Our Weary Hearts

Psalm 88

Immanuel – 12/11/22

For two weeks we have been following Abram on his journey of faith. Already in those two weeks, it has been a tumultuous journey. With faith that was faltering, Abram journeyed down to Egypt in search of food. Then, motivated by fear rather than faith, Abram tells the Egyptians that his wife is actually his sister; and he convinces Sarai to share in the lie.

During these exploits in Egypt, as Abram is faltering and Sarai is seemingly lost to another man, God is silent. God remains silent until Abram returns to the Promised Land, where God finally speaks and reaffirms His promises.

Today we diverge from Abram’s journey. From now until Christmas morning we will be in a Christmas series which I have entitled “The Weary World Rejoices.”

I think all of us here know what it is to feel weary, beaten down, discouraged, depressed. Most certainly, this is a weary world. But even in the midst of these very real emotions, still we can lift our voices, still we can praise God, still can the darkness be broken by the light.

It might not seem very Christmassy to consider depression and weariness, but I assure you, it absolutely its! For in the darkest of nights, Christ is the bright and morning star! As the angels declared that dark night in Bethlehem, to some of the most down-trodden people in Jewish society, the birth of Jesus was “good news of great joy…for all the people” (Luke 2:19).

But before we come wholly into that good news of great joy, we are going to spend this sermon considering a darkness nearly every one of us has known at some point in our lives. Perhaps there are some here today that know this darkness.

Today we consider our weary hearts. The darkness of the soul. Today we turn to Psalm 88.

Purpose

Dark nights can be holy nights. There is a way of holy suffering.

Read Psalm 88

The Troubled Psalm

For as long as the church has existed, Christians have loved the Psalms. In them we find expression for the vast array of human emotion: joy, indignation, worshipfulness, fear, awe, guilt, yearning, hopefulness, and so on.

But among all the Psalms, there is no psalm like Psalm 88. It is the bleakest and most mournful. Psalm 88 contains no clear redeeming moment, no ending on a high note, no rescuing word from the Lord, no obvious hope. The psalm ends and just leaves you solidly in darkness and silence.

Psalm 88 is a psalm for sufferers. It is a psalm for those who feel far away from God, aching at His distance and silence.

I know there are many here that share in this experience. And if you do not share in this experience today, you likely have in the past, or you almost certainly will in the future.

Even Jesus felt these emotions.

When Jesus saw [Lazarus’ sister, Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled…Jesus wept. -Luke 11:33,34

We know it to be true and Scripture confirms it: Christians will suffer. And sometimes our troubles will be stubborn and abiding. Only false teachers, or the naïve, will claim that Christians should never be troubled or sorrowful or depressed. If a troubled heart afflicted Jesus, then what would exempt us?

Perhaps it’s chronic pain, the loss of a loved one, the realization that you may never get what you so desperately want, the pain of people’s scorn, the isolating sorrow of loneliness, the plundering of time, the hiddenness of God. Perhaps the darkness comes from another place.

And despite our prayers, our faith, our actions; afflictions can beat against us like relentless and stormy ocean waves. These troubles can wear us down and weary our hearts.

But even though it is dark, may Psalm 88 be a comfort to you. It is good that Scripture is not afraid of these dark places. For God is not silent. Even if Heman the Ezrahite penned it, Psalm 88 comes from the mouth of God.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. -2 Timothy 3:16-17

Ponder that. For our darkest moments, God gave us Psalm 88 to teach us, convict us, correct us, to train us in righteousness, to make us complete, to equip us for good work. God intends to work all these glories in us through this dark psalm. How we should pay attention!

For even in the midst of the darkness, when there seems to be no sign of redemption, sparks of divine glory can still be seen.

Read vs 1

Heman’s Weary Heart

Heman is a righteous man, a faithful man; and we are reading his prayer. In his prayer he immediately acknowledges that his salvation is found in God, and in God alone. In his darkness, in the midst of his troubles, there is nowhere else for him to turn, no one else to look to; his only recourse is to cry out to God.

He cries out to God. Hear the urgency, the passion, the deep longing of his soul. And Heman says he has been crying out day and night. The implication is that day and night God has not been responding. Day after day, night after night, God remains silent.

Read vs 2

Heman is saying, “God, salvation can only come from you! I have nowhere else to go. Hear my prayer! Help me!”

But see the glory here. Even though God has remained silent and Heman has not yet found help, still he prays, still he hopes that God will bring salvation. When all else would despair, Heman hopes in the Lord.

Then Heman begins to reveal what afflicts his soul so terribly.

