Reflections on Psalms 88 and 23
This chapter was written by Rosann M. Catalano.
“Hic sunt dragones is the phrase medieval cartographers wrote along the borders of their maps to demarcate the known world from the unknown. One on side—the safe side—lay charted waters that could be safely navigated. On the other side, however, were uncharted and therefore unsafe waters. On the other side, cartographers warned, ‘… are dragons!’
“One might argue that human suffering is akin to crossing that medieval line: an experience that propels us into an unknown world of uncharted waters. No human life is spared this journey. No search for meaning escapes these waters. No struggle to understand life’s purpose or destiny eludes doing battle with ‘dragons.’ In the land of dragons, there are neither experts nor once-for-all solutions. In this land, there are only novices.
“For those who live in covenant with the God of Israel, suffering presents no less a challenge. No other of life’s experiences so compromises faith’s hopes and claims as does the uncompromising reality of suffering or the apparent powerlessness of prayer in its midst.
“One of the hallmarks of biblical faith is that it consistently rejected the temptation to whitewash the threat suffering poses to life and to faith in God. Stubbornly refusing to fabricate make-believe worlds where life is as one wished it might be, this was a faith forged instead in the crucible of the world as it really was. Indeed, the history of this faith is the history of a people who discovered again and again both the power and the limits of their faith and their God precisely in the midst of suffering. Whether in Egypt, in Babylon, or in the land they called home, the faithful of ancient Israel discovered again and again that the experience of suffering had the capacity to disclose the true character of God’s faithfulness and God’s love.
“To the experience of suffering, biblical faith responded as it did to all life’s experiences: It created a form of prayer able to bring to speech the full range of emotions attendant to the experience. It responded by fashioning the prayer of lament: a cry for help, an appeal for deliverance, a promise to praise.”
“Biblical faith is an unwavering testament to the sure hope that when suffering finds its voice, however desperate, when silence is broken by speech, however strident, when a call out of the depths of despair is directed to the God of Israel, an always gracious God will again hear the cry of the afflicted and transform it into a shout of praise.”
Discussion Questions:
- How would you describe the situation of the person praying this psalm?
- According to this person, what is the cause of his/her plight?
- Reread verses 10-12.
- What do you think is the intent of these verses?
- How do you think they function in the psalm?
- Do you think that the one praying this psalm knows the answers to these questions?
- If “yes,” what do you think are his/her answers? If “no,” explain.
- Do you know the answers to these questions? Explain.
- Is the person praying this psalm asking anything of God? Explain.
- Do you think this person has hope? If “yes,” what do you think is the content of that hope?
- What do you think this psalm wants God to “do”?
- With what verses in Psalm 88 do you most identify?
- Does anything in this psalm make you uneasy or uncomfortable? Why?
- Can you imagine a situation in which you or someone you care about might pray this prayer?
- If you prayed this prayer “in the land of dragons,” what impact do you think it might have on you? On those who might pray this psalm with you?
