Heman's Cry in the Darkness

I've been diving into some sermons and the Word lately. This message, from one of my favorite pastors (Tim Keller) is so poignant and pointed and exactly for me. So I took notes and thought I'd share it on my blog. It will likely lose something in the translation of voice to written word - but it's so good. If you ever have the chance to download Tim's sermons - http://www.redeemer.com/. Amazing teaching.

Heman's Cry (Psalm 88)

Psalm 88 – is one of the darkest Psalms ever written. It is one of 2 psalms (psalm 39 is the other) that end with NO hope.

O LORD, the God who saves me,
day and night I cry out before you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.

3 For my soul is full of trouble
and my life draws near the grave. [c]

4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man without strength.

5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.

6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.

7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
Selah

8 You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;

9 my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, O LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?
Selah

11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction [d] ?

12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

13 But I cry to you for help, O LORD;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14 Why, O LORD, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?

15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death;
I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.

16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.

17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.

18 You have taken my companions and loved ones from me;
the darkness is my closest friend.

American Christians are very naïve about suffering in this life. When things go wrong, we are overthrown by it. We believe that we deserve things to work out well. That God will work all things out for our agenda. That He owes it to us somehow.

It’s simply not true. Or not always true. This psalm will help us understand this. If we listen to the messages from the psalm's center – the tough messages, we will be able to discern some wonderful messages that it are whipsered at its edges.

1. Spiritual and personal darkness can last a long time.

Psalm 88 is a prayer that ends without the slightest ray of light – what is the teaching on that? It is this: you can pray and pray and pray – live rightly and still be absolutely plunged for a long, long time into outside and inside darkness. When all the psalmist's prayers are over, he’s still in darkeness. Deep, abandoned darkness.

What is this darkness? Outside darkness is the externals of life. Nothing is going well. Family and friends have abandoned. There’s also a darkness inside – which makes the outside darkenss more difficult. Internal darkness in this case means the psalmist is trusting God as his Savior, but He does not feel God’s presence. He feels abandoned and trampled on by God. Experiencing one ofr the other kinds of darkeness might be bearable. Both kinds of darkness are overwhelming.

Doesn’t the bible say God is working all out for good (Rom 8:28)? It does. But it also contains Psalm 88. The bible also says that you may go all of your life and never know what the good purpose is. Psalm 88 tells us that we can go through long periods of darkness without God’s presence. American Christians are so naïve about this. We say, “I’m a good person. God would never let “this” happen to me.” SO what? Jesus was a good person too. And look what he went through.

2. These desperately dark times are the best place to learn about God’s grace.

This man is not controlling his temper, his tongue or emotion in this psalm. He is cross-examining God. He wants to praise God. He wants to declare His faithfulness – but how can he when he’s being trampled to God. "Why are you not answering me? " He’s mad! Verse 15 to the end – he’s taking the difficulty of his present and saying ‘you have never been there for me, God.” He is not speaking respectfully to God. This only makes this psalm further evidence of God’s grace.

On Psalm 88 and 39’s “blasphemous” tone, Derek Kidner says, “The very presence of these prayers in scripture are a witness to God’s understanding. He knows how men speak when they are desperate.” The fact that God kept these prayers in the bible is proof that God knows how we speak when we are desperate. He is not our God because we put on a happy face in the depth of deep pain. Very liberating.

3. Dark times are often the best place for you to grow into someone great.

These are times where you don’t seem him working around you – or feel His presence internally. You’re getting absolutely nothing out of prayer. Nothing out of serving God. Nothing is “paying off.” There is NO benefit. This is dual darkness.

Think of Job. Satan said to God, “Does Job serve God for nothing?” Meaning – Job is serving God only because “it pays.” Pays off in God’s blessing and peace. Satan went on to say that all people are only serving God for the benefits they receive. So Satan said, “Plunge Job into darkenss. Remove any benefit of serving you at all. No peace. Take it all away from him. He won’t continue to serve you.”

Unfortunately, Satan is right in many instances. We want something from God. And as soon as things get tough and prayers are answered and we see God not answering our prayers…we struggle.

Back to Psalm 88. As bad as things are – the psalmist is screaming and despondent and angry. But he is these things TO God. He is still with God even though he’s getting nothing from Him. What does this mean? Satan is defeated! This man is staying with God for nothing!!

When you move into dual darkness – where serving and praying to God results in nothing – a great choice comes to us. A question from God: “Now, we’ll see finally whether you got in this relationship to serve me or to basically get me to serve you. Because I am not serving you.” In this darkenss, if you just hold on – and can only say, “God, I don’t like you. I don’t understand you. But I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to pray and serve as best I can because you are God. Not because you are working my life out – because you are God and I will serve you. No matter what.” What happens? Satan is defeated – and you are growing.

And when the darkness lifts – and it will - the tenacity to stick with God within the pressure you felt will change you (like a lump of coal into a diamond). You will be someone who serves God for nothing. It’s only in these dark times that you will develop a soul that cannot be dominated.

“Even as hope seems to die, it turns into a new strength as we serve God for nothing.”

It’s in the darkness that you are most likely to become “a great heart.”

4. Darkness can be relativized.

When you are in the darkness, it feels absolute. The psalmist who penned psalm 88 is Heman. Heman felt that the darkness was absolute and permanent – which was wrong. How do we know? We know from 1 Chron 6 that Heman was a leader of musicians and poets. Their songs are in Psalm 40 and 80. If Heman helped write some of the greatest psalms and music – this darkness helped turn him into a great artist. Do you think that (in his darkness) Heman ever thought 2,500 years later that we’d be gathering to talk about his art?

Heman was wrong. God hadn’t abandoned him. It wasn't absolute. It was subjective. And we can know this too. We have the perspective to know that when we feel totally abandoned in our darkness, God is still with us.

End of Psalm 39. End of Psalm 88. “Turn your face away from me God.”

As Jesus died, darkness came down over all the land. Jesus actually got the ultimate and total darkness in his death. He was absolutely and truly abandoned in his death. Why was God’s face turned away from him?

The answer: Everything Satan said is true. We do exploit God. But God wants to forgive us. For God to forgive us, our inordinate self-centeredness and trampling on one another…he came to earth as Jesus Christ. He took the ultimate wrath. Jesus was abandon – so that when we feel abandoned, we are not. When the ultimate darkness was coming in the Garden of Gethsemane, he Didn’t leave. He didn’t abandon His call when His father turned his face.

God hasn’t abandon us. Jesus already paid the debt. He loves us. Jesus is working in our abandonment.

What does this mean? There’s an answer to the psalmist’s question.

The resurrection makes it impossible to be in utter darkness. Even if you are IN total darkness. And the darkness can happen at any time – even if you don’t deserve it and without you knowing why. BUT, there are answers and a purpose. And someday, you will know it.