The Second Sunday of Easter (Ps) April 7th

Psalm 88:1-18

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. 

¹  O Lord, God of my salvation; 

I cry out day and night before you. 

²  Let my prayer come before you; 

incline your ear to my cry! 

³  For my soul is full of troubles, 

and my life draws near to Sheol. 

⁴  I am counted among those who go down to the pit; 

I am a man who has no strength, 

⁵  like one set loose among the dead, 

like the slain that lie in the grave, 

like those whom you remember no more, 

for they are cut off from your hand. 

⁶  You have put me in the depths of the pit, 

in the regions dark and deep. 

⁷  Your wrath lies heavy upon me, 

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah 

⁸  You have caused my companions to shun me; 

you have made me a horror to them. 

I am shut in so that I cannot escape; 

⁹  my eye grows dim through sorrow. 

Every day I call upon you, O Lord; 

I spread out my hands to you. 

¹⁰  Do you work wonders for the dead? 

Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah 

¹¹  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, 

or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 

¹²  Are your wonders known in the darkness, 

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 

¹³  But I, O Lord, cry to you; 

in the morning my prayer comes before you. 

¹⁴  O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? 

Why do you hide your face from me? 

¹⁵  Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, 

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. 

¹⁶  Your wrath has swept over me; 

your dreadful assaults destroy me. 

¹⁷  They surround me like a flood all day long; 

they close in on me together. 

¹⁸  You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; 

my companions have become darkness. 

This Psalm is very interesting if you would take Jesus as the speaker. It is titled as a psalm of the sons of Korah, who was swallowed up by the earth after rebelling against Moses and God. Also titled a maskil of Heman the Ezrahite which is unknown exactly to me (but you could look up 1 Chronicles 2:6). The point is simply that these people do not see salvation in death.

Most of us would think it would be pointless to cry out from Sheol or the pit. This is the place of the dead. Once you are dead and cut off from the living is there any hope. What can bring salvation to the dead?

Christ was slain and placed in a grave. He was placed in a tomb and went down to the pit (or died). He was shunned by his friends. They all abandoned him. Christ continued to call out to his Father even when he was forsaken. The Lord God hid his face from His Son upon the cross.

But Christ answers the questions of verse 10 a different way. Christ rises from the dead. He rises up and praises his Father. He shows a real wonder to all the souls trapped in death. He proclaims Victory to the captives. He destroys the power of death.

We may not be able to escape or flee from death. But God rescues us from eternal death. He is the firstfruits of your Resurrection. You will rise on the last day. God is truly our Salvation. He even saves us from death.