WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.760 One Friday evening I was with my wife and kids and I started to become very anxious. 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:24.120 I quietly slipped upstairs and got into bed where I began to shake with nerves. 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:34.120 After a couple of weeks I was feeling better again. It seemed the episode was over. 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:45.120 Then one day soon after a darkness came over me. For the next number of weeks I was deeply depressed and anxious. 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:53.120 My thoughts were very troubled. I was scared it would never lift. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:01:02.119 These are the words of a pastor friend and they reflect the author's experience of Psalm 88. 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:10.120 Look at verse 3. I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:19.120 Verse 6. You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:28.120 At the end of verse 15. I have borne your terrors and am in despair. 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:37.120 It seems that there is no shaft of light in this psalm. In fact, it ends with a crushing blow. 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:43.120 Look at the end of verse 18. Darkness is my closest friend. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:55.120 Death, depths and despair. It seems that darkness has the final word. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:00.120 Now this may sound very bleak and hopeless, but that's how life can be. 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:06.120 We can feel depressed for a time or we can suffer depression for a long time. 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:09.120 It's dark and it's real. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:15.120 It can lead to stressful days and sleepless nights as we cry out to God. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:22.120 Verse 1. Lord, you are the God who