Welcome to Day 2718 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Day 2718 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 88:8-18 – Daily Wisdom

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2718 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2718 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. <#2.0#> The Title of Today’s Wisdom-Trek is: The Loneliest Road – Despair’s Final, Unanswered Cry - Concluding Our Trek Through Psalm 88 8-18 <#2.0#> Today, we continue our difficult, yet necessary, trek through the Darkest Psalm, Psalm 88, encompassing its final, unrelenting verses, 8 through 18, from the New Living Translation. In our last conversation, we plunged into the depths of Heman the Ezrahite’s anguish. We heard his cries "day and night," his fear of imminent death, and his terrifying conviction that his suffering was caused by God's own hand. He felt consumed by "wave after wave" of God's heavy fury and was "abandoned to the depths where the darkness is complete" (Psalm 88 1-7). He had been physically and socially ostracized, counted among the dead while still living. Now, Heman continues his agonizing lament, focusing on his extreme isolation, his unanswered questions, and the ultimate, grim realization that his prayer, unlike nearly every other in the Psalter, ends in unrelieved darkness. This psalm is a profound space for acknowledging that deep despair is real, and that faith often persists even when hope is absent. So, let's listen to this desperate, final cry, recognizing the absolute honesty of a soul on the brink. <#2.0#>

• Section one is about: The Torment of Social and Divine Isolation <#2.0#>

(Psalm 88 8-12) You have taken away my companions, making me repulsive to them. I am shut in and cannot escape; my eyes are blinded by my tears. I cry out to you, O Lord, every day. I lift my hands to you for help. Are your wonderful deeds appreciated in the grave? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Can anyone proclaim your unfailing love in the grave? Can anyone tell about your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Can your wonders be seen in the dark? Can your righteousness be known in the land of forgetfulness? <#2.0#> Heman begins by detailing the social consequence of his affliction, a pain he attributes directly to God: "You have taken away my companions, making me repulsive to them." . His isolation is absolute. God has severed his social ties, causing his friends and loved ones to view him as "repulsive" (tō‘ēḇâ—abominable, a strong term often used for ritual impurity). In the ancient Israelite world, social isolation often meant a lack of care, protection, and provision, leaving him utterly defenseless. This isolation leads to profound emotional and physical paralysis: "I am shut in and cannot escape; my eyes are blinded by my tears." He is imprisoned by his circumstances, unable to find release. His relentless crying, which began "day and night," has literally blurred his vision, overwhelming his senses. Despite this crushing despair, he maintains the spiritual discipline of prayer: "I cry out to you, O Lord, every day. I lift my hands to you for help." He continues to pray, persistently lifting his hands in supplication, a desperate clinging to the only source of help he knows. The core of his argument then shifts to a series of urgent, rhetorical questions that challenge God's purpose in his death: "Are your wonderful deeds appreciated in the grave? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Can anyone proclaim your unfailing love in the grave? Can anyone tell about your faithfulness in the place of destruction?" <#2.0#> Heman appeals to God’s own glory. He is essentially arguing that death renders praise useless. If God allows His loyal servant to die in this state, God will lose a witness. The grave (qever), the dead (rephā’îm), and the place of destruction (’ăḇaddōn) are all associated with Sheol, a shadowy realm of silence, where there is no fellowship with God and no capacity for praise. He is asking: "Lord, if I die, who will be left to praise Your wonderful deeds and proclaim Your unfailing love (ḥesed) and faithfulness (’ĕmûnâ)?" He concludes this sequence by linking God's great acts to the realm of the living: "Can your wonders be seen in the dark? Can your righteousness be known in the land of forgetfulness?" God's wonders and righteousness are for the light, for the living, for those who remember. Sheol is the realm of darkness and "forgetfulness" (nāšâ). Heman’s ultimate request is, "Save me, so I can continue to fulfill my purpose: to praise and remember You in the land of the living!" <#2.0#>

