1 O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night.
2 Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry.
3 For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.
4 I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left.
5 They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave. I am forgotten, cut off from your care.
6 You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.
7 Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me.
Interlude
8 You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with no way of escape.
9 My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O Lord; I lift my hands to you for mercy.
10 Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you?
Interlude
11 Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love? Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12 Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds? Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?
13 O Lord, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day.
14 O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me?
15 I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.
16 Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me.
17 They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long. They have engulfed me completely.
18 You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.
"My dad will kill me!" How many times have you heard (or spoken) a similar statement?
While not to be taken literally, the very fact the statement is uttered reveals a sense of dread over some situation. This is where our psalmist is today. Some scholars are of the opinion that this psalm was penned by a man named "Heman the Israelite" many years before the birth of Moses; which means this...and the following psalm...are the oldest pieces of writing the world has to show, being written by two men who felt and groaned under the bondage and affliction of Egypt.
Which, would explain the sense of dread. Egypt was not a good experience for the Israelites. For most of their 400 years in Egypt they were slaves. So, our psalmist cries out. "O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night. Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry. For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left." The closest we can come to comprehending the life of a slave is by reading accounts of slavery in our own nation 150 years ago. It was an ugly existence and I'm confident many victims of that enterprise lifted their voices with the same prayer.
Just like our own nation's slaves, many of the Israelites in Egypt were people of profound faith in God. Prayers for deliverance would have been common. But, what really interests me is the sense, from Hemen, is that God was complicit in this circumstance. He says "You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths. Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me."
He continues throughout the psalm..."Each day I beg for your help, O Lord; I lift my hands to you for mercy. Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love? Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
What amazes me most here is the resilience of faith. Israel was in slavery for 400 years. Our own slaves labored in that condition for over 150 years. Yet...we hear the cry "O Lord, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day. O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me?" These were people that didn't give up on God simply because it felt like God gave up on them. They persevered...for their entire lives.
We do disservice to their memory when we so quickly abandon our faith today. We face a little trouble and throw our hands up saying "God just can't come through for me" and many walk away. Life of privilege and leisure does that. It saps us of endurance and conviction.
We live in another kind of slavery today...spiritual slavery. Its all around us. Even though Christ has broken the power and penalty of sin, it's ubiquity influences our lives daily. Sin tempts us at every turn. It bombards us and often cripples us spiritually. There are times when we succumb to the pressure. It's constant and we may believe we won't survive...we say "I'm a dead man!"
Just as there were slaves in Egypt, and our own country, who managed to faithfully trust God every day, we should do the same thing. Not because we expect immediate delivery, but because it's what faithful people do.
And God will deliver us...just as He delivered the slaves in Egypt and in the southern states. I'll bet we don't have to wait hundreds of years either.
Live boldly out there today...
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