Jesus. God is holding you in his grip. No one (not even yourself) can pry open his loving hug, which faithfully holds you.
For Those Who Are Currently Not In The Darkness:
1. Be Aware That Others Are Going Through The Darkness
You never know what people are carrying in their souls, so be aware when talking about sensitive topics such as depression & mental health because words have the power to heal or hurt.
2. The Church Should Be Where People Can Honestly Hurt
One thing to appreciate about this Psalm is its realism. Because the real world we live in is not only sunny days of puppy dogs and ice cream. This is a broken world, filled with broken people. This Psalm paints a bleak yet honest picture of what life can feel like.
Remember how this Psalm is a song of the sons of Korah? The Korahites would lead Israel in procession to the tent of worship. This mournful song was one of the songs they would sing! God wanted His people to sing this song! Do you see what this means? God intended one of the darkest human laments to be brought together with the brightest human hopes of worship. Honest expressions of fear, pain, and doubt were welcomed in the place of worship. The mess of human misery was accepted into the place of glorious grace.
As Paul Tripp commented,
“No psalm more powerfully communicates, “Come to me as you are, with all your doubt and fear, pain and discouragement. Come as you are, for my sacrifice is for you, just as you are.” This kind of honesty before God is meant to be part of our worship. We do not have to put on spiritual masks to approach God. We can come as we are. His love is sturdy and his grace is sufficient.” (How People Change)
Interestingly, the psalms of lament outnumber the psalms of praise & thanksgiving. It would be worthy of our consideration of how that might affect what type of atmosphere our church is for those in darkness…
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting… Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.” ~ Ecclesiastes 7:2–3
3. This is Love: Slow to Speak and Quick to Listen
“We have two ears and one mouth” (Epictetus). If those in the darkness genuinely open their hearts to you, it is loving to…
- NOT assume their darkness is due to sin! In many cases, it may be due to physiological & biological & chemical breakdowns or could be from experiencing the sin of others, having been abused, and undergoing trauma. Help should come from many places, not only from the Bible but also from those trained & certified to help trauma survivors.
- Weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15)
- Ask more questions, allowing the person to be heard and meet the person where they’re at/letting them open up to you on their timetable.
- One question to ask yourself after talking with someone is, “Was that person more aware of my (fill in the blank/opinions/theology/practical steps) than of my love for them?” Those in the dark don’t need to be corrected for their inaccurate theology. Instead, they need someone who loves them enough to overlook “words for the wind,” being a safe person who will listen patiently with a loving ear and sit and be there.
- Since God is love, let us love one another in times of darkness.
Closing Thoughts
Jesus is The Light in the darkness, and because Jesus not only experienced the darkness but was victorious over it (John 1:5), we Christians are assured that darkness will not be the last word for our lives.
Do you know what will be our last word? I’ll read it to you from the last chapter of the Bible,
“And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” ~ Revelation 22:5
One day, we will never have to experience the darkness again. But for now, we are sojourners, not wanderers. We’re not aimlessly wandering around without a finish line. We have Christ with us right now, whose words will light up our path as he brings us safely home, for Christ is The Light in The Darkness.
