Tradition says that Jesus prayed this prayer the night he spent, imprisoned in the custody of Caiaphas the high priest, abandoned by his followers, alone.
As we prepare for the suffering of Good Friday to come, may we also prepare, as Jesus did, not to turn away from suffering, but to abandon ourselves to the mercy of God, who hears the cry of his people.
Psalm 88
Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. To the leader: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
2 let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
I am like those who have no help,
5 like those forsaken among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves.Selah
8 You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise you?Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.[a]
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dread assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
from all sides they close in on me.
18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.
An AMAZING PRAYER…we Thank THE LORD for it.
We PRAISE HIM for our SAVIOR and SALVATION.
AMEN & AMEN
BLESSINGS on YOU!
YHWH’shai, the Son of man and the Son of God saturates the entire Bible,
Been studying the book of Zecahriah, what a thrill:
1: 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.
9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
13:7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
I have always been amazed by the imagery throughout that book . . . You can just see it.
And feel it.
I try very hard to imagine the pain my Savior endured. I can’t. But I do know with every breath I take, His suffering was endured for me. Me … the most unworthy of all.
I love you Lord and I trust in you.
“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Same 🙏
I can only imagine the anguish of this night for the Lord.
Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say) – Jesus Christ Superstar (1970 Version)
Luke chapter 22, verse 44. Our Lord sweat clots of blood in His anguish. Consider that.
From the last part of the Psychomachia, (The Battle for the Soul) by the early Roman Christian poet Prudentius:
“Light and Darkness fight with opposite spirits
And our body-soul nature inspires opposing powers,
Until Christ Our God arrives with help
And places all the gems of our virtues
Into a pious crown,
But also, where Sin had reigned,
He weaves golden courts of the temple
Of our soul, creating from the evidence of our conduct
Ornaments, by which Rich Wisdom
Will be delighted, forever reigning
On a beautiful throne. “
And that leads on to my second point. People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, ‘If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you, and if you don’t I’ll do the other thing.’ I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other.
– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Ever see “Shadowlands” with Debra Winger as Joy Gresham and Anthony Hopkins as CS Lewis? Once in a great while, all the chips fall in all the right places and Hollywood produces a wonderfully moral, historically accurate movie. I am certain sure that CS Lewis would have loved this movie. It would be a great movie to watch during Holy Week.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3079442405633449
Maybe, on your recommendation but Anthony Hopkins is one of my least favorite actors! Don’t like his shtick at all.
One of the greatest musical works of all time: Julius Reubke’s Sonata on the 94th Psalm:
Here is Psalm 94 with how it relates to the music: you do not need to follow it during the music necessarily.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonata_on_the_94th_Psalm
This powerful meditative piece will stand alone as musical journey into the soul’s lamentations:
This performance by German organist Sebastian Küchler-Blessing is the best which I have ever heard.
Wow. That gives you chills.
Reubke was a student of Franz Liszt and had an obviously brilliant career as a composer and performer ahead of him.
He composed the Sonata above at age 22.
Tuberculosis killed him when he was barely 24.
He had composed a handful of works: try his Sonata for Piano for another experience!
Wow!
The Death of Jesus – What We’re Missing
Worth the watch…………..
I just watched that – Powerful! Thank you for sharing.
it’s 3 hr. 40 minutes; but for those inclined, this may be worth the time invested to watch. Shawn Ryan interview of Lee Strobel and John Burke, titled “The Resurrection” and is of the gentlemen’s journey from atheist to the realization of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Thank you Bess!
The Jewish people have not broken the covenant. God has allowed them to be temporarily blinded so the Gentiles would be able to come in. After this time has been fulfilled the Jew will then recognize Him as their Messiah. Jesus will return to the Jewish people – this is the reason for the second coming. The plan is one plan of God and continuous throughout time. He will not forsake Israel.
The Jews are His people and he loves them. The Jew does not stop being a Jew with Jesus.
Jesus Christ said that the Apostasy must come before the Antichrist and the Antichrist must come to reign before Christ’s Second Coming in Glory and the Final Judgment.
He leans down to hear the prayers of the despondent and the bereft, even if no words are possible 🙏🏻
Thank you Meagerie for this prayer.
I am seeking clarification. My understanding has always been that Holy Thursday is the day Jesus shared a Passover dinner with his disciples where he established the sharing of holy communion. This has become known as the “Last Supper”.
