Life is Miserable

Listen to this:

"For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
Like one set loose among the dead,
Like the slain that lie in the grave,
Like those whom You remember no more,
For they are cut off from Your hand.
You have put me in the depths of the pit,
In the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You overwhelm me with all Your waves. Selah.
You have cause my companions to shun me;
You have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
My eye grows dim through sorrow."
(Psalm 88:3-9a)

Sounds pretty miserable, doesn't it?

The rest of the Psalm doesn't get any better.

Have you ever been in such a position?

I've been discouraged, frustrated, depressed and hopeless. But I don't think that I've ever gotten that far.

The psalmist ends his lament:"You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness" (v 18). That last statement could be translated, "Darkness has become my companion."

This guy is in quite a miserable state. And as far as the psalm reveals, he sees no way out.

Except one.

The psalmist cries out to God through the whole Psalm:
"O LORD, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry!" (v 1-2).

We have no clue about the circumstances. We have no clue about the resolution of this situation.

But we know that the psalmist was crying out to God.

I'm more likely to attempt to solve my problems. Or if I can't solve them, resign myself to them.

The biblical response, even if the situation is not as dire as Psalm 88, is to cry out to God.

Did you notice that the psalmist doesn't cry out for deliverance? He's not asking that his problems be removed.

He's asking to be heard by God. He's thirsting and hungering after God.

Whoa! That's radical.

That's what God wants. Sure, He may choose to resolve our problems. But His ultimate desire is that we would know Him.