Read vs 3-9

Surely, Heman’s soul is troubled – as he says at the beginning of verse 3. Taking up Heman’s voice, Charles Spurgeon writes:

“ ‘I am satiated and nauseated with [troubles]. Like a pot full to the brim with vinegar, my heart is filled with adversity, until it can hold no more.’ He had his house and his hands full of sorrow, but even worse, he had his heart full of it. Trouble in the soul is the soul of trouble. A little soul trouble is painful; what must it be like to be full? And how much worse is it to have your prayers return empty when your soul remains full of grief?”

Spurgeon, C. H., updated by Nelson, T. (1997). The Treasury of David. Pg 766. Thomas Nelson, Inc

It seems that Heman’s afflictions were many. Verses 4-7 may indicate that he could be troubled by an illness, or the afflictions of age. In verse 8 it seems to be clear that – for whatever reason – his friends have abandoned him.

But despite Heman’s overwhelming flood of grief, and though he feels as if God is not listening, notice how he attributes his sufferings to the hand of God.

Vs 6 – You have put me in the depths of the pit.

Vs 7 – Your wrath lies heavy upon me.

Vs 7 – You overwhelm me with all your waves.

Vs 8 – You have caused my companions to shun me.

Vs 8 – You have made me a horror to them.

Heman knows exactly who is responsible for his suffering. He knows – just as Job did – that God gives and He takes away (Job 1:21).

Such language is a challenge for us. And when it comes to our suffering, our pain, many modern people would attempt to get God off the hook. But the psalmist would never consider that God is not in control. Whether pleasure or pain, God is sovereign. He created the day and the night.

Perhaps you have heard some say, “God has nothing to do with”…whatever the trouble. “God is love. He doesn’t cause suffering.” But even though it fills his soul with trouble, Heman understand that He who has authority over heaven and earth also has authority over his own suffering.

Read vs 10-12

In these verses Heman asks a series of three questions. I see two thoughts, or emotions, swirling together in his weary heart.

First, he feels dead. Have you ever felt a depression, or a sorrow, or a coldness, where you hardly feel like you are alive. Your heart is beating, but it is unfeeling and numb. You may even begin to wonder, what’s the point?

Though Heman is expressing this crippling feeling, he doesn’t despise his own life. He doesn’t wallow in self-pity and cry “woe is me.” No! He remembers what gives his life meaning. He remembers his God!

And this brings us into the second though, or emotion, that Heman is expressing. If he is dead, or if his heart is so overcome by sorrow and trouble that he is entirely numb, then how can he bring glory to God? How can he worship?

Here I am reminded of the Lord’s Prayer. The reason that we pray, give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), is so that we can live and use our lives to hallow the name of God, to advance His kingdom, to do His will.

Likewise, Heman the Ezrahite is crying out to God, “How can I despair to the point of death and be able to praise your name?” Just as God has given him this despair, he wants God to remove it, to restore the joy of his salvation, that he might be able to more fully, more whole-heartedly, proclaim the wonders of the Lord.

Another way to put all this is, “If I am dead, how can I live for you?”

This is holy depression: a depression that has not been lost to self-focus and self-pity. This is a depression that refuses to give into the temptations of selfishness, and instead chooses to lift the eyes to the God of my salvation, the God who gives and takes away, the God who bring the dead to life.

Oh it is never wrong to be overcome with sorrow. It is wrong, no matter what the emotion, to forget God while you focus on yourself.

Read vs 13-18

Again, we see a possible indication in verse 15 that Heman may have suffered from some chronic illness. And in verse 18 we realize that not only have his friends abandoned him, but so also has his beloved; meaning, the love of his life has left him.

Once more, Heman attributes all of this to God.

Vs 16 – Your wrath has swept over me.

Vs 16 – Your dreadful assaults destroy me.

Vs 18 – You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me.

Circling back to the original cries of his pray, we see Heman asking two more questions. Both are in verse 14.

Why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me?

Perhaps these are questions you have asked God in your moments of darkness; because these two questions effectively mean, “Why am I still waiting for help?” and “Why are you doing this?”

The first question of verse 14, Why do you cast my soul away – or, “Why am I still waiting for help?” Just as in verse 1, this points to God as the only One who can save, the only One who can help, the only One that can revive and return joy to the soul.

The second question of verse 14 is stunning, Why do you hide your face from me – or, “Why are you doing this?” Think about it. Heman is saying, “Why, God?” Isn’t the normal human reaction to say, “Why me?” But Heman says, “Why, God?”

