“Incline Your ear to my cry!”
[Psalms 88]
This Monday (February 25th) I went to the hospital where Mrs. Jung Myung-seon (my older brother’s mother-in-law), the wife of Pastor Sang-woo Jung, was lying down. Since her eldest son and daughter-in-law were there, I asked them if I could pray for Mrs. Jung for a moment. After I got their permission, I put my hand on her forehead and prayed for her. While praying for her, I sought God's mercy and grace. Although I may not be able to understand the hearts of her children well, I prayed for the grace of God to restore Mrs. Jung’s consciousness even for a moment to communicate with her children. Hearing the voice of her son weeping, I just prayed for God to answer my prayer with them. After that, I left the hospital and headed to the nursing home where Mrs. Park was (one of our church member). It was because as far as I know today was her 90th birthday. When I visited her and look at her, she opened her eyes and lied down quietly. I said hello to her and said few things to her even though I knew that she didn’t know who I am. After a moment, I sang “Happy Birthday” to her and congratulated her birthday. Then, after praying to God, I praised the hymn “Since Christ my soul from sin set free.” For some reason, whenever I sing that hymn, Mrs. Park slowly closes her eyes and falls asleep. So after I saw her falling asleep, I left. Later in the evening I was at home and my sister-in-law called me. She cried and said, ‘I know you are praying, but please pray for my mother.’ So I prayed for her mom, Mrs. Jung, on the phone. When I thought about how painful she would be, I thought about the time when my first baby, Charis, fell asleep in my arms after 55 days of her life in this earth. When I thought that maybe there could be a situation where Mrs. Jung doctor or nurse had to remove everything such as the respiratory system, it reminded me Charis and how I felt at that time. I did so in order to try to understand what my sister-in-law was going through. But in the end, Ms. Jung passed away this morning. Now, she has gone to heaven, the eternal world where she no longer has to see the tears flowing in her right eye.
The world in which we live is a world of mortality. I feel more and more that this world is a world full of sorrows, hardships, and sinful things. How should we live the rest of our lives in this world? Psalms 88 says that we must pray and cry out to God more and more. I would like to meditate on two things with the title “Incline Your ear to my cry!” written in the second half of Psalms 88:2. The first think I want to think about is, ‘Why did the psalmist cry out to the Lord?’ And the second is, ‘What kind of God did the psalmist sought?’ While answering these two questions based on Psalms 88, I pray that the Lord will raise us men and women of prayer.
The first think I want to think about is, ‘Why did the psalmist cry out to the Lord?’ The reason was because the psalmist was in a situation where he had no choice but to pray. We can think of the situation in four ways:
First, the situation where the psalmist had no choice but to pray was full of troubles.
Look at Psalms 88:3, 9, 15 – “For my soul has had enough troubles, And my life has drawn near to Sheol. … My eye has wasted away because of affliction; I have called upon You every day, O LORD; I have spread out my hands to You. … I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on; I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome.” The reason the psalmist cried out to God was because his soul was full of trouble enough to feel the threat of his life. The troubles were ‘depression and affliction’ (Park). ‘Affliction’ could also mean ‘painful disease’ [the meaning of the word “Mahalath Leannoth” in the superscript of Psalms 88]. And ‘depression’ could be depression from a painful illness. Hence, the psalmist said, “my soul has had enough trouble” (v. 3). One of the reasons seems to be that the psalmist has been in trouble since he was young and had many experiences close to death (v. 15). And in such troubles, the psalmist confessed, “My eyes has wasted away” as a result of praying to the Lord every day (v. 9) (Park).
There are a lot of hard work in this world and there are no days off. How many people are around us suffering from sickness and pain. Some people are at the crossroads of life and death. What can we do at these times? I remember the words of Psalms 109:4 – “… But I am in prayer.” When we are full of trouble, we just pray to God. That's right. We must cry out to God more and more and every day, like the psalmist, as our troubles become more and more full.
Second, the situation where the psalmist had no choice but to pray was extremely lonely.
Why was the psalmist extremely lonely? We can find two reasons in Psalms 88.
(1) The first reason is because the psalmist felt that he had been rejected by God.
Look at Psalms 88:14 – “O LORD, why do You reject my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?” As we meditate on the words of the psalms every Wednesday, often the psalmist reads, ‘God, why have you rejected me?’ (22:1; 43:2) The psalmist felt like he had been rejected by God, especially when he cried out to God during his suffering and when there was no answer from Him. It was too unbearable for him. He felt extremely lonely in that situation. In the midst of this extreme loneliness, the psalmist cried earnestly to God.
(2) The second reason is because the psalmist thought that the Lord had removed his lovers and his friends away form him.
Look at Psalms 88:8, 18 – “You have removed my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an object of loathing to them; I am shut up and cannot go out. … You have removed lover and friend far from me; My acquaintances are in darkness.” In addition to feeling rejected by the Lord, the psalmist had feeling of being rejected by his beloved friends. Indeed, he was in the miserable situation.
