During 2025, Peachtree Church is focusing on the Book of Psalms with a series called Dwell, through which we seek to deepen our conversation with God and open ourselves to hearing his response. The practice of praying three times each day will unite the voices of our hearts and souls as we seek the day when we will see the full realization of the Kingdom of God, promised in Revelation 21:3: “…Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
We will email devotionals twice weekly with Monday’s providing an overview of the Psalm as a whole, and Wednesday’s focused on that week’s Daily Dwell.
Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Psalm 88:10-12
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction?
Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
Devotional
There is a part of Psalm 88 that reminds me of Jonah’s’ prayer in Jonah Chapter 2.
Let me explain. Both the Psalmist and Jonah are in dire straits and in a dark frame of mind. The Psalmist is chronically ill and mentally very depressed. He feels neglected by God and friends. Jonah, is, well, in the belly of the fish at the bottom of the sea. Both men lift their voices to lament and plead for help. Both feel that death is near and that God does not see them.
And both of them do an interesting thing: both men try to shame God into caring for them. Both men try to pull on God’s ego and supposed need for worship by peevishly reminding God, “I will never be able to worship you again, if you don’t rescue me.” It’s as if both men are saying, “You’re gonna miss me, and my worship, if you don’t fix this situation.”
This makes of their relationship with God a transaction, doesn’t it? “If I worship you, God, you should respond by doing what I’m asking in my prayers. I put in my worship; you give me what I want.”
But this is not a true or helpful way to think about faith, or prayer. God is not in need of our worship, any more than He is waiting for us to pray properly before He responds. We don’t have to try and coerce God into caring for us. God is there, listening and caring, even when we don’t hear or feel it. God is there, God loves us, and God hears our anguished prayers. God came to be with us and live a human life with us, and that proves His love for us. We don’t have to try and play hardball with God to get God to care. God is present, God hears and cares, even when we are too distressed to be able to perceive anything but our own misery.
Sometimes our own misery prevents us from being able to feel the nearness and love of God. It is a very painful but normal part of the life of faith. But we do not have to stay in that dark place. We can express what we feel freely to God, and trust that God will hear and bring us to a better day.
For Reflection
- Have you ever had such a dark time that you felt you had to bargain with God, or press God into paying attention?
- How did God care for you as you went through this angry, dry period in your life? Can you look back and see signs of God’s care now that you did not see then?
Prayer
Dear Lord, I am so tired, so furious, so bereft. I cannot understand what You are up to. How can I get you to fix this situation? Lord, I am just going to hang on for dear life. I don’t understand You. But I remember that you came to be with us in Jesus Christ, and that you know what it is to feel forsaken, denied, hurt for no good reason. I will hang on to Jesus. Lord, please come to be with me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Devotionals