The Psalms You Want to Skip

Right now I’m reading through a list of Psalms and using them as a springboard to write. It challenges me to get out of my comfort zone when I have to use someone else’s suggestions. But when I read the next one on the list, I almost skipped it.

I like to be uplifting. Occasionally, I’ll choose to offer a little exhortation, but even then I want to end on an inspirational note. The Psalms don’t always offer that luxury. This book’s most appealing quality can sometimes make it the most depressing.

Folks who enjoy the Psalms most love the fact that they bring raw and honest emotions to the table. These short hymns give us permission to pour out our hearts to God without fear of reprimand. After all, if the one Yahweh called a man after His own heart can dump on the Creator, why shouldn’t we?

Fortunately, Israel’s greatest king included praise in even his most despairing Psalm. So, we learn to worship even when the days look dark. The sons of Korah and Heman the Ezrahite do not offer this kind of consolation prize.

Psalm 88 begins

¹Lord, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you.
^2Ã‚ÂMay my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.

and those are this psalmist’s last uplifting words. Did you miss them? Heman knows Yahweh is the God who saves him. Believe it or not that says a lot because for the next seventeen verses, he has nothing positive to say. He cries out, but God doesn’t listen. Trouble overwhelms him. Every friend and neighbor has been taken from him, darkness is his only friend. He could have written “The Sound of Silence.”

I can’t imagine keeping my faith in a war-torn country or while being a part of human trafficking. I shudder when I hear of missionaries forced to denounce Christ or watch their families die. These are travesties never meant to occur. I have a hard time wrapping my brain around how the enemy can convince someone created in the image of the Living God to commit such atrocities. And when I read Psalm 88, I wonder if Heman the Ezrahite lived in such conditions. Was life so horrific the only positive thing he could find was You are the God who saves me?

Perhaps you read Psalm 88 and completely commiserate with Heman–you know exactly how he feels, and you’re thankful someone put a voice to your prayers. If that’s you, know I prayed for you today. I don’t have to know your name, God hears your cries. My prayers simply add incense to the bowl and give power to Matthew 18:19: “If two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” I’m merely telling God I agree with you.

If that’s not you, this Psalm is a great reminder that some Christ followers are hanging on by a thread. Our prayers are powerful, and we need to pray for people we don’t know. How might the world change if our prayers became bigger than our backyard? Might someone be able to move from a Psalm 88 prayer to a Psalm 86 prayer just because we lifted them to the Almighty? What if your prayers empower the heavenly hosts? What if the battle we can’t see relies on our petitions, our cries to the Sovereign Ruler for strength? Who can you agree with in prayer so they can find deliverance in Jesus Christ?

I’ve begun putting a few devotions over on Kindle Vella.
I’d love it if you checked them out and shared them with a friend.
They’re a bit more upbeat than this one!

Stop back soon, and don’t forget to send me your favorite verse
or one you’d like to see my thoughts on.
I’m using those to write devotions right now too!