In the midst of horrific suffering, Job was told to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). As Heman’s soul was swallowed by troubles, he too could have felt like cursing God and dying. And even if Heman’s words are filled with desperation and sorrow, he does not seek to take things into his own hands. Rather, he choses to wait on the Lord.

With these two questions Heman is effectively saying “Even though I am suffering, and I don’t understand it, I will wait for the goodness of your salvation.” Once more, this suffering psalmist has lifted his eyes off of himself and firmly fixed his gaze upon the God who is sovereign, the only God who can save.

And with verse 18, the psalm ends. Heman receives no answer from God. He gets no relief. The abruptness of its ending indicates that just as God was silent before, so is He silent after Heman’s prayers; and we have no idea how Heman’s troubles were resolved.

The ending of Psalm 88 forces us to confront the stark reality that, in this life, happily-ever-after is a thing of fairy tales; and not everyone gets a happy ending. For some people, even as faithful and righteous as Heman, their life is full of troubles and their hearts are weary and heavy laden.

3 Glories in the Dark

If I have just described your life, or a season in your life, then I want to direct your attention to three glories in this dark passage. And since it is unlikely you are a better person than Heman, then these three glories are also for you.

First, every verse of Heman’s prayer is saturated with hope in the Lord. Even if his heart has been swallowed by troubles, and God is hidden from his sight, still Heman cries out to God, day and night, desperate for the Lord’s salvation. He knows that if God has brought him these troubles, than surely He can rescue him from them too.

In the deepest darkness of soul, Heman does not sin, he does not succumb to self-pity. He gives his whole self to seeking the Lord. As I said earlier, this is holy suffering. And holy suffering is surely a glory in the dark!

The second glory in the dark: consider the powerful paradox that is Psalm 88. Heman is desperate for God to speak, longing to hear His voice. But as we read Psalm 88, has it not been breathed out by God? Likely without realizing it, Heman is praying the very voice of God. He does not hear God in how he was expecting; but through Heman’s desperate cries, millennia of sufferers are helped as they read Psalm 88 and hear the voice of God.

If Heman knew that while he was praying, I wonder if his soul might have revived a little. When such knowledge eventually is revealed to him, I imagine his once troubled heart would burst with joy.

God said: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:8-9

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. -Romans 8:28

Let us take a lesson in the sovereignty of God from Heman’s holy suffering. Trust that even if you do not understand it, even if God is silent, all the while your heart is swallowed by trouble, trust in the God of your salvation.

Because God has a plan to satisfy your troubled and weary heart that will make all of your afflictions feel light and momentary. Perhaps there is a weight of glory that will rest on your soul that swallows troubled hearts and wipes away mournful tears.

The third glory in the darkness is that Psalm 88 points to the Son of God who would share in our sufferings. I’ve already hinted at this when I read that Jesus’s heart was troubled and He wept.

Every suffering in Psalm 88 is a suffering that the Son of God entered into. When His friends ran away in fear, He knew what it was to be abandoned. And as He was put on trial, He knew what it was to be scorned and alone. As the whip tore His back and the nails were driven through His body, He knew terrible pain.

In a hurricane of wrath, as the Father looked on His Son’s crucified form and saw sin, Jesus knew what it was to be condemned and forsaken by His beloved Father. There, in that moment, as the earth shook, as He cried out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me (Matthew 27:46), Jesus knew a pain we will never understand.

The entire and terrible landscape of human suffering was folded into that singular moment on the cross. Yes, Jesus understood what it was to be troubled. Knowing that He was about to face this immeasurable suffering, He knew what it was to be troubled.

And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther He fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” -Matthew 26:37-39

Brothers and sisters, when the night comes upon you, and the troubles of Psalm 88 begin to creep into your soul, and your heart is burdened and weary, know that these things are coming from the Father. God is granting you the tiniest taste of that which Christ suffered for you; and your afflictions are miniscule compared to His!

It is a glory in the dark to better understand how much He suffered for your sake!

Though Psalm 88 ends on a dark note, we will not. Remember Heman’s questions in verses 10-11.

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?

The answers are yes! Jesus is risen! He has broken the night and death is defeated. Christ is risen! God works wonders for the dead, and they rise up to praise Him! His steadfast love overcomes the grave, His faithfulness destroys Abaddon!

O holy night, O night divine, Christ is shining brightly! This Christmas, may your weary heart, may every weary heart, revive. Jesus has entered our darkness, and like the rising son, he will certainly fill your heart, and this world, with soul satisfying light!