In Prayer, God meets me where I am

Psalm 88

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm of Heman the Ezrahite.

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.

I’ve read books and heard talks on the importance of giving thanks. I’ve heard it all on why even when its hard and messy and you feel low, you should try to give thanks for something. Anything.

And this wisdom is definitely there in the bible, but then, there is the reality of life, which is clearly acknowledged here in Psalm 88. There is no turn of hope, no thanks to God in spite of the struggle, just a lamenting cry of despair over 18 verses.

Its OK for our prayers to be desperate cries in times of desperation. God sees us. He gets it.

The truth is that life is just hard, and God knows how hard it can be to do the life of faith when life is tough.

God meets me where I am, and even when I feel like He is far away, I have confidence that He is still with me. 

Lord, thank you that your presence is tangible for me today. May I always experience your love that goes beyond any human understanding. 

Written by Ps Justin Ware