Psalm 51:4
All sin is sin against God
every sin is an act of defiance or rebellion against God
2 Samuel 15.1-23, 30
David is the anointed king of God
he is the Messiah and is an image of Christ
Absalom rebelled against his own father who was the king and Messiah
every time we sin
it is an act of rebellion against God the King
and Christ the King
we are rejecting his will
and doing what we will
taking control of our own lives and rejecting his control over us
openly rejecting his desires and following after our own desires
we are not acting like those people in this account that remained faithful to David
this is why sin is so serious
it is rebellion against God
16.5-14
Shimei rebels against his king
this is a picture of our own sin
rebelling against God and Christ
David’s patience with his enemies
prefigures Christ’s patience before his enemies
David suffers if it is God’s will as Christ did
18.1-17
Absalom is killed on the tree
this is the punishment for rebellion against the king and God
this is why we need Christ
he suffered our punishment to liberate us from punishment
David’s willingness to forgive Absalom
prefigures Christ’s willingness to die in place of sinners
19.8-23
Shimei is forgiven despite his rebellion and defiance
this is what every one of us must seek
this must be our daily prayer: Ps 51:1-9
we must ask forgiveness daily
to live in reconciliation with him
and because we are his children he stands ready to forgive us
he doesn’t want us to ignore our sin
but confess our sin to him and ask for forgiveness
ask, seek, knock
you will receive, you will find, the door will be opened to you
A Psalm is a poem
written by a man in a certain situation
about his emotions and his thoughts about his life and his God
poets use images that are not literal historical description, but metaphors for feelings and experiences
A Lament Psalm is a poem written by one going through suffering and great pain
the poem is addressed to God
by a man who worships God
it is not a message from God to man
but a prayer from man to God
Psalm 88
1-5
His misery is great
and he cries out to God
It is very possible this poet does not know of the resurrection
many of the OT saints seemed to have no knowledge of it
but it is possible this is a poetic exaggeration of death
he simply leaves out the resurrection
6-9
His suffering is great
wrath does not mean necessarily punishment
but God’s fatherly discipline of his children
he calls out to God every day for deliverance
10-12
He is saying– if you destroy me I will no longer be able to serve you
I will no longer be able to declare your love if I am dead
or perhaps he is speaking metaphorically
I am dead, I am in the grave
can I know your love here?
Can I know your wonders here?
13-14
he does not know why God does not help him
why God does not deliver him
and he asks God
but he does get an answer
15-18
His suffering continues
he has suffered most of his life
and the poem ends without any deliverance
This is a man of God speaking
who is overwhelmed with his situation
*
those of you suffering and sorrowing greatly take note
you are not alone
people of God have been there before
Charles Spurgeon said of this Psalm:
“How low the spirits of good and brave men will sometimes sink. Under the influence of certain disorders everything will wear a sombre aspect, and the heart will dive into the profoundest deeps of misery. It is all very well for those who are in robust health and full of spirits to blame those whose lives are sicklied over with the pale cast of melancholy, but the evil is as real as a gaping wound, and all the more hard to bear because it lies so much in the region of the soul that to the inexperienced it appears to be a mere matter of fancy and diseased imagination. Reader, never ridicule the nervous and hypochondriacal, their pain is real; though much of the evil lies in the imagination, it is not imaginary..”
“The mind can descend far lower than the body, for it there are bottomless pits. The flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more, but the soul can bleed in ten thousand ways, and die over and over again each hour. It is grievous to the good man to see the Lord whom he loves laying him in the sepulchre of despondency; piling nightshade upon him, putting out all his candles, and heaping over him solid masses of sorrow;”
Charles Spurgeon was a great preacher in London, one of the greatest of the 19th century
and yet he battled year by year depression
read from “When a Preacher is Downcast”
This week I have been in great darkness
and I preach to you still in that darkness
and so I have chosen Psalm 88
Know this:
1. Great sorrow does not put you outside the people of God
great sorrow does not put you outside the love and faithfulness of God
Israel sang this song together in the temple
this is a poem that is inspired by God
know this:
2. We may speak honestly to God our sorrows
it is proper to open our mouths and speak honestly our confusion and hurt
to even pray this Psalm
and let the poet pray for us to God
He begins this Psalm with calling God
“the God who saves me”
even though God has not saved him this time
and even though the poem ends in darkness with no deliverance
he knows that rescue comes from God alone
3. We must not find our comfort in our contemporary situation
but in God himself
in the fact that God is love and faithfulness and the one who saves
and that we belong to him
“the God who saves me”
even though we don’t see it now
the Psalmist believes in his love and faithfulness and wonders even though he does not see them
Psalm 88 as with all the Psalms
is fulfilled in Jesus Christ
the first sufferer of Psalm 88 is Heman
but THE sufferer of Psalm 88 is Jesus
Jesus Christ suffered misery and rejection and was arrested and killed
and God in his mercy and power
delivered Jesus Christ
and raised him from the dead
We know that God does show his wonders to those in the place of darkness
he raised Jesus from death
and he will raise us
and we will know his love even after we have gone to the grave
