My friend Mark is always harping on how God uses non-Christians to speak truth. And I must say, I agree. There are so many instances in Scripture where God employs a pagan king to pull off something true, good, or beautiful. And there are even instances where God explicitly shames the covenant community by comparing their faithlessness to the faithfulness of neighboring heathen nations. And of course, human history abounds with examples of this. For instance, East of Eden by John Steinbeck has given me more insight into the realities of dignity and depravity – and the actual dynamics and details being revealed in the chronicles of Genesis – than any Bible commentary ever has.

All that to say… I was recently listening to the song No Complaints by Gabe Simon and Noah Kahan. And I gotta say, it really helps me imaginatively immerse myself in the mood of Psalm 88. Most Psalms of Lament slog through darkness and then (eventually) resolve with some measure of daylight; but Psalm 88 slogs through darkness and then simply settles there.

O Lord, God of my salvation,
    I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
    incline your ear to my cry!

For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
like one set loose 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.
You have put me in the depths of the pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
    my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.
Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

But I, O Lord, cry to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dreadful assaults destroy me.
They surround me like a flood all day long;
    they close in on me together.
You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.

Psalm 88. A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

I thought I had somethin’
And that’s the same as havin’ somethin’
I’d get mad at nothin’, blame my dad for somethin’
I pull no punches, then feel bad for months
Mm, thought I was raised better, tried to fake better
Tried to blame weather and escape better
Hope the skin heals where the pain enters

But I finally got sewed up
I set a time, then I showed up
Now the weight of the world ain’t so bad

I saw the end, it looks just like the middle
Got a paper and pen and a page with no space
I filled the hole in my head with prescription medication
And forgot how to cry, who am I to complain?

And now the pain’s different
It still exists, it just escapes different
And evades vision, makes the rain different
Makes the news boring and my rage distant
Yes, I’m young and living dreams
In love with being noticed and afraid of being seen
But I can finally eat and I can fall asleep
It’s fine, fine, fine

I finally got sewed up
Set a time, then I showed up
Now the weight of the world ain’t that bad

Well, I saw the end, it looked just like the middle
Got a paper and pen and a page with no space
I filled the hole in my head with prescription medication
Then forgot how to cry, who am I
Who am I to complain?
To complain?
To complain

I saw the end, it looked just like the middle
Got a paper and pen but I can’t feel the pain
I filled the hole in my head with prescription medication
Then forgot how to cry, who am I to complain?

“No Complaints.” Gabe Simon / Noah Kahan

In Luke chapter 24 (a chapter of Scripture which is exceedingly mystical and mysterious …Jesus is appearing to people who know Him, but they don’t recognize Him; and He’s acting all like, “What are you guys talking about? A crucified guy named Jesus you say? Hmmm… tell me more, I’ve never heard of this guy.” And then [eventually] they do recognize Him – and then HE VANISHES!) Jesus explains who He is by walking Cleopas & Co. through all the Scriptures. I imagine – at one point – Jesus paused on Psalm 88 and Psalm 22:1-2 (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest), and He made them FEEL the mood of this reality so that they would thoroughly steward the mystery of the fact that for our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.