Heman the Ezrahite wrote Psalm 88. We don’t know much about him, but he must have faced significant suffering. “My soul is full of troubles,” he says. He counts himself as nearly dead. “I am like a man without strength… like the slain who lie in the grave” (v. 4-5).
Heman’s afflictions have a human form—a familiarity to many of us—causing him to question God’s doings. “Why, O LORD, do you… hide your face from me?” (v.14) Wave after wave of heartbreak sweeps over him. Can you relate to that feeling of sinking in the crushing, relentless waves of trouble?
This psalm is unique because it does not end with a happy resolution. However, there is hope to be found here. Recall how Heman addresses the Lord in the first line: “the God who saves me.” Despite his anguish, he knows the only One who can see him through. And God did hear Heman. As Heman writes, it is God who both inspired and recorded his cries.
Also, we who are on this side of the cross know from Jesus’ death at Calvary that even in the silence, God is saving.