PSALM 88

Crying out to the LORD                                     verse 1- 2 

O LORD God of my salvation

I have CRIED day and night before YOU

let my PRAYER come before YOU

                  incline YOUR ear to my CRY 

Feeling the anger of the LORD                           verse 3- 7 

For my soul is full of troubles

and my life draws nigh unto the grave

I am counted with them that go down into the pit

I am as a man that hath no strength

free among the dead

      like the slain that lie in the grave

                  whom YOU remember no more

                              and they are cut off from YOUR hand

YOU have laid me in the lowest pit – in darkness – in the deeps

YOUR wrath lies hard upon me

      and YOU have afflicted me with all YOUR waves  

SELAH 

Feeling his friends had forsaken him                  verse 8- 10 

YOU have put away mine acquaintance far from me

YOU have made mean abomination to them

      I am shut up – and I cannot come forth

                  mine eye mourns by reason of affliction

LORD – I have CALLED DAILY on YOU

      I have stretched out my hands to YOU

Will YOU show wonders to the dead?

shall the dead arise and praise YOU?            SELAH 

Questioning the actions of the LORD                 verse 11- 14 

Shall YOUR loving-kindness be declared in the grave?

or YOUR faithfulness in destruction?

Shall YOUR wonders be known in the dark?

and YOUR righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

But to YOU have I CRIED – O LORD

and in the morning shall my PRAYER prevent YOU

LORD – why cast YOU off my soul?

why hide YOU YOUR face from me? 

Feeling a lifelong affliction from the LORD        verse 15- 18 

I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up

while I suffer YOUR terrors I am distracted

YOUR fierce wrath goes over me

YOUR terrors have cut me off

they came round about me DAILY like water

      they compassed me about together

Lover and friend have YOU put far from me

and mine acquaintance into darkness 

COMMENTARY:           

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers 

: 2         “Let my prayer come before YOU; incline YOUR ear to my cry.” The New King James Version (Nashville:                     Thomas Nelson, 1982).

(Cry – 7440 רִנָּה [rinnah /rin·naw/] n f. From 7442; TWOT 2179c; GK 8262; 33 occurrences; AV translates as “cry” 12 times, “singing” nine times, “rejoicing” three times, “joy” three times, “gladness” once, “proclamation” once, “shouting” once, “sing” once, “songs” once, and “triumph” once. 1 ringing cry. 1A of entreaty, supplication. 1B in proclamation, joy, praise. James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001).

DEVOTION:   Recently I have had several conversations where the topic has turned to, why does God allow suffering and pain to continue or exist in this world? The psalmist seems to be echoing these thoughts as he cries out to the Lord! This psalm has been called one of the saddest psalms in the Psalter. It voices the diligent prayer of one who suffered constantly. Day and night he has cried out and God has not seemed to respond to his intercessions. Why the pain and trouble?  As Psalm 51 and 32 remind us, the world and all of mankind is in sin and troubled. Romans tells us all have sinned (3:23); the wages of sin is death (6:23) and the entirety of creation groans as a result of it (8:18-22).

Sin, pain and death are the results of man’s rebellion against God’s ruler. The believer is not exempt from this pain as long as they are in this world. What we can depend upon is the promise of His word! “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I will give them eternal life , and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28; “…be content with such things as you have. For He himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5

CHALLENGE:   Troubles are very real in this life and Christ did not hide the truth of the difficulties we would face. In your time of trouble cry out to the Lord as the psalmist is doing! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member) 

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers 

: 3        For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draws nigh to the grave. (7451 “troubles” [ra‘] means depravity, disaster, a state of ill-being due to affliction or misfortune, crime, misery, distress, evil, calamity, or unhappiness.)

DEVOTION:  How many of us have ever felt that everything was not going your way? It seemed like everything that was happening was going in the wrong direction. It seemed like there was no hope. It seemed like you had no friends to help. It seemed like there was no reason to get up in the morning.

