DEVOTIONAL: Psalm 88: The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth
By Dr. Michael Madaris
Kelleytown Baptist Church, Hartsville
Every witness who is called to take the stand in a court of law places their hand on the Bible and takes an oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” The truth is unchanging. The truth is absolute and unwavering. The truth is the same for you as it is for me. I love the Book of Psalms. It has been my favorite book in the Old Testament for some time, and it is moving its way up in my favorite books of the Bible category. There is so much to be learned from the Bible’s song book, and I want to share something from this great book with you today. Psalm 88 is a song written about being saved from certain death by the enemy. Have you ever been desperate for help? I’m not talking about exaggeration. I know I’ve said many times, “Man, I’m about to starve.” Any of you that know me knows I’m a long way from starving. I may be hungry, but starving? Not for a long, long time. But have you ever needed help desperately? Maybe the doctor came back with bad news, or someone in your family got in trouble. God’s people were facing an enemy that had the power to completely destroy them, and eventually they remembered that the Lord was on their side, and they turned to God and pleaded for help. It wasn’t that God wasn’t close by; He always is, but they had tried to find a remedy that didn’t include God, His ways, or His plan. They get desperate enough and they cry out to Him, but they do something interesting first. Psalm 88:1 says, “O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before You.” They start this song; they begin with prayer with a truth statement. The first thing I want to do is encourage you to be truthful about God. Be honest with yourself about God, who is He is, what He has done, what He is willing to do now, and what He promises to do. We don’t have to guess about these things. The Bible tells us all we need to know about God. From Genesis 1 through Revelation 22, our Heavenly Father reveals Himself to you and me. The Bible tells us what God has done. The Bible tells us what He is willing to do now. The Bible is filled with the promises of God. There are a lot of ideas and perspectives out in the world about God, but the only one that is true is found in God’s Word. Be honest with yourself about God. Secondly, I want to encourage you to be truthful with God. Psalm 88 is a song that reveals the truthful perspective of God’s people to God about what is going on in their lives. What can we take away from that? God wants you to know that you can be honest with Him about what’s going on in your life and what you think about it. He already knows every detail, and He even knows how you feel about it, but He loves you and He wants to hear from you. I can promise you this, He is big enough to handle how you feel and think. He knows our pain. He understands our hurts. He knows what it’s like to feel alone. He may not remove it, but He will see you through it. That’s the truth, “so help me God.”
