Today we have another Psalm associated with the sons of
Korah, according to the title. The term
in the title ‘mahalath leannoth’ probably means ‘to be sung in sickness’ or
something of that nature. The title also
tells us it is a maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. We know from previous Psalms that
a maskil is probably a type of literary or musical work and that Heman is one
of the sons of Korah. Learn about Heman’s
responsibilities in the following verses:
I Chronicles 15:19, 16:41-42, and 25:4-5.
Heman has written what is probably the saddest of all the
Psalms. This is the one which contains
absolutely no hope or encouragement. It
is written from the point of view of someone who is awaiting death... someone who has suffered their whole life. Read the Psalm now, trying to imagine what
the Psalmist is experiencing in his life.
This Psalm is an example of a gut wrenchingly honest prayer
where a suffering man lays all his anguish and grief upon God. Have you ever wanted to do this? We sometimes might worry that this is not
okay but God is able to handle our grief and our suffering. He wants us to bring our burdens to Him. He may comfort us or He may help us to
understand what we are missing in the big picture. Whatever He does, we know that He will be
with us in our worst of times.
Compare this Psalm with Psalm 22 which reads quite similarly
to today’s Psalm. Psalm 22 is prophetic
and is about our Lord Jesus’ suffering on the cross. God had a reason (our salvation) that Jesus
needed to suffer and we must remember that when we go through times of
suffering ourselves. Jesus, being the
Son of God, understood the purpose of His suffering at the time, but we usually
do not. We must learn to trust God,
knowing that He is with us and will use even our suffering to accomplish good
(Romans 8:28). Do you think about this
when you are suffering? Do you bring your
grief and pain to God and trust Him with it?
What kind of good purposes could God have for allowing
people to suffer? He may be preparing
you for a time in the future where you will need to be compassionate to others who are
suffering. He may allow others to see
your attitude in suffering and use it to encourage their faith or lead them to
a saving faith. It may be for the
purpose of correction, or discipline, in your life (Deuteronomy 8:5, Proverbs
3:11-12). It may be any number of things
that we just may never understand or know.
Write Romans 8:28 in your journal. Think about what it really means to the
Christian. Even in suffering we can
willingly surrender our lives to be used for God’s purposes.
Responding to God: Think
about times you have suffered. Have you
always understood how God has used that for His good purposes? Pray and ask Him to help you trust Him with
those times and to help you to understand His purposes. Do you suffer in bitterness and resent God
for allowing you to suffer? Ask Him to
forgive you those attitudes and help you to willingly accept His will for your
life.