Here was Heman the Ezrahite writing this song about life or at least his present life as a song to be sung. It was not a happy song. It was a song of someone who was going through deep waters and wondering what was going to happen next.

We have all been there. We have had time periods in our life that seem to be going in the wrong direction but we knew the LORD was allowing it for a reason. We took a long time to figure out the reason but HE knew what HE was doing to help us grow in our knowledge of HIM.

Too often we think that bad times are bad but in reality sometimes they are meant to draw us closer to the LORD because we have been depending on ourselves more than the LORD.

HE wants us to depend on HIM every moment of every day. HE wants us to take up our cross daily and follow HIM. Sometimes the cross is heavy and we want to let it go and move in a different direction. HE knows us enough to know how much HE can allow trouble in our life to get us back depending on HIM.

We need to realize that the good times and the bad times are to help us mature in our faith, so that, we can help others to follow Jesus better. We are prone to wander if HE doesn’t send hard times our way to make us come back to HIM.

CHALLENGE: Are you presently going through hard times? Turn them over to HIM completely and watch HIM work!!

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: 8        YOU have put away mine acquaintance far from me, YOU have made me an abomination to them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. (3607 “shut up” [kala’] means to restrain, to withhold, prevented, to be held back, hinder, to hold in, or be confined.)

DEVOTION:  Have you ever had people you considered your friends turn their back on you? Those who you thought would be with you through thick and thin suddenly turn their back on you because of something that happened to you or was about to happen to you.

It is hard to face life without friends. It is hard to keep going when it seems that you are always alone. God wants us to be people persons. HE wants us to have friends that will help us in good time and bad time, especially in bad times.

However, that doesn’t always happen when we are going through bad times. Here is the Psalmist thinking that everyone has turned their back on him and that it was the LORD who was causing them to turn their backs on HIM.

Does the LORD leaven HIS children alone when they are going through bad times? The answer is NO! HE is the one we can turn to when we think everything is going south in our life.

HE might allow it to seem that way to see what we are going to do with our relationship with HIM. HE wants us to know that we can count on HIM through thick and thin. It is the thin times that we need HIM the most.

HE loves HIS children and will not allow more than we can take to happen to us without providing a way to escape. HE knows our weaknesses and our strengths and wants us to know that HE will never leave us or forsake us.

CHALLENGE: When it seems like friends are letting you down, you need to know that the LORD is always there to help you up. Trust HIM!

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 13            “But unto YOU have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent YOU.” (“Morning,” 1242 בֹּקֶר [boqer] 204 occurrences; AV translates as “morning” 190 times, “morrow” seven times, “day” three times, “days + 6153” once, and “early” three times. 1 morning, break of day. 1a morning. 1a1 of end of night. 1a2 of coming of daylight. 1a3 of coming of sunrise. 1a4 of beginning of day. 1a5 of bright joy after night of distress (fig.). 1b morrow, next day, next morning [Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software]).

DEVOTION: This psalm laments a personal tragedy with God.  Who has not had a crisis in their life that only God can solve?  The psalmist continues to seek God’s intervention and says that he turns to the Lord each morning for help. 

There is something refreshing about the morning.  God’s mercies are described as being new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).  We awaken from a night’s rest, and we are renewed in our perspective about what is going on.  Morning is a time when we can reflect upon God and what He has been doing.

Very often we get too busy in the morning and forget about our time with the Lord.  Yet He is waiting for us to come to Him in humility and seek His face first thing in the morning.  It is an acknowledgement that we alone are inadequate to face the challenges of the day, and that we need His grace to face whatever He brings our way.

CHALLENGE:  Are you willing to get up early enough in the morning to spend time with God before the day starts?  Are you willing to make God your first thought upon waking in the morning and praise Him for the new day? (Dr. Marc Wooten – board member)

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: 15      I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. (6323 “distracted” [puwn] means to turn, be perplexed, emotionally drained, anxious state or be in despair.)

