Session 6 – Psalm 88: the depths of darkness
Can we keep on believing in the place of total darkness where there is no experience of God at all and we feel lonely and abandoned?
In session 6, we:
-
- See how even in the ‘darkest psalm’ there is a valuable lesson to be learned.
- Look in detail at what spiritual formation in hard times is.
- Explore what God is doing us in those dark times
- Uncover what can often be hiding in the darkness.
Session 6 Outline – from Powerpoint (in video)
(1) Exploring Psalm 88 – the darkest of the psalms ending with the line ‘Darkness is my closest friend.
(2) An in-depth look at spiritual formation in the hard places of life, looking at Romans 8:28-29 and its context.
(3) We learn and discover many good things in the darkness, but the lessons are rarely easy ones.
(4) We also see that the darkness hides many things. The Psalms reveal that safe space with God where we can start to talk with Him about them.
The structure of the session comes from the Powerpoint (in the video). You can download the powerpoint here.
Exercise - Psalm 88
Psalm 88 is perhaps the darkest psalm and ends with the phrase ‘Darkness is my closest friend.’
The Psalms are an editted collection of psalms and those who put together the five books made a positive decision to include such a ‘dark’ psalm.
We ask the question – why include such a psalm?
Spiritual formation - what is it?
In Romans 8:28-29, we meet the well-known verses that talk about God working things together for our good.
But what exactly is our good?
In these verses and those preceding and following, we discover exactly what God’s purpose is and how in the most extreme of circumstances nothing can separate us from God’s love.
Exploring the darkness
Exploring the darkness involves two simple questions:
- What’s happening there?
- What’s hiding there?
It is often in the hidden places where spiritual transformation occurs and the process of becoming more like Jesus occurs. It is however not an easy process as we are made aware of our own shortcomings and weaknesses.
What is hidden often starts to surface (perhaps erupt) when we are under pressure. It is in such times that we learn the qualities of humility, dependance and often a deeper level of trust in our relationship with God.
Reflections through song
Make Room (Community Music)
Worship songs help us express our love and devotion and our surrender to God:
And I will make room for you
To do whatever you want to
Do whatever you want to
These transactions within the context of worship then need to be worked out and lived out in our daily lives which is generally where the transformation is taking place.
Shake up the ground of all my traditionBreak down the walls of all my religionYour way is better oh Your way is better
Often our thinking about God can be quite childish and selfish. The hard places of life tend to be where the shaking and the breaking occurs – play song.
This is our God (Phil Wickham)
The end of Romans 8 declares that nothing can separate us from God’s love. This is our God mentions some of the things that hide in the darkness – fear and shame.
The truth is that even the worse things about ourself are not a barrier to stop God loving us
This is our God, this is who He isHe loves usThis is our God, this is what He doesHe saves us
Additional Resources
Treasures of Darkness, Jane Grayshon, 1996 (out of print but available second-hand)
[Back cover …]
Jane Grayshon, whose severe illness has repeatedly brought her close to death, plunges straight into the toughest questions about suffering. Searching for truth which lies beyond pat answers, she is brutally honest, tussling with issues which people fear to voice lest God himself be offended.
Treasure of Darkness is for those who feel wounded by God. It shows that he is aware of our hurts and meets with us even in the darkness.