Peter Barnes | Psalm 88
SERMON NOTES
Down in the Dumps
Psalm 88; Psalms 42-43
– Grimaldi in 1808; Woody Allen: life is divided between the horrible and the miserable.
– Michael Wilcock: Psalm 88 is ‘one long, desperate cry’; Calvin refers to the ‘unadvised words’; note Bunyan’s Slough of Despond; William Cowper’s The Castaway
1. Life can seem like a living death at times.
– has been miserable all his life (88:15)
2. It is worse when we feel utterly isolated.
– 88:8, 18; no Titus (2 Cor.7:6).
– there are answers in Ps.42:5 and Ps.77:10-12 but not here; there is no turning point in the Psalm.
3. Sometimes the only response is to struggle on in faith.
– 88:1, 9, 13.