The prayer that you cite: was this Jesus’ prayer after he was taken captive that night?
The context would help me to understand better.
Many thanks
Hello Swimeasy…believe it’s traditionally thought…
See John 17 for JESUS Prayer in the garden before HE was taken. See verses 20 & 21 when JESUS Prayed for is!
Amazing that at that terrible time, HE thought of each of us living today!
THANKS be to GOD!
Trust in The LORD with all your heart!
AMEN & AMEN
BLESSINGS
Thanks so much junebug, ForNow for your replies and citations as well as other Treepers for their helpful offerings.
Makes so much more sense now reading through John 17 and the prayers Jesus offered for his followers to his Father after The Last Supper which led into the continued prayers in the garden.
So moving:
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Sanctify [2] them by the truth; your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Amen
For context, John 17 contains a prayer offered by Jesus after the Last Supper. After that, it is written that Jesus went and prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. From the four accounts, Jesus was bound and was taken before Annas and Caiaphas, also Herod and Pilate. When I just looked, I didn’t recall seeing any account that listed a specific place of imprisonment (like a cell) under anyone’s particular authority beyond the being bound part.
There are parts of Psalms cited in the New Testament as referencing Jesus and of his time of suffering and crucifixion. Maybe the above can work for a starting place for context, especially if there isn’t a clear biblical source saying if or when Jesus recited/prayed Psalm 88 during his earthly ministry.
Thank you ForNow!! Please see my above comment! Very appreciated!
Amen on Holy Thursday
Thank you, Menagerie, for you posts every Holy Season.
They are comforting to read, during
Easter, Christmas, and the other season where you bless us with your posts.
Thank you.
Thank you, Menagerie.
Here’s another version of the same Prayer for Help in Despondency. I think reading two translations gives a fuller understanding of the original meaning. It reads to me like an elaboration of Jesus on the Cross, crying out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” I hadn’t realized until I looked it up tonight that Jesus’ entreaty was quoting the words of King David from Psalm 22:1.
I have to say, were I preparing myself for the suffering Jesus is about to endure, this prayer would not help me in the least!
Here’s the alternate version:
Psalm 88
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 Lord, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
3 I am overwhelmed with troubles
and my life draws near to death.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like one without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.[d]
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, Lord, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction[e]?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help, Lord;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, Lord, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
” As we focus on Christ’s Redeeming sacrifice, we look to His love, humility, and obedience even in life’s most difficult and uncertain moments. This week, we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved Nation. We pray that America will Remain a beacon of faith, hope, and freedom for the entire World. We pray to achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.” ~ PDJT’s Easter prayer posted to: White House.gov
🙏Amen 🙏
Orthodox Christian Church
Great and Holy Thursday
Compline, Bridegroom Matins, Reading of the Twelve Holy Gospels, Royal Hours
https://www.youtube.com/live/2oQF7QTPU9s
Trying again.
The Washing of the Feet
The Mystical Supper
The preternatural Prayer
The Betrayal of Christ by Judas
That was beautiful…thank you so much for sharing, Menagerie !!
Thank you Menagerie for presenting the traditional psalm prayed by our anguished Savior for our contemplation.
Tradition in my home is to attend Tenebrae service at 7 then to come home watch The Passion of the Christ and have a good cathartic cry in repentance for my part in the suffering of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The three days before the glory of Easter Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday offer a most profound opportunity for us to share in His redemptive suffering.
Good traditions.
Thank you, Menagerie.
God Bless America
God Bless the UNITED STATES.
GOD BLESS THE PEOPLE
Thank you Menagerie as I grow older ( mid sixties now) and having never grown up in a church, I am strangely drawn to many of your posts.
I had little idea of what this Holy period was truly about.
The insights are much appreciated.
May you have a joyful weekend.
Cheers!
you capitalized Holy. why? you’ll get it.
i have been pondering the absolute degradation our savoir must have endured . He took on all of man kinds sin on the cross. the Son of the eternal God of creation. the filth and utter crud thrown on Him , His receiving men’s sin from past and future and grasping it off from us. a Being who we cannot fathom , who has revealed himself to our lowly selves. Who loves us. Praise the Lord.
Thank you all for sharing. This is amazing. I had no idea that this is the time when Jesus gave us the 11th Commandment. It is that time, isn’t it?
Well said!!!