Psalm 88:15

Psalm 88:15

A life of suffering

Heman the Ezrahite was certainly no stranger to affliction, this verse tells us that he had suffered since he was a young man. His whole adult life had been spent in a state of severe ill health, whether physical or mental we do not know. Obviously, Heman was a man of words, he was able to express himself and give an insight into the agonies and desolation that had been part of every day of his adult life. If we are fit and well and generally enjoy good health, it is easy to overlook the suffering of many disabled and seriously ill people, especially those who put on a brave face despite their inner anguish and longing to be fit and strong. 

As we have seen, Heman’s dark revelations give us an indication of the deepest woes suffered by the Lord Jesus. Isaiah describes Him as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ….. despised and held in low esteem.” The passage in Isaiah 53 goes on to say that “He took up our pain and suffering, and yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted.” In other words, people thought that Jesus was being punished by God for His own sins when in fact, He was being punished for ours! 

Although our Lord enjoyed a brief 3 years of popularity, His journey here on earth was one of pain and rejection. Throughout His 30 years in obscurity, He had learned the purpose of His coming, He had watched the foolishness of men and the rejection of His Father by the Jews. He had witnessed the brutal, iron stamp of the Roman Empire upon the world and the pagan hedonism of the emperors. Surrounding Him was cruelty and deprivation, arrogantly perpetrated by the wealthy rulers of the day. And all the time, He knew that His mission was to die, every day the grave beckoned Him and as the day of reckoning grew ever closer, He knew that He must bear it alone. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more