Psalm 88:16-17

Psalm 88:16-17

Terrors like a flood

These two verses liken the troubles of the psalmist to the waves of a flood that wash over him and, at times, engulf him completely. There is no escaping this vast ocean of misery that stretches back to his youth and up to the present time, that goes on to the horizon as far as his eye can see. When he awakens, trouble and pain are with him. All through the day they suck at his strength and seek to take away his life. During the night hours there is no respite, the sickness never goes away. The realm of dry land is the normal habitat for mankind and the creatures God has made, to be surrounded by a flood suggests that there is nothing normal about the daily experiences of Heman the Ezrahite.

I suspect that most of us view the Lord Jesus in the way He is presented in the many pictures and icons that have been produced over the centuries. At His crucifixion He is a beaten, broken and bloodied figure of man. He wears His crown of thorns, His eyes stare in terror, His face smeared with blood and wracked by pain. According to the artists, the Jesus of the previous 3 years was gentle and mild. He carried His long blonde hair and blue eyes with dignity and grace as he laid His hands of blessing on the heads of little children and talked lovingly and graciously to His disciples!

Actually, when you read His words you can catch the urgency, the frustration and the impatience of the Lord as He endured the opposition of so many. His work was urgent too, constantly battling against demonic oppression and evil, He must have felt like Heman – surrounded by a vast ocean of trouble and human pain. Later, Jesus was to go to Calvary and yes, He was tortured and beaten and vilely abused. He also experienced something that you and I will never know, it was the wrath of Almighty God His Father, against sin and its consequences. That was the greatest flood of all and it sucked Him down beneath its relentless flow.

 

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