14 day plan

Overcome

Day 2 of 14

CSB

Psalms 88:3-8

3For I have had enough troubles,

and my life is near Sheol.

4I am counted among those going down to the Pit.

I am like a man without strength,

5abandoned among the dead.

I am like the slain lying in the grave,

whom you no longer remember,

and who are cut off from your care.

6You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit,

in the darkest places, in the depths.

7Your wrath weighs heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.Selah

8You have distanced my friends from me;

you have made me repulsive to them.

I am shut in and cannot go out.

Reflections: The author here seems defeated, deflated and more than a bit over it. Have you ever felt like that? Christians are not promised an easy path, rather we are promised that God will be with us along the way, through the deeply difficult seasons as well as the good ones. It doesn’t always feel like that though, and here we see someone at their lowest and they are not praising God – they’re not even praying – but they are still talking to him, telling him how they feel and leaving it at that.

Questions:  How does this passage of Scripture make you feel?

Prayers:  God, thanks that you hear me, even when I’m deep in despair. Amen.

Psalms 88:1-18

Psalm 88

A Cry of Desperation

A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

1Lord, God of my salvation,

I cry out before you day and night.

2May my prayer reach your presence;

listen to my cry.

3For I have had enough troubles,

and my life is near Sheol.

4I am counted among those going down to the Pit.

I am like a man without strength,

5abandoned among the dead.

I am like the slain lying in the grave,

whom you no longer remember,

and who are cut off from your care.

6You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit,

in the darkest places, in the depths.

7Your wrath weighs heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.Selah

8You have distanced my friends from me;

you have made me repulsive to them.

I am shut in and cannot go out.

9My eyes are worn out from crying.

Lord, I cry out to you all day long;

I spread out my hands to you.

10Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do departed spirits rise up to praise you?Selah

11Will your faithful love be declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12Will your wonders be known in the darkness

or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

13But I call to you for help, Lord;

in the morning my prayer meets you.

14Lord, why do you reject me?

Why do you hide your face from me?

15From my youth,

I have been suffering and near death.

I suffer your horrors; I am desperate.

16Your wrath sweeps over me;

your terrors destroy me.

17They surround me like water all day long;

they close in on me from every side.

18You have distanced loved one and neighbor from me;

darkness is my only friend.