Psalms

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to "Mahalath Leannoth." A Contemplation of Heman the Ezrahite.

This Psalm was written by Heman.  This could be Heman, son of Joel, a musician in temple during David's reign (1 Chronicles 6:33).  Another Heman shows up in scripture in 1 kings 4:31.  This Heman is the son of Mahol.  He is one of the wise men during the reign of King Solomon.

Mahalath is probably an instrument.  It seems to be an instrument identified with sadness or somber tones.  Leannoth means to afflict.  The two words together seem to indicate a sad song with the intention to afflict us or humble us. 

¹O LORD, God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
² Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry.
The Psalmist hasn't forgotten that the Lord is the God of his salvation.  Yet, he is troubled and crying out both day and night.  The continuation of prayer shows that he has found no relief.  It doesn't seem as though God is hearing his prayers.  The request for God to incline his ear is like us wondering if God is listening.  Can't He hear my cry?  Why isn't He answering?

³ For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draws near to the grave.

Heman thought this situation would end his life.  It wasn't just physical torment or threat, he felt that his soul was full of troubles. 

⁴ I am counted with those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man who has no strength,
⁵ Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And who are cut off from Your hand.
Heman didn't have a complete view of the afterlife.  His understanding was that when you died, you were cut off from God.  He thought once you were dead, God forgot about you.  This hopelessness gave him a fear of death.  Those without God might have a valid fear of being adrift among the dead with no strength and no ability to change your situation.  The fate of a dead man in the grave has already been established.  At that point, nothing will change.

⁶ You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah
Heman feels separated from God.  It feels like he is in a pit, in total darkness unable to identify where he is, what is going on or how to get out.  He doesn't seem to understand why God has afflicted him.  He believes God's wrath is on him unjustifiably and it just keeps coming like the waves rolling into the seashore; one after another they keep piling up. 

⁸You have put away my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
⁹ My eye wastes away because of affliction.
Heman had no friends at his side.  No family came to comfort him.  Everyone who seemed to be part of his life had now dismissed him and looked at him as an abomination.  He is hemmed in with no way out.  He has no choice but to face it and seek God.  This is very mindful of Job. 

LORD, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
¹⁰ Will You work wonders for the dead?
Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah
Heman is making his case to God that he had some value to God in this life.  But, after he dies, he will be of no value because dead men don't arise to praise God, or at least that's what he thought.  God does work wonders for the dead.  The dead will arise and praise Him.  Heman would have been stunned at the real answer to his rhetorical quesitons.

¹¹Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
¹² Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
Heman claimed to know God's lovingkindness, yet he couldn't proclaim it from the grave.  He claimed to know God's faithfulness, yet after dying, no one would hear him speak of it.  Heman saw death as a dark and unknown place where you were forgotten about.  Why would God send him to the pit?  Was Heman self righteous?  Did he think he didn't deserve to go to hell or be separated from God?

¹³ But to You I have cried out, O LORD,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
Regardless of the situation, he remains faithful knowing that his only hope is in the Lord. Even when answers don't come or relief is no where in sight, we must remain in prayer to God.

¹⁴LORD, why do You cast off my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
I believe every human has felt this in their life, most of us have felt it many times.  It is the despair of losing a loved on or the helplessness of being so sick you are past thinking you will die and you begin to think death will be a relief.  We feel cast off, disgarded and of no value to the world, let alone God.  Has God looked away?  No, this is just a figure of speech.  God knows it all, sees it all and understands it all.  Whatever this situation that heman was in was completely in the plan of God.  It served God's purpose and was for the good of Heman, even though he may never have known or understood it.

¹⁵ I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
I suffer Your terrors;
I am distraught.
¹⁶ Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
Your terrors have cut me off.
¹⁷ They came around me all day long like water;
They engulfed me altogether.
¹⁸ Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness.

That's it.  The Psalm doesn't state the awful circumstances and then have a happy ending.  Sometimes, these situations are just bad.  We live in a sinful world.  We suffer from the affects of sin in our bodies.  Abiding in the Lord doesn't promise good health or favorable life.  In fact, it promises there will be persecution and suffering.  This is the sad song that humbles us.  If there is any self righteousness left in us, this Psalm is meant to bring us low.  We may all be in this place at some time in life.  Maybe this Psalm is simply for us to come to terms with these things so we stand with someone in that situation.  And when we stand with them, we love them, show them mercy, we don't judge them or wonder what sin they committed for God to dump on them.  Then, maybe the Lord will bless us with someone to hold our hand when we are in that dark place. 

There's no happy ending here.  And once again we see a reminder to never doubt in the dark what you learned in the light.  We have to be sure we are learning while we are in the light so we have that to hold onto when we are in the dark.