Pray Even When It Is Dark And You See No Light - Psalms 87-89

Psalms 88:8-14 (ESV)

8 You have caused my companions to shun me;

you have made me a horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O LORD;

I spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But I, O LORD, cry to you;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14 O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me?

Psalm 88 is a very difficult song of prayer.  The reason is that the writer pours out his lament about his condition and, unlike most songs of lament, there is no refrain that speaks toward God as the writer’s final salvation.    This song ends by simply saying that “darkness has become my companion.”   In the above verses we read one of the song writer’s complaints.   He recognizes (and even praises God for) God’s power of deliverance.  Though this prayer warrior does not (in this song) experience what he writes, he does recognize that God has done “wonders.”  He praises God that He has brought “righteousness to the land.”   He does agree that God hears prayers in the morning, that they come before Him.  But, his lament is that these things have NOT happened to him (at least at the time of the composition of this song).   The writer knows that God is to be praised but in his current, dark estate, he sees none of those characteristics of God praise worthy attributes experienced in his life.    We have no context as to when this took place.  In the Hebrew copy of the song we are told that the song was composed by:

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

The song is a “Maskil” (a musical term for a poem) of “Heman the Ezrahite.”   We only know this man was very wise (1 Kings 4:31) and he was the descendent of Zerah (1 Chronicles 2:6).  That is all we know.    But, Heman is in a dark place.   The strength of this prayer is that despite it lacking a ultimate, but-you-did-deliver-me-in-the-end type conclusion, Heman has turned to God in this darkest of moments.   We know other prayers in Psalms have that ending we all hope to read.   We can only rejoice that even in darkness when you feel to relieve and have heard no response, God is still there, hearing our prayers when they arise in the to Him.  We are not to pray because we have relief.  We are to pray because God commands it, deserves it (even in our darkest moments) and does hear it.   The answer is God’s part.  The prayer is our part.