You say, “Psalm 88,” and it’s not likely to spark any thought of remembrance as it would if you said Psalm 1, or Psalm 23, or Psalm 119, or Psalm 139. Not a lot of doctrine here, just a lot of desperation. No worship or praise, just why’s and prolonged confusion. This is a sad Psalm . . . as my kids might say, a “Debbie Downer” . . . but . . . it is also “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2Tim. 3:16 ESV). So what am I to take away from this sad Psalm?

The Psalmist has reached the bottom of bottoms. It can’t get any worse. “My soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol (v.3) . . . like one set loose among the dead (v.5) . . . I am shut in so that I cannot escape (v.8) . . . my eye grows dim through sorrow (v.9) . . . I am helpless (v.15) . . . my beloved and my friend shun me (v.18) . . . my companions have become darkness . . . darkness has become my only companion.” (v.18) Heavy sigh! Apparently, there is not a thing that’s going for this guy.

And being devout . . . believing in the Sovereignty and power of God . . . he can’t but help conclude that God’s hand is somehow involved in the psalmist’s plight. “You have put me in the depths of the pit (v.6) . . . Your wrath lies heavy upon me and You overwhelm me with all Your waves (v.7) . . . You have caused my companions to shun me (v.8) . . . I suffer Your terrors (v.15) . . . Your dreadful assaults destroy me (v.16).” How low can you go?

And being man . . . and not understanding the ways of God . . . the questions pour out . . . “Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” (vv. 10-12) And then the why’s . . . “O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me?” (v.14)

Oh brother! How sad is this psalm! Why keep reading? Why keep hovering?

Because, embedded in this vocabulary of gloom and bitterness, of utter hopelessness, is a lifeline.

“O LORD, God of my salvation I cry out day and night before You (v.1) . . . Every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You (v.9) . . . But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before You (v. 13).”

Where do you go when there’s no place to go? To the LORD. To whom do you cry when both heaven and earth seem to have shut their ears? To the LORD. When the why questions flood your mind where do you direct them? To the God of your salvation. Maybe sounds too simple or perhaps trite . . . but where do you go but to the LORD?

And sitting here, with God’s precious word in front of me, I know that the psalmists inclination to look to God even when he wasn’t sure God was looking at him, is the right thing to do because I know a few things the psalmist didn’t know. I know that His grace is sufficient (2Cor. 2:9) . . . that I can do all things through Him who strengthens me (Php. 4:13) . . . that there is not a temptation or trial that I may go through that isn’t common to the human experience and, God is faithful . . . He will enable me to stand through the trial . . . and will, with the trial, make a way to endure and eventually escape (1Cor. 10:13). The list of promises of God go on . . . His steadfast love never ceases . . . His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning . . . great is His faithfulness . . . when all else is failing, He is my portion . . . the sustenance for the soul for the day (Lam. 3:22-25).

No happy ending to Psalm 88 . . . at least not that’s written within it’s 18 verses. A sad Psalm. But, a Sovereign God . . . a sufficient grace . . . all within the context of a sure salvation. Mine is to draw near, knowing that He will draw near to me (James 4:8), Blessed be the name of the LORD. Amen?