Lord, Hear Our Cry

October 22-23

Lord, Hear Our Cry

Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?’ Psalm 88:14

Psalm 88 is a sad Psalms. Many Psalms are happy and exuberant, like Psalm 23, 27, 61, 100 and 103. Some begin on a low note but end on a more hopeful frame of mind, such as Psalm 130. Only one Psalm begins on a low note and ends in the same place—this is Psalm 88. The writer was distraught, and his final words were: “Darkness is my closest friend” (verse 18, NLT).

Yet we know that there was a glimmer of hope in this Psalm. Verse 13 tells us that before the deepest darkness comes, the psalmist cried out in prayer “O Lord, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day.”

Despite the darkness the author did the one thing he could do—he prayed. Every verse is a prayer. The author simply kept praying. In life sometimes all we can do is pray—and the most important thing we can ever do is pray.

When we face confusion and doubt, we have the full authority of our Sovereign Lord to help us win the battle. We can be overcomers through Him. Even amid prolonged low spirits, we can maintain the lifeline of prayer.

There is hope that the future is bright. Consider this – the next Psalm begins with the words: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever” (Psalm 89:1).