For
the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to
the tune "The Suffering of Affliction." A psalm of Heman the
Ezrahite.
O
LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night. Now
hear my prayer; listen to my cry. For my life is full of troubles, and death
draws near. I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left. They
have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave.
I
am forgotten, cut off from your care. You have thrown me into the lowest pit,
into the darkest depths. Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you
have engulfed me.
You
have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with
no way of escape. My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your
help, O LORD; I lift my hands to you for mercy. Are your wonderful deeds of any
use to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you?
Can
those in the grave declare your unfailing love?
Can
they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
Can
the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?
Can
anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?
O
LORD, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day. O LORD, why do you
reject me? Why do you turn your face from me? I have been sick and close to
death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors. Your
fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me. They swirl
around me like floodwaters all day long. They have engulfed me completely. You
have taken away my companions and loved ones.
Darkness
is my closest friend. Psalm 88:1-18
Continuing to look at friends and friendship in Scripture.
Remember the old Simon and Garfield song…
“The Sound of Silence”
Hello darkness, my
old friend
I’ve come to talk
with you again
 |
| Darkness - Even with the traffic...it is Dark. |
Because a vision
softly creeping
Left its seeds
while I was sleeping
And the vision
that was planted in my brain
Still remains…
Within the sound
of silence.
According to Paul Simon, who wrote this
song, it is about the inability to communication.
Is darkness your closest friend? Silence. No communication. The
Psalmist sounds mad at God. He is rejected and cut off from God and his friends
have been driven away by God. Things are not looking good for this guy.
Darkness is his only friend.
Do you sometimes feel like darkness is your
friend? To me…that sounds like depression. I don’t consider depression a
friend. It is a darkness that engulfs me when I let it. Yes. I control whether
I let myself feel depressed. Most days I can just take a few deep breaths and
say, “No Pity Party Today” “You must do what you must do…and that is not doing
only what YOU want to do today—which is not doing anything.” I’m not allowing depression
to overcome my attitude and fill my day with gloom. Like the apostle Paul
taught...I get my strength from the Lord.
For I can do everything through Christ, who
gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
Even on windy, dusty, scorching or freezing
days—no gloom and doom. Like another song says... “Put on a happy face—and
smile.” That smile outside sparks a little production of dopamine in the brain—and
helps life move ahead in a positive way.
There are days depression doesn’t always
just go away. That is the nature of the beast. Then I groan again…Hello
darkness my old friend. Do you have days when darkness envelopes you? My hope
is for you to turn to the Lord. That is where my hope comes from.
Prayer
~ May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. Numbers 6:25.
Daily
Bible Reading: Matthew 20-21
© 2018 photo and
text by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
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