Psalms 88:1
Psalms 88, “A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah,
to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and
night before thee: Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my
cry; For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go
down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: Free among the
dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest
no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest
pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard
upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. Thou hast
put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto
them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily
upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead
arise and praise thee? Selah. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in
the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy
righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But unto thee have I cried, O LORD;
and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. LORD, why castest
thou off my soul? why hidest
thou thy face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my
youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off. They came round
about me daily like water; they compassed me about together. Lover and friend
hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.”
Psalms 88 is
a Psalm which in some ways is similar to some parts of the book of Job. The
book of Job is about a Christian who faced great suffering. Job was a person
who lost everything: his family, his possessions, his
health, even in some ways his reputation and social status. And while he lay on
the earth scrapping his sores he did the same thing that is done here in this
verse of Psalms he prayed to God, reasoned with God, he talked with God and
asked similar questions as these questions posed in Psalms 88:11-12, “Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders
be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the
land of forgetfulness?”
The answer to
these questions is simple. If God keeps you alive then you are alive for a
purpose. No matter how bad things get if you are a live then that is because
God is still using you. The purpose of man is to praise God. The purpose of man
is to shew forth God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness. The purpose of man is
to declare the wonderful works of God. The purpose of man is to somehow be
witness of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. Therefore even if you suffer the loss of all
things like Job did but do not lose your life you can be certain that God is
still using you for His purposes.
Psalms
88 is a Psalm about suffering. Sometimes suffering can last a very long time.
Sometimes suffering can bring us near to the grave. One thing is for certain
every one suffers in life. But it is also true that if you follow Jesus there
will be things to suffer that you would otherwise not suffer. Every Christian
has a cross to bear. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “And he said to them all, If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and
follow me.”
Gods
will is different for every believer. Some Christians will suffer a littler in
life. And some Christians will suffer a great many things. To some degree this
depends on a person’s willingness to suffer for God and how much a person
desires to be involved in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The
more that you involved yourself in the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ and
the more that you use your life as a witness to the truth the more opposition
you will face from the forces of evil in this world.
No
matter the weight of your cross or the distance you must carry it is always
worth it in the end. The rewards that you will earn in heaven are greater than
you can possibly imagine.
Psalms
89:1-4, “Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for
ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all
generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy
faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant
with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.
Selah.”
Psalms 89 is Psalms about the greatness of God. Sadly we live in a
world in which you will hear very little about the greatness of God and a lot
about the greatness of man. Oh yes when men remember their history they love to
talk about and praise kings, and builders, and inventors and athletes and
artists. But how little do they think about God and His greatness.
In talking about the greatness of God
these first few verses of Psalms 89 mention His mercy, His faithfulness, and
His promise to establish the seed of David and his kingdom forever. It seems
appropriate to mention what is often called the Davidic covenant when talking
about the mercy and faithfulness ness of God.
Jesus was from the lineage of King
David. It is Jesus who will fulfill this promise of God to establish a kingdom
forever. One of the great important
details about this future kingdom has to do with the mercy and faithfulness of
God.
Of course we know that Jesus died on
the cross for the sins of the world and defeated death by rising from the
grave. This in itself greatly reveals the mercy and the faithfulness of God.
But this great promise of God about a
future kingdom also reveals the great mercy and faithfulness of God. Despite
the wickedness and failures of man God has great plans for mankind in the
future. Plans that involve a glorious and eternal kingdom
which is ruled by mercy and faithfulness.
Mercy is not a word that describes the kingdoms of this world.
Injustice would be a much more accurate word.
But knowing that God is faithful and that God keeps His promises means
that we who trust in Jesus can look forward to the day when Jesus, the king of
kings, fulfills this promise made to establish His kingdom forever.
Psalms 89:5-7, “And the heavens shall praise
thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who
among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? God is greatly to be
feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him.”
These verses again mention the faithfulness of God. The faithfulness
of God is something that is very important to understand. One way of seeing and
realizing the faithfulness of God is by doing what these verses of Psalms do
and comparing the faithfulness of God to men.
God is always faithful. God always keeps His promises. God always does
what He says He is going to do. Men are not like that. What a difference
between man and God. Men often say one
thing and do other. Or sometimes even if men make a promise and intend to keep
it circumstances beyond their control prevent them from fulfilling their
promises.
This does not happen with God. When God makes a promise God keeps that
promise. And nothing can prevent God from fulfilling His
promises not the sinfulness of man, not the will of man, not the forces of
evil, nothing.
One of the greatest examples of the faithfulness of God is the
preservation of God’s Word, the Bible. Because this is one of the greatest and
most important examples of God’s faithfulness it is also one that is attacked
more often than many others.
But History and archeology prove the preservation of God’s Word. There
are literally thousands of ancient historical biblical texts that can be looked
at which show that God’s Word has preserved word for word, letter for letter.
To be honest the topic of the preservation of God’s word is a very
important topic because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
But you can just use human logic to realize that God preserved His
word. After all it would not do much good for God to give His word and not
preserve it. Why would God do that? How would that build up your faith in Him?
Of course there will always be arguments against the preservation of
God’s Word. It mainly comes down too how a person
interprets the evidence. For example those who are critical and unbelieving
concerning the preservation of God’s word will for example say out of 1000
ancient document take the one they find which is a bad copy, a bad translation,
or a badly preserved document in which verses missing in it and say see here is
proof. But what do these critics do they ignore all the other evidence, all the
other preserved documents.
The best way to understand the faithfulness of God though is not
through the study of history or archeology but through the study of God’s word
itself.
Psalms 89:8-13, “O LORD God of hosts, who is
a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness
round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea:
when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in
pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong
arm. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for
the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded
them. The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall
rejoice in thy name. Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and
high is thy right hand.”
These verses emphasis the strength of God another
way of saying it is the power of God. In talking about the strength of God the
Israelites are reminded of three places where God gave great military victories.
The military victories in the Old Testament are meant to symbolize the
spiritual victories that God gives us.
Philipians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.”
We should never doubt God’s great strength. God
is all powerful. He can do anything. Jesus defeated sin, death, and the works
of the devil when He died on the cross and rose from the grave. This is the
greatest victory that we have through Christ. We should think about this
victory and use it to encourage ourselves to have faith in God to give us the
victory in all of the spiritual battles that we face in this life.
Psalms 89:14, “Justice
and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go
before thy face.”
In describing the character of God and His
kingdom some important details are given here. The first is justice and
judgment. Justice and judgment have to do with the giving out of rewards for a
person’s actions. Justice implies equality and fairness. Justice implies that a
person is rewarded for the good that they do. Justice implies that restitution
is made for wrongs done. Justice implies that when a person is punished they are not
punished too harshly and severely and the other hand that they are punished
enough that the punishment fits the crime.
Judgment has to do with the discerning between
what is right and what is wrong and then also the handing out of rewards for
those actions.
This is why justice and judgment go together. There
is nothing worse than judgment without justice. There is nothing worse than an
unjust judge who either punishes too lightly or punishes too severely.
This is what is so great about Jesus. Jesus is
the judge of all the earth. And the eyes of the Lord are in every place
beholding the evil and the good. Jesus is a judge with justice and judgment.
The Bible describes the final judgment of mankind
in Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
A written document is considered more accurate
than a verbal account. And God is keeping written records of everything that a
person does or says in their life. Remember God is also the eye witness. He
sees everything that we do and say. Therefore we know the judgment of God will
be fair and just and accurate down to the last detail.
This verse not only mentions justice and judgment
but it also mentions mercy and truth. Mercy and truth are very important.
Without the mercy of God the just judgment of God upon us would be guilty and
we would be cast into hell. But because Jesus suffered and died on the cross
for our sins we can look to Him for mercy and for forgiveness.
Therefore it is justice when God looks at a
person and declares them righteous. Remember Jesus suffered the punishment and
the wrath of God for those sins. There is no injustice involved when God
declares a person righteous there is no condemnation.
If a person was to stand before a judge and say
have mercy on me im sorry for what I have done and
that judge was to grand them mercy and set them free that would be injustice.
The victims and the victim’s family would cry out for restitution and for
judgment. This is what makes the forgiveness of God so great and so powerful.
Jesus can grant such mercy and forgiveness because He suffered in the place of
the sinner.
This is why even the greatest sinner can be
forgiven of their sins. It is just as the old hymn says, Jesus paid it all.
Because Jesus paid it all there is no need to feel guilty for past sins once
you have turned to Christ.
Psalms 89:14, “Justice
and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go
before thy face.”
The other two words mentioned here are mercy and
truth. Mercy and truth go together To receive the
mercy of God a person needs to be honest with God about their own sinfulness
and repent of those sins. To receive the mercy of God a person needs to believe
the truth about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who turn away from truth in
effect turn away from mercy.
Psalms 89:15-18, “Blessed
is the people that know the joyful sound: they
shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they
rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour
our horn shall be exalted. For the LORD is our defence;
and the Holy One of
There are many benefits to following the Lord
Jesus Christ. There are the blessings and joy of the Lord. God is love and God
especially loves to bless His children. You may not be rich but you can be
certain God will give you what you need to serve Him.
There is great joy in following Christ. There is
the joy of having your sins forgiven. There is the joy of doing what is right.
There is the joy of knowing you are accomplishing things that will last
forever. There is the joy of intimate fellowship with Jesus through the Holy
Ghost.
Another one of the great benefits of following
the Lord is that God is going to exalt His children. To exalt means to promote,
to elevate the status of a person.
Revelation
One a person enters into a relationship with God
through the blood of Jesus Christ that person becomes a child of God, a joint
heir with Christ, a king and a priest. This means that in the future
Those who turn away from Christ are throwing away
so much. They are throwing away an eternal destiny full of great and wonderful
blessings and opportunities. If they cold only see
how much God loves them. If they could only see the many great things God wants
to do for them. If you have never turned from your sins to Jesus please do so
today.
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Copyright; 2017 by Bruce
Creech
All Rights Reserved