PSALM 88 FREE AMONG THE DEAD. Our title comes from the fifth verse of this psalm. This is the saddest psalm in the psalter. Yet, if you read it through, you will find no trace of bitterness. David and Asaph wrote a great deal about their sorrows. This psalms was written by Heman the Ezrahite. Our Lord knows that we feel sadness; He felt it Himself. Our Lord knows that we feel sorrow, He himself is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. But in the New Testament we have the injunction that we should sorrow not as others who have no hope. It is not that we do not sorrow at all, but that we do not suffer hopelessly. Heman, though he was a very wise man, found himself so deep in sorrow, that he had no resources of human wisdom left in him. There are times when human sense and wisdom take us through a troublesome period. We try to bolster up our confidence with old sayings and human wisdom. This psalm is however worthy of note. Most of us are aware that live is not always full of flowers, lively songs, and daily joy. Sorrow does come in, and often it is deep sorrow. There is a clue at the end of this psalm, where Heman says, "lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintances into darkness." You have separated my acquaintances and those I have loved from me. He is desolate. Heman is groaning but not complaining. There is a difference. It is possible to groan without grumbling. You are allowed to groan, but avoid bitterness, that poisons your mind and being. God knows the way that we take! The opening verse of this song declared, "O Lord, I have cried day and night before Thee." This was not a brief, passing, experience. He was going through it all the time. It is custom for all to complain under pressure of grief, but that is far from pouring out their groaning before God. Sometimes, in television interviews with victims of disaster, one hears the groan in their grief, but there is no evidence of any thought of God. This man however, poured out his grief before God day and night. He literally makes his grief an offering unto God. I heard of one saintly man , who in a very bad situation said in his prayer, "Lord! Whatever you are doing for me in this situation, please do it quickly." Heman knew he was in God's hands. In the second verse of this song he pleads, "Let my prayer come before Thee." His heart is in anguish and he pleads with God for an answer. I recall a young Christian saying in testimony, "Do you know, waiting for and answer to prayer is like waiting for the postman. When he comes he doesn't bring the right letter". That young man was sincere but wrong. When God answers it is always the right answer. It is essential for us to remember that "no" is just as much an answer as "yes". Then, Heman unveils the very depth of his feelings. He sings, "My soul is FULL of troubles." Not just one calamity, but calamity upon calamity. Things piled up to such an extent that he felt that his life was a living death. "My life draweth nigh unto the grave.", is how he expresses it. It is no new thing for good people to have deep sorrow. In fact there are some phrases used by the psalmist which show that he looked upon the wicked and was of the opinion that everything was going right for them, when they went wrong for him. I am sure that there is not a Christian believer who at some time or another has not said the same thing. Heman describes his condition thus, "I am counted with them that go down to the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength; FREE AMONG THE DEAD, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more." It was a situation in which men regarded Heman - as good as dead. I have often heard it said about elderly Christians, "he won't last long!", and in my heart there has been an echo - "He will live for ever in eternity!". Free among the dead. Job has a peculiar expression, (Job 3.19) "The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master. "He is speaking about death and makes the point that in that condition even the slave is free. In all our history, only one man has been free to lay down his own life. Only our Lord Jesus Christ had that authority. He exerted that authority in laying down His life for us, and we shall be Free among the Dead. Because of His sacrifice:- 1. We are now free from the fear of death. 2. Our freedom goes beyond the grave. 3. Our bodies will ultimately be liberated from death. Everyone around us is doomed to die, until the Lord returns for His own. We, the born again children of God are the only ones who are free among the dead. It might be objected that it is not much consolation when you are mourning for a loved one or a friend. We have, however, one great consolation, we shall see them again. It will seem as just a passing moment because we are free among the dead, with a freedom beyond the grave. We ought to bear in mind when we talk about our souls and spirits being free, that the Scripture teaches that our bodies will finally be liberated from the dead. Heman asks the question which has been asked by millions, "Wilt Thou show wonders to the dead ?" Will God show miracles to the dead?. Unbelief and weak faith often forget that the TIME of our deliverance is in the hands of God. Read the four Gospels through and through, go back and forth through them, searching, but you will find no evidence that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ever doubted His own glorious resurrection. He knew He was going THROUGH. The Scripture makes it plain that He preached to those who had died and led captivity captive. He told His disciples to go to a place where He would meet them after His death - and He met them there. This same Jesus Has told us by His Word that He is going to meet us. He will show wonders among the dead. Then Heman says, "Shall your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?". On four occasions our Lord met death:- 1. When a little girl was dead and Jesus went into her home and said to her, "Tabitha arise!" The people in that house were crying. They all, knew she was dead. Jesus met death in the home, and conquered it. A generation ago, death in the home was more frequent than it is today. In those days, all the family knew what death was all about. They could see death for themselves. In these days we try to hide it. Yet now the population is larger, thus more people die. But so many die in hospital or in an accident, or by acts of terror or war. We have a Saviour who has conquered death in the home - Jesus, the conqueror of death will presence Himself there. Believers will be free among the dead. 2. Our Lord met death in the street. On the occasion when He was walking near Nain, He met a funeral going to the cemetery. A widow's son was being buried. Our Lord met death on the way to that cemetery, and conquered it. Situations arise when we feel that all we can do is bury the dead. There are times when everyone accepts the end has come. But our Lord is the conqueror. That day, that lad, was alive among the dead 3. There was a third occasion when Jesus met death. He met it in the tomb - not His own tomb. The news had come that His friend Lazarus was sick. But He waited a while before He went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived with his two sisters. Our Lord had a special affinity with that family. When He arrived there on this occasion, He was greeted with, "If you had been here he would not have died." It was meant to be a rebuke, but instead it underlined a tremendous truth. Now, Lazarus was dead and buried, but outside his tomb Jesus called, "Lazarus, come forth!" Christ met death in the tomb and conquered it. Lazarus came forth. How wonderful!. It has been said, that if Christ had not named Lazarus all would have come out of the dead. Lazarus was free among the dead. 4. Our Lord met death on the Cross. There, He met it for you and for me. The Scriptures express it in a wonderful way - "He spoiled the principalities and powers making a show of them openly". He met the enemy. He defeated death with both hands nailed to the cross. But Christ has declared Mercy in the sepulchre. They laid His body in a tomb. He did not defeat death by coming down from the cross, He went to the tomb. He then went and preached to the spirits imprisoned. He then led captivity captive, transferring them from the place where they were, free among the dead, to the heavenly place called paradise. Then, on the third day He rose bodily from the tomb. He destroyed death. The death of death has given death to death by His own death. If we glorify God on earth, bearing in mind that this life is very short and uncertain, we shall know that God is still on the Throne and Christ will return for those who are His, FREE AMONG THE DEAD. Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved. ---------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/hpalmer/psalms: ps-088.txt .