DEVOTION:  Have you ever been emotionally drained? Do circumstances seem to overwhelm you? You are not alone there are many people who have the same feelings at times in their life. Sometimes these feelings last for a long time and that is when you or I need to get some help.

The psalmist knew that the LORD was in control of the afflictions that came his way. He knew that that the LORD could remove the affliction. He cried out three times in this psalm for the LORD to deliver him from his affliction. He acknowledged that the affliction had been around since his youth.

 He had so many questions. He told the LORD that it was hard to praise HIM from the grave. He wanted to proclaim to others about the loving-kindness, faithfulness, miracles and righteousness of the LORD. He didn’t feel he could do it from the grave.

This world we live in is full of affliction. We have some days of peace but we know that part of our growth process includes affliction or suffering. We know that the LORD uses pruning and chastening to get our attention and cause us to grow in our knowledge of HIM. We don’t like it.

We pray to the LORD to take it away. One problem: If HE takes it away, we tend to think we don’t need HIS help anymore and start doing things on our own. We wish it wasn’t so but that is the way our human nature works and the LORD knows it.

HE has promised to carry us through all of our afflictions. HE is always there and will never send us more than we can take. Praise HIS name.

Herman thought he had learned enough and thought the affliction should stop but he also knew that the LORD God was his salvation/deliverer.

Should we stop praying for deliverance? NO!! Imagine what happens when we stop praying and depend on ourselves. The Christian life can be perplexing at times but we have somewhere to turn when all seems lost!!! Remember to praise HIS name while we are still alive.

CHALLENGE: Be honest with God and tell HIM what you are feeling but don’t base your faith on your feelings.

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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level) 

Daily prayer for deliverance                                    verse 1- 18

            Cried day and night

            Wants God to incline HIS ear to hear

            Called daily

            Stretched out my hands to YOU 

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group) 

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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

God the Father (First person of the Godhead) 

LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)      verse 1, 9, 13, 14

                        God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign)                        verse 1

LORD God of my salvation                                      verse 1

Wrath of God                                                           verse 7, 16

Wonders of God                                                      verse 10

Lovingkindness                                                        verse 11

Faithfulness                                                              verse 11

Wonders                                                                   verse 12

Righteousness                                                          verse 12

Terrors                                                                      verse 15, 16 

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)    

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation) 

     Soul                                                                          verse 3

      Lover                                                                        verse 18

      Friend                                                                       verse 18 

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angel) 

No strength                                                              verse 4

Abomination                                                            verse 8

Distracted                                                                 verse 15 

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins) 

                     Salvation                                                                   verse 1

                    Cried                                                                          verse 1, 2, 9, 13

                     Prayer                                                                        verse 2, 13

                     Full of troubles                                                         verse 3

                     Afflicted                                                                    verse 7, 9, 15

                     Praise                                                                        verse 10

                     Loving-kindness                                                       verse 11

                     Faithfulness                                                              verse 11 

Israel (Old Testament people of God) 

      Psalm of Herman the Ezrahite                                verse 1- 18

                  Laid me in lowest pit

                  Laid me in darkness

                  Laid me in the deeps

                  Afflicted with many waves

                  Taken my acquaintance far from me

                  Made me an abomination to friends

                  Eye mourns by reason of affliction

                  Cast off my soul

                  Hides face from me

                  I am afflicted

                  I am distracted

                  Terrors around daily like water

                  Lover and friend far from me 

Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events) 

Grave                                                                        verse 3, 5, 11

Pit                                                                             verse 4, 6

Dead                                                                         verse 5, 10

Slain                                                                          verse 5

Cut off                                                                       verse 5, 16

Destruction                                                               verse 11

Dark                                                                          verse 12

Land of forgetfulness                                               verse 12

Die                                                                            verse 15

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QUOTES regarding passage

There is no sadder prayer in the Psalter. Here, as with other laments, the reader’s part need not be that of spectator, whatever his current mood, but that of companion in prayer to the depressed or outcast people whose state of mind the psalm puts into words: words which are for use.