• Section two is about: The Unrelenting Darkness

(Psalm 88 13-18) O Lord, I cry out to you. I pray to you every morning. O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you hide your face from me? I have been sickly and close to death since my childhood. I have suffered your terrors and am helpless. Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me; your terrors have destroyed me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken away my loved ones and friends; the darkness is my only companion. <#2.0#> Having made his theological argument, Heman returns to his desperate appeal, focusing on the ultimate source of his pain—God's rejection: "O Lord, I cry out to you. I pray to you every morning. O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you hide your face from me?" He reinforces his persistent prayer, now noting his prayers in the morning—a time typically associated with hope and new beginnings—but his hope is instantly countered by two fundamental questions: "Why do you reject me?" and "Why do you hide your face from me?" To have God reject you and hide His face is the biblical epitome of covenant withdrawal and total abandonment, the ultimate spiritual penalty. His suffering is not new; it is lifelong: "I have been sickly and close to death since my childhood. I have suffered your terrors and am helpless." His life has been marked by constant affliction and proximity to death, and he views all these terrifying experiences (’êymâ) as coming directly from God's hand. He feels utterly "helpless" and paralyzed by divine wrath. He reiterates the overwhelming, crushing power of God's anger: "Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me; your terrors have destroyed me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they have completely engulfed me." This echoes his earlier lament about the waves of fury. His life is defined by God’s "fierce anger" (ḥārôn) and terrors (bālāh), which have literally "destroyed" him. His pain is likened to an unceasing flood that has "completely engulfed me," leaving him utterly submerged and without air. The psalm closes with the ultimate description of isolation and finality: "You have taken away my loved ones and friends; the darkness is my only companion." This is the tragic final note. Not only has God taken away his companions (v. 8), but also his loved ones and friends. He is utterly alone, stripped of all human comfort and spiritual hope. There is no shift to praise, no final declaration of trust, no promise of deliverance. The final word, "darkness" (ḥōšeḵ), hangs heavy in the air. This profound and isolating darkness is the only thing left. Psalm 88 is the essential counterpoint to every psalm of joy, reminding us that unrelenting despair is part of the human experience, and that true faith sometimes means persisting in prayer even when we feel God is our adversary, and when the only answer we receive is silence and darkness. <#2.0#> If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’ <#2.0#> Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal. As we take this Trek of life together, let us always: Live Abundantly... Love Unconditionally... Listen Intentionally... Learn Continuously... Lend to others Generously... Lead with Integrity... Leave a Living Legacy Each Day...<#2.0#> I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to, ‘Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and, ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!  

Welcome to Day: 2718

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Day: 2718

dom-Trek Podcast Script - Day: 2718

hamberlain, and we are on Day: 2718

The Title of Today’s Wisdom-Trek is: The Loneliest Road – Despair’s Final, Unanswered Cry - Concluding Our Trek Through Psalm 88 8-18

Today, we continue our difficult, yet necessary, trek through the Darkest Psalm, Psalm 88, encompassing its final, unrelenting verses, 8 through 18, from the New Living Translation.

In our last conversation, we plunged into the depths of Heman the Ezrahite’s anguish. We heard his cries "day and night," his fear of imminent death, and his terrifying conviction that his suffering was caused by God's own hand. He felt consumed by "wave after wave" of God's heavy fury and was "abandoned to the depths where the darkness is complete" (Psalm 88 1-7). He had been physically and socially ostracized, counted among the dead while still living.

Now, Heman continues his agonizing lament, focusing on his extreme isolation, his unanswered questions, and the ultimate, grim realization that his prayer, unlike nearly every other in the Psalter, ends in unrelieved darkness. This psalm is a profound space for acknowledging that deep despair is real, and that faith often persists even when hope is absent.

So, let's listen to this desperate, final cry, recognizing the absolute honesty of a soul on the brink.

Section one is about: The Torment of Social and Divine Isolation

(Psalm 88 8-12)

You have taken away my companions, making me repulsive to them. I am shut in and cannot escape; my eyes are blinded by my tears. I cry out to you, O Lord, every day. I lift my hands to you for help. Are your wonderful deeds appreciated in the grave? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Can anyone proclaim your unfailing love in the grave? Can anyone tell about your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Can your wonders be seen in the dark? Can your righteousness be known in the land of forgetfulness?

Heman begins by detailing the social consequence of his affliction, a pain he attributes directly to God: "You have taken away my companions, making me repulsive to them." . His isolation is absolute. God has severed his social ties, causing his friends and loved ones to view him as "repulsive" (tō‘ēḇâ—abominable, a strong term often used for ritual impurity). In the ancient Israelite world, social isolation often meant a lack of care, protection, and provision, leaving him utterly defenseless.

