Wonderfully Sad and Terribly Meaningful

"I call to you , O Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you." Psalm 88:9b

This has got to be one of the saddest if not the saddest of all of the Psalms. Written by the Sons of Korah who were worship leaders for David. Very few Psalms are so despairing without offering at least a glimmer of hope. Many Psalms pour out their words of grief and misery, but none to the extent of this one. Not one word of answer to the desperate rhetorical questions. I have read this over and over and over and I can't get out of my head that it can be used as a reflection about Jesus on the cross. In verse 9 I see Him spread out on the cross.

In the notes of several references I see no indication of it being a crucifixion allegory, but for me, I see, I hear, I feel Jesus and Him bearing the sins of the whole world in this picture. Despised and rejected, forsaken, alone. Overwhelmed with waves of pain and suffering, with an agony we can't imagine. Bearing the weight of all of the sins of the past, present and future, all at once. In verse 10 the question is... 'do you show your wonders to the dead?' We know that God raised Him from the dead.

In verse 10 another question.... 'Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?' Jesus did. In verse 11 it asks... 'Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?' When thought of in relationship to how Jesus conquered death and the consequences of sin with His death and His faithfulness to become the payment for sin, it sure sounds like Him.

The comparisons go on and on for me. I am not a biblical scholar, but the reason no hope or answer is given in this Psalm is because it represents what Jesus accomplished and the actual answers to the questions are yes, yes, yes and are the hope that we need. Jesus knows our suffering and He knows our pain and grief. He bore it on the cross and we are set free because of what He did. What was horrible was wonderful. What was the worst, was the best for us ultimately. That is why Communion is such a mixed time of consideration for me. I am simultaneously struck by His sacrifice and overwhelmingly blessed by what that sacrifice accomplished.

Life is not always easy, or should I say not often easy. Jesus knows and cares. We can always turn to Him in everything and He will be there, fully understanding whatever we are feeling and going through. This Psalm is wonderfully sad and terribly meaningful. Though those words seem contradictory, so does the idea that God would so love the world that He would give His only begotten Son, so that whoever would believe in Him, would not perish, but have everlasting life. Now maybe it doesn't seem so sad, when we think of it like that. Just deeply meaningful, like a lot of other seemingly sad things.

Thanks for reading and sharing this with me today.
Pastor Fred

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