If there is hardly a spark of hope in the psalm itself, however, the title (see below) supplies it, for this supposedly Godforsaken author seems to have been one of the pioneers of the singing guilds set up by David, to which we owe the Korahite psalms (42–49; 84f.; 87f.), one of the richest veins in the Psalter. Burdened and despondent as he was, his existence was far from pointless. If it was a living death, in God’s hands it was to bear much fruit. (Kidner, D. (1975). Psalms 73–150: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 16, p. 348). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

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This is an individual lament psalm in which the psalmist knows nothing but sorrow. However, even in the darkness of his grief, he turns to the Lord for deliverance. The dialogue between the psalmist and his God can only be understood from the perspective of faith, in which the godly are free to share their frustrations with their heavenly Father. As in the other psalms of lament, it is difficult to be sure of the precise circumstances of his suffering. He suffered for a long time (v. 15), was ostracized by family and friends (vv. 8, 18), and had looked to the Lord regularly for deliverance (vv. 9, 13). The emotions and suffering expressed by the psalmist are close in spirit to those of Psalm 22. In the tradition of the church, these psalms were linked together in the Scripture reading on Good Friday. (VanGemeren, W. A. (1991). Psalms. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 564). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

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Psalm 88, written by Heman (cf. 1 Chron. 15:19; 16:41–42; 25:1, 6) the Ezrahite (a wise person, 1 Kings 4:31), has been called one of the saddest psalms in the Psalter. It voices the diligent prayer of one who suffered constantly. The psalmist lamented the terrible and fierce affliction that had brought him to the point of death. Yet he steadfastly prayed to the Lord night and day, basing his appeal on the fact that he would be useless to the Lord in the grave. (Ross, A. P. (1985). Psalms. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 857). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

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The three sections of this psalm have three common features: each opens with a testimony of sustained prayer (1–2, 9, 13); each laments an experience of darkness (6, 12, 18); and each faces death (5, 10, 15). There in a nutshell is this ‘psalm without hope’. Someone who knows the Lord as (lit.) ‘the God of my salvation’ (1), has no hope in the face of death (9–12). Someone who is committed to prayer finds no remedial answers to suffering. The wrath of God (7), the alienation of friends and inescapable (8) debilitating grief (9) fills the whole of life; the upward look sees only wrath, the inward look, terror (16); the outward look, present threats and absent friends (17–18) and the forward look, unrelieved darkness (18).

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88:1–18 This lament is unusual in that it does not end on a happy note. The psalmist has been ill or injured since the days of his youth (v. 15) and bemoans God’s failure to hear his prayer for good health. He assumes that God is angry with him, but like Job, he knows of no cause for that anger. But though he does not understand God’s ways, the psalmist does turn to God, thus indicating an underlying trust. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ps 88:1–18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.) 

FROM MY READING: 

(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)

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Ecclesiastes 12

The pursuit of temporal things is futile.

INSIGHT

Our society tends to breed materialism. Young couples expect to own a house, two cars, and maybe a boat. We dream of the day when we can afford to take exotic vacations and own a bigger house. Game shows offer spectacular prizes, and lottery tickets are sold by the thousands. But Solomon experienced tremendous wealth and found himself unhappy. He learned that eternal things matter most. God wants His children to invest their brief lives in others–not just in material things.

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VERBAL INSPIRATION

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. Deuteronomy 18:18

The particular words used in the Bible are divinely inspired. I shall try to demonstrate to you that the Bible claims for itself what is called verbal inspiration It is not merely that the thoughts are inspired, not merely the ideas, but the actual record, down to the particular words. It is not merely that the statements are correct, but that every word is divinely inspired.

Verbal inspiration means that the Holy Spirit has overruled and controlled and guided the writers of the Bible, even in the choice of particular words, in such a way as to prevent any error, and above all to produce the result that was originally intended by God.