Like the psalmist, we can have enough feelings of being rejected by God and our beloved family members and friends. So we can feel extremely lonely enough. If we are in this situation now or in the future, we must pray earnestly to God like the psalmist. Rather, we should use our loneliness as an opportunity to depart from the world and enter the wilderness ourselves to seek God earnestly.
Third, the situation where the psalmist had no choice but to pray was at the crossroads of life and death.
Look at Psalms 88:3b-6, 10, 15 – “… And my life has drawn near to Sheol. I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man without strength, Forsaken among the dead, Like the slain who lie in the grave, Whom You remember no more, And they are cut off from Your hand. You have put me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in the depths. … Will You perform wonders for the dead? Will the departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah. … I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on; I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome.” In reality, when we see our loved ones at the crossroads of life and death, we realize that there is not so much we can do for them. In other words, as I experience my own helplessness as I encounter people who have been at the crossroads of life and death, I have a little bit of a skin feel that the only thing I can do is pray. Perhaps this feeling was felt not only by me, but also by those who were sick. The reason why I think so is because the psalmist confessed that “I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man without strength” (v. 4). When we think about why the psalmist confessed that he was like a person without strength, the answer is found in verse 5: “Forsaken among the dead, Like the slain who lie in the grave, Whom You remember no more, And they are cut off from Your hand.” That is, because he thought that the Lord didn’t remember him anymore, and he was cut off from His hand. When we are at the crossroads of life and death, we feel that the Lord no longer remembers us and doesn’t take care of us anymore, which can make us feel weaker, despondent, and frustrated. Despite such despair, the psalmist looked to God and cried out to Him.
We need to be raised up as prayers who earnestly cry out to God, thinking of our loved ones who are at the crossroads of life and death. Furthermore, when we ourselves are at the crossroads of life and death, we must cry out to God, like the psalmist, even in such circumstances. In particular, we must pray earnestly to God at the crossroads of life and death, just like earnest prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before He died on the cross.
Fourth and last, the situation where the psalmist had no choice but to pray was under the wrath of God.
Look at Psalms 88:7, 16 – “Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah. … Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.” When I think of the wrath of God, I remember last week that I disciplined my beloved youngest daughter. The reason I disciplined her was because she hit her friend in kindergarten even though she knew it was was wrong. Even though I saw the tears and runny nose of my crying beloved daughter, I disciplined her. Although I know that it is not comparable to God’s wrath, but for some reason, when I think about God’s wrath, we become afraid of the Lord and sometimes we don’t know what to do in suffering. Then we have no choice but to cry out to God. We confess our sins and pray to God for forgiveness. Yesterday, on Tuesday evening, while talking with my youngest daughter, I heard her confessing that she broke her promise with me and hit a boy. So when I went into her room, she tried to stand on her bed. When I looked at her face, it was a fearful face. So I told her to sit on the bed and then we talked. I asked her why she hit that boy and she told me that he pushed her. So when I asked where she hit him, she said she hit his back. And when I asked about the reaction of the boy who was hit, she said that there was no response. So, I told her again that it was wrong to hit another person no matter how angry she was. Then I encourage dher to confess her sin to God and pray for forgiveness. Then she said to God, “I am so sorry” and prayed for forgiveness. After praying, I hugged her and told her that ‘Daddy loves you.’
When we are receiving God's wrath for our sins, we must repent our sins to God in the fear of the Lord for His discipline. Realizing that all this circumstance is due to my sins, we must cry out to God, remembering that because of God's wrath, I am in trouble, I feel that I have been abandoned by God and my loved ones, and I am at the crossroads of life and death. What about us? What is our circumstance where we must pray? We must believe that God has allowed us to go through that circumstance so that we can pray to Him.
The second and last think I want to think about is, ‘Who is the God the psalmist was seeking in a situation where he had no choice but to pray.’ In other words, to what kind of God did he cry out earnestly? Psalms 88 tells us two things:
First, the God whom the psalmist earnestly sought was the God of salvation.
Look at Psalms 88:1 – “O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.” Here, the expression “O Lord, the God my salvation” comes from the consciousness of a person who has experienced the salvation of God several times (Park). The psalmist cried out to God with confidence in answering prayers in the situation where he had no choice but to pray because he cried out to the God of salvation several times in the past and experienced God’s salvation.
Second, the God whom the psalmist earnestly sought was God who answered prayers.
Look at Psalms 88:13 – “But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.” The psalmist cried out “only” to the Lord. The reason is that, besides the Lord, there was no one who would answer his prayers and save him. That is why he asked the Lord in the morning. Our God is a God who inclines His ears to our cries (v. 2).
Let us pray to that God tonight. Whatever situation you and I may be in now, let's use that situation as an opportunity to pray and cry out to God. Our Lord who listens to our prayers is the God of our salvation. Let's pray to that God this night together.
After I pleaded with the Lord who listens to my cry,
James Kim
(As I look at the God of salvation)