Psalm 88:13-14

Psalm 88:13-14

Abandoned!

According to the introduction to this Psalm, it was written by Heman the Ezrahite. His pitiful cries for mercy are heart-breaking indeed and few of us are called to descend into the abyss of misery and isolation that he seems to have suffered. Yet, in the midst of it all, Heman never gave up! He cried out to the Lord continuously, every morning his prayers ascended, and he never ceased to seek help and solace. To Heman it was an injustice that the Lord rejected him and turned His face away. Why was this happening? Where was God when he most needed Him? What had he done to deserve such treatment? Heman could not possibly understand that he was being granted an understanding of the suffering of Messiah. Few Jews understood the mission of the Lord when He came and even fewer realised that He would be rejected by the nation and forsaken by His Father.

It is against this backdrop that we, once again, ponder the desolation of our Lord as He pleads for mercy and for help. I am sure that He had a telegraphic memory of the Scriptures, most Jewish boys learned the Psalms at a young age. Jesus would have pondered these verses as He suffered alone in the Garden of Gethsemane and as He hung, in the 3 hours of darkness, on that torturous crucifix outside Jerusalem. And His greatest desire was to just hear one word of encouragement or hope from heaven. Nothing came. All was quiet. He was abandoned and alone in His suffering!

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