The Bible makes specific claims in this matter of inspiration. Take, for instance, certain terms that the Bible uses of itself, such as Scripture. That designates “holy writings”; not ordinary writings but special ones–holy writings.

Let us take a more specific claim. Take that great prophecy, which is very crucial in this matter, spoken by Moses and recorded in Deuteronomy 18:18: “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” All the prophets of the Old Testament make this claim. They do not say that they suddenly decided to write; they say, “The word of the Lord came….” (see, for example, Ezekiel 1:3; Hosea 1:1; Jonah 1:1), and they tell you exactly when it came. They were called, they were commissioned, and the word was given to them. So they are constantly saying something like, “Thus saith the Lord.” That is their claim.

A Thought to Ponder: It is not merely that the statements are correct, but that every word is divinely inspired, by (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

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Game Over

All things become visible when they are exposed by the light. EPHESIANS 5:13

Our son Samuel was a top-rated tennis player at age 14, before he was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease. But he struggled at times with getting angry at himself. I warned him often about dealing with this. And although he tested our limits periodically, he always seemed to get himself under control before we felt the need to take drastic action.

Except at one particular tournament. Samuel was well ahead of his opponent but still missed shots he thought he should have made. Soon, he began beating the air with his racquet.

I looked sternly in his direction, making eye contact.

Not long after, he slammed a ball into the chain-link fence.

I stood up.

Finally, he angrily whacked the fence with his racquet.

That did it. I walked out onto the court and declared, “This match is over. My son forfeits for poor sportsmanship.”

It was a difficult moment. You could have heard a pin drop. The look of shock on Samuel’s face was one I’ll never forget. But it didn’t matter. It was character-training time. And however hot the attention felt on my back from both the spectators and from Samuel, I was determined to make my point.

And believe me—I did!

There will be times—if you haven’t experienced them already—when your children will need to be stunned by what their misbehavior can cost them. They need to know that the game they are playing is not the ultimate objective. It is an opportunity to grow their character. To win the game and lose at life is not the goal.

DISCUSS

What is important: the game or life? What misbehavior in your children could force you to conduct some out-in-the-open correction? (Moments with YOU by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)

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The Will of the Lord

“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:17)
There is no more exalted theme in the world than the will of God, nor is there a more important practical question than how to know the will of God. Of greatest significance is the recognition that it is His will—not man’s will—that is important.
God desires for us to know His will—both His will in general, as revealed in Scripture, and His specific will in each particular decision. The latter must in every instance, of course, be fully compatible with the former, as the Holy Spirit, who leads us, will never contradict the Scriptures that He inspired. Thus, an indispensable prerequisite to finding the personal will of God is knowing His general will.
The general will of God is expressed, first of all, in the fact of special creation (Revelation 4:11). Then Christ became man in order to accomplish God’s will (Hebrews 10:7) as our sin-bearing substitute; “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). It is His will that this should provide salvation to all who believe. “This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life” (John 6:40). This in turn entails individual regeneration of all who receive Him, “which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
Furthermore, His will includes absolute security in Him (John 6:39), our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3), and ultimate glorification (John 17:24). Thankfulness in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18) and a virtuous (“well doing”—1 Peter 2:15) life are also God’s will. A believer who understands, believes, and obeys God’s general will is then prepared to know and follow His specific will. (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)

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Sol Ibarra writes Mexico: Parents of the family!!! We are living in a much needed time. The foundation of the family is completely fragmented and damaged by the lack of commitment of the parents. Infidelity between spouses, neglect in raising children; but above all, an absolute absence of the fear of God. Please Wake Up !!! We are raising the next generation!!! We are already observing the product of our efficiency or inefficiency in raising the next generation. Let’s view it please… Where or how would we like to see our grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow. A generation passes the model to follow the next. We need to wake up from that lazy and spiritual neglect!!!!

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