Psalm 88

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Psalm 88
• Sermon
• Pastoral Prayer

---

Sermon Title: The Dark Night of the Soul

Scripture: Psalm 88

I. The Despair of Psalm 88 — A Unique Psalm of Lament

• A. Unlike other psalms of lament, Psalm 88 does not progress toward hope but ends in deepening despair — "Darkness has become my only companion" (Psalm 88:18)
• B. The psalmist, Heman the Ezrahite, is boxed in by darkness in every direction — past, present, and future
  1. Verse 3: his soul is near Sheol
  2. Verse 6: God has placed him in the pit
  3. Verse 15: even his youth was marked by affliction
• C. Derek Kidner: "This psalm is a witness to the possibility of unrelieved suffering as a believer's lot. The happy ending of most psalms of this kind is seen to be a bonus and not a due."
• D. Rather than being shocked that Psalm 88 exists, we should be more surprised that the entire Psalter is not filled with such psalms, given the depth of human fallenness
• E. Psalm 88 functions as a sobering reminder — like cold water — that we live in a dark and fallen world where such suffering is real

II. Three Sources of the Psalmist's Despair

• A. The psalmist is acutely aware that it is God himself who is afflicting him
  1. The second-person singular "you" — with God as the subject of the psalmist's suffering — appears in verses 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, 16, and 18
  2. Unlike suffering for the sake of Christ (as in Acts 5, where the apostles rejoice after being beaten), this is Job-like suffering with no visible redemptive framework
  3. The hidden lesson: we should desire suffering due to faithfulness rather than suffering due to faithlessness
  4. Daniel's deepest anguish in Daniel 9:1–20 was not Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar, but the awareness that his people's exile was the result of covenant unfaithfulness
  5. While Psalm 88 and Job are not cases of judgment for particular sin, the psalm reminds us that the greatest darkness is the face of God turned away — a sobering call to faithfulness
• B. The psalmist suffers the loss of all companions and friends (Psalm 88:8, 18)
  1. From creation, it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2); humans are made for fellowship
  2. Job's suffering was compounded by three friends who turned against him
  3. Jonathan's friendship was a bright light to David in the darkness of his exile — his love for Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9 reflects how deeply Jonathan's friendship marked him
  4. Paul's final words in 2 Timothy 4:9–11 show a man facing death and longing for friends — notably requesting Mark, the very man he had once rejected (Acts 15:36–41)
  5. Application: cultivate deep friendships in Christ; without them, hard providences bring even greater darkness
• C. The psalmist describes his suffering in terms of hell — a descent into Sheol
  1. Sheol in this psalm carries more than the ordinary sense of the grave; it speaks of covenantal curse and divine judgment
  2. Verse 5: language of being cut off from God's hand reflects the negative side of circumcision — covenantal severance and curse
  3. Verse 11: Abaddon (place of destruction) appears in Revelation 9:11 as the name of the angel of the bottomless pit
  4. Verse 14: the casting away of the soul points to eternal punishment, not merely physical death
  5. Matthew 25:30: Jesus describes hell as outer darkness — the very language of Psalm 88

III. Psalm 88 and the Descent of Christ into Hell

• A. The Apostles' Creed confesses that Christ descended into hell — Psalm 88 provides a biblical basis for understanding what that means
• B. At Golgotha, Christ experienced the full reality of Psalm 88 literally
  1. Darkness covered the land physically and spiritually
  2. All companions abandoned him
  3. Isaiah 53:8: "He was cut off out of the land of the living"
  4. Isaiah 53:10: "It was the will of the LORD to crush him"
  5. His cry — "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" — is the voice of Psalm 88 spoken from the cross
• C. Yet both the psalmist and Christ, in the depths of their darkness, still direct their voice to God — they cry out rather than fall silent
  1. Job, despite going too far in his complaints, always issues them to the Lord
  2. Christ prays through the darkness: "Father, forgive them" and "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit"
• D. Psalm 88 should not be the tenor of the Christian life — we have the resurrection and the hope of Christ
• E. Nevertheless, Psalm 88 is a genuine comfort for those in extreme suffering, pointing them to a God and High Priest who has entered that darkness fully and sympathizes with them
• F. The whole Bible is not Psalm 88 because the whole Bible is about Jesus Christ, who tastes its reality in full and rises victorious three days later