Psalm 87-88 What To Do In Suffering

My commentary says of Psalm 88 that Heman, the writer, was suffering intensely and did not understand why, yet he persisted in praying to God and did not abandon his faith.  It gives us four instructions to follow when life falls apart and our prayers seemingly are not answered.

First, come to the Lord by faith.  “Heman’s life had grown even more difficult … but he did not give up!  He still trusted in God … Three times we are told he cried to the Lord, and three different words are used – a cry for help, a loud shout, and a cry of anguish.  He  was fervent in his praying.  He believed in a God who could hear his prayers and do wonders, a God who loved him and was faithful … No matter how we feel and no matter how impossible our circumstances, we can always come to the Lord with our burdens.

Second, tell the Lord how You feel.  “There is no place for hypocrisy in personal prayer.  One of the first steps toward revival is to be completely transparent when we pray and not tell the Lord anything that is not true or that we do not really mean … Heman also told the Lord that He was responsible for His servant’s troubles!  Like Job, Heman wanted to know why all this suffering had come to him.

Third, defend your cause before the Lord.  A Scottish minister who suffered much wrote, “It is faith’s work to claim and challenge lovingkindness out of the roughest strokes of God… Why should I tremble at the plough of my Lord, that maketh deep furrows in my soul?  I know He is not  an idle husbandman.  He purposeth a crop.”  Heman tells God that his death would rob God of a great opportunity to demonstrate His power and glory … He kept on praying.”

Fourth, wait for God’s answer.  “The flood was rising and he felt he was about to drown and there was nobody near enough to rescue him.  He was alone!  The darkness … hid him from the eyes of those who observed his sufferings and may have said, as Job’s friends did, ‘He must have sinned greatly for the Lord to afflict him so much.’  But he continued to pray and to look to God for help! … The last word of this psalm is darkness, but the Lord always has the last word, and it will not be darkness.  We should never doubt in the darkness what God has taught us in the light.”

Father, there is a lot of darkness right now, yet I cling to what You have taught me in the light.  Though I may not understand Your purposes for everything that is happening, I trust You with everything in my life.  Help me every day to come to You, to tell You how I feel, to defend my cause before You (and let it be in Your will), and then to wait for Your answer!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford