December 4 – Psalm 88

The God of My Salvation

Request: Lord, open my eyes as I read your word, my ears to hear, my mind to understand, and my heart to be filled with your love. Amen.

Read Psalm 88

Record your favorite verse and comment if you want to share.

Respond with a prayer to God

I remember reading this Psalm years ago and feeling very discouraged. The whole passage was hopeless to me, and I didn’t like reading it. It seemed out of place to me and offered no hope. As far as I know, without reading through all of them, this is the only one that doesn’t show any remedy for the psalmist’s predicament, and no praise or thanksgiving.

So, when I was looking for scriptures that I knew give hope in troubled times for this Bible study, I thought of Psalm 88 and revisited it. This time was different, and I did indeed find hope. It is found at the beginning, and I suppose I missed it, because I was expecting it throughout the Psalm or at the end.

Heman, the Ezrahite, declared in the first verse that the Lord is the God who saves him. Therefore, he must have experienced the saving grace of God in the past. Since he knew God had delivered him previously, he cried out day and night in prayer to the one who saved him, asking Him to hear his cry for help once again.

This Psalm sounds as though it could have been written by Job. Heman also felt rejected by God and felt as though his suffering was due to God’s wrath. He could not escape his plight and had lost all friends and neighbors. This was possibly his cry to God as he drew close to his own death here on earth (vs. 3). Or did God deliver him and add days to his earthly life? The Psalm doesn’t answer that question.

He had experienced the salvation of God in the past. So, in spite of his extremely troubled state that resulted in the writing of this Psalm, he could expect deliverance again. He declared from the start: “O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you.” He called out to the same God once again. The true and living God who never changes and saves those who call on him. “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6

My verse: The heading of the Psalm: A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Herman the Ezrahite.

The “Sons of Korah” caught my attention. This Psalm is evidence that there was a remnant of this clan that God swallowed up in the earth because of their rebellion (Numbers 16). The sin of their father was not held against them. Psalm 42-49, 84, 85 and 87 are also written by them. There is grace and hope in this. These people show up after all the years between Moses and David, writing songs of praise. When I was looking up information about Korah, I found that Samuel is a descendant also. We are like Korah in a sense. We were once rebels, in opposition to God, but because of Jesus, we now speak his word and sing His praises. Praise God that he did not destroy us.

My response: Oh Lord my God, thank you for my salvation. You are high and lifted up. Higher than anyone or anything imaginable. Yet you stooped down to save me! When I was lost, you found me. When I begin to doubt, help me to remember the beginning of this Psalm. You are the God who saves me. I can always expect that you will do just that.