Psalm 88:4

Psalm 88:4

The pit of death

The suffering of this broken and forsaken man does not improve! It is New Year’s Day 2023 as I meditate upon this verse. We all want the coming year to be a time of peace and prosperity and personal wellbeing however, the Psalm reminds us it could be anything but! Our writer realises that the sentry at the gates of Sheol is already preparing to record his name, he is about to join the ranks of the departed, and there is nothing he can do about it! He cannot fight it for he has no strength. He cannot walk away, his journey takes him inexorably, step by step, towards the gaping jaws of death. No one steps forward to rescue him, he is doomed!

This Psalm, and others like it, surely give us an insight into the mind and soul of the Lord Jesus as He faced the bitter trial of His crucifixion and realised that there was no way back. His was a lonely journey, what few friends accompanied Him stood at a distance and watched with broken hearts. They had no means to defy the Roman authorities or to break the resolve of the Jewish leaders. They were not equipped to fight the soldiers who carried out the brutal crucifixion, indeed had not the Lord admonished Peter when he had brandished a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane? And so, the Son of God finds Himself edging ever closer to the pit of death, the place that none of us can escape and which no one can return from. His time on this earth was over, all that lay before Him was the darkness and hellish power of the grave – unless God intervened! 

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