“Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?” Psalm 88:10-12
I pray this Psalm this morning and ponder how things have changed.
For all to see, Jesus reaches into the darkness, through the grave to do this…
“Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” …When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:39,43-44
Then the words of the Apostle’s Creed flash before my eyes, “He…was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to hell.” So, yea, times have changed.
…so, yes, God will work wonders for the dead. The shades rise up to praise God. Yes, His your steadfast love is declared in the grave, and His faithfulness in Abaddon. His wonders are known in the darkness, God’s saving help comes rescuing in the land of forgetfulness.
When this psalm was first sung, the people didn’t have hope of the defeat of death. We do! We have more than hope of the death of death, we have proof of victory.
“”Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:54-55,57
I love this Orthodox prayer, hearing it sung in Divine Liturgy always lifts my spirit.
“Christ is risen from the dead,
trampling down death by death,
and on those in the tombs bestowing life!”
This is great joy! Hold onto this fact and let the hope flow through your soul. Know that God has shown His love in the deepest pit of darkness. He brought Adam and Eve from the depths of death. He brought the originators of all sin in man from death’s darkness. He most certainly will have your hand through whatever darkness rests before you in life. With simple trust and faith, He will reach through the ultimate darkness to pull you from death into light.