Psalm 88 – Day and Night
In Psalm 88 – day and night, the psalmist prays daily to God, day and night. Amid all of his troubles, he never ceases to pray.
Psalm 88
The superscript for Psalm 88 – day and night, states: “A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.”
It begins with Heman crying out to God:
“Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.
May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.” (1-2)
He is overwhelmed with both spiritual and physical troubles:
“I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit; like one without strength.
Forsaken, I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.” (3-5)
It is God who has done this, even robbing him of his friends:
“You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them.” (6-8)
Never Ending
He prays daily. Every morning he cries out for help:
“I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you.” (9)
“But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you.” (13)
There is no letting up of Heman’s suffering, ending in darkness. Unlike other laments, there is no mention of hope at the end or thanking God in advance.
“From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken from me friend and neighbor—darkness is my closest friend.” (15-18)
Who is the Writer of Psalm 88
Who is Heman the Ezrahite? Heman appears many times in the Old Testament. Living during the time of David and Solomon, he was noted for: wisdom (1 Kings 4:31), being a Kohathite, among the sons of Korah (1 Chronicles 6:33); his musical ability and service (1 Chronicles 6:33, 15:17-19, 16:41-42, 25:1, 2 Chronicles 5:12, 35:15); his sons and daughters (1 Chronicles 25:5-6); and his service to the king (1 Chronicles 25:6). This psalm “came from a wise, talented, accomplished, and blessed man.”
“In this Psalm, Heman makes a map of his life’s history, he puts down all the dark places through which he has traveled. He mentions his sins, his sorrows, his hopes (if he had any), his fears, his woes, and so on. Now, that is real prayer, laying your case before the Lord.” (Charles Spurgeon) Enduring Word Bible Commentary Psalm 88
He is an accomplished man yet no stranger to sorrows. In verses 6-7, Heman states that God has caused his sufferings, much like Job’s situation. “These similarities are so great, including even certain echoes of language that Franz Delitzsch has suggested that Job and the psalm might even be by the same author, Heman the Ezrahite.” (Boice) Enduring Word Bible Commentary Psalm 88
A Habit of Prayer
Some only turn to God during times of trial. They may say that a blessing that came out of their struggles was prayer and learning to rely on God. Some may mistakenly put prayer on hold during the good times with the thought that when they need God, prayer will come. The problem with this is that it presumes that someone who has no habit of prayer will suddenly be able to pray when the dark times descend.
I believe it was Cardinal Bernardin who spoke about the importance of having a daily habit of prayer before illness strikes. Without that it would have been nearly impossible for him to pray when beset by the nausea and pain he experienced during his struggles with cancer.
From what we know about Heman, he had a habit of prayer before the darkness he writes about in Psalm 88 – day and night. Despite all of his suffering, Heman continues to pray, day and night. There is no bitterness, no desire for revenge. Just prayer.
“From beginning to end there is no trace of bitterness, no desire for revenge on enemies, no angry reflections on the goodness of God. Rather, the references to God reveal a remarkable sense of His grace and goodness.” (Morgan) Enduring Word Bible Commentary Psalm 88
No matter how deep and dark Heman’s affliction was, he could still talk to God about it. This is the result of a lifetime of prayer.
Psalm 88 – Day and Night
Psalm 88 – day and night, reminds us of the importance of daily prayer. Without this, when the hard times come, we may find it hard to continue to pray. We may pray for a while and then sink into bitterness and anger when God doesn’t give us the response we want in the time we want.
It is only through a habit of prayer, day and night, that we gain the ability to withstand the darkness.
What about you? Do you pray unceasingly, day and night? What are you waiting for?
(For another take on this psalm, see Psalm 88: Companion Darkness – Patricia M Robertson)
This post is part of a series of blog posts on the Psalms. Sign up to follow this blog and receive a free copy of Still Dancing, the second book in my Dancing through Life Series. click here to sign up
(Please note – in order to help ensure you receive email with link to new book, please add my email, patricia@patriciamrobertson.com to your contact list. Some servers are quick to send newsletters to spam or other boxes.)
Leave a Reply