This isolation leads to profound emotional and physical paralysis: "I am shut in and cannot escape; my eyes are blinded by my tears." He is imprisoned by his circumstances, unable to find release. His relentless crying, which began "day and night," has literally blurred his vision, overwhelming his senses. Despite this crushing despair, he maintains the spiritual discipline of prayer: "I cry out to you, O Lord, every day. I lift my hands to you for help." He continues to pray, persistently lifting his hands in supplication, a desperate clinging to the only source of help he knows.

The core of his argument then shifts to a series of urgent, rhetorical questions that challenge God's purpose in his death: "Are your wonderful deeds appreciated in the grave? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Can anyone proclaim your unfailing love in the grave? Can anyone tell about your faithfulness in the place of destruction?"

Heman appeals to God’s own glory. He is essentially arguing that death renders praise useless. If God allows His loyal servant to die in this state, God will lose a witness. The grave (qever), the dead (rephā’îm), and the place of destruction (’ăḇaddōn) are all associated with Sheol, a shadowy realm of silence, where there is no fellowship with God and no capacity for praise. He is asking: "Lord, if I die, who will be left to praise Your wonderful deeds and proclaim Your unfailing love (ḥesed) and faithfulness (’ĕmûnâ)?"

He concludes this sequence by linking God's great acts to the realm of the living: "Can your wonders be seen in the dark? Can your righteousness be known in the land of forgetfulness?" God's wonders and righteousness are for the light, for the living, for those who remember. Sheol is the realm of darkness and "forgetfulness" (nāšâ). Heman’s ultimate request is, "Save me, so I can continue to fulfill my purpose: to praise and remember You in the land of the living!"

Section two is about: The Unrelenting Darkness

(Psalm 88 13-18)

O Lord, I cry out to you. I pray to you every morning. O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you hide your face from me? I have been sickly and close to death since my childhood. I have suffered your terrors and am helpless. Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me; your terrors have destroyed me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken away my loved ones and friends; the darkness is my only companion.

Having made his theological argument, Heman returns to his desperate appeal, focusing on the ultimate source of his pain—God's rejection: "O Lord, I cry out to you. I pray to you every morning. O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you hide your face from me?" He reinforces his persistent prayer, now noting his prayers in the morning—a time typically associated with hope and new beginnings—but his hope is instantly countered by two fundamental questions: "Why do you reject me?" and "Why do you hide your face from me?" To have God reject you and hide His face is the biblical epitome of covenant withdrawal and total abandonment, the ultimate spiritual penalty.

His suffering is not new; it is lifelong: "I have been sickly and close to death since my childhood. I have suffered your terrors and am helpless." His life has been marked by constant affliction and proximity to death, and he views all these terrifying experiences (’êymâ) as coming directly from God's hand. He feels utterly "helpless" and paralyzed by divine wrath.

He reiterates the overwhelming, crushing power of God's anger: "Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me; your terrors have destroyed me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they have completely engulfed me." This echoes his earlier lament about the waves of fury. His life is defined by God’s "fierce anger" (ḥārôn) and terrors (bālāh), which have literally "destroyed" him. His pain is likened to an unceasing flood that has "completely engulfed me," leaving him utterly submerged and without air.

The psalm closes with the ultimate description of isolation and finality: "You have taken away my loved ones and friends; the darkness is my only companion." This is the tragic final note. Not only has God taken away his companions (v. 8), but also his loved ones and friends. He is utterly alone, stripped of all human comfort and spiritual hope. There is no shift to praise, no final declaration of trust, no promise of deliverance. The final word, "darkness" (ḥōšeḵ), hangs heavy in the air. This profound and isolating darkness is the only thing left.

Psalm 88 is the essential counterpoint to every psalm of joy, reminding us that unrelenting despair is part of the human experience, and that true faith sometimes means persisting in prayer even when we feel God is our adversary, and when the only answer we receive is silence and darkness.

If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal. As we take this Trek of life together, let us always: Live Abundantly... Love Unconditionally... Listen Intentionally... Learn Continuously... Lend to others Generously... Lead with Integrity... Leave a Living Legacy Each Day...

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to, ‘Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and, ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday! See you next time for more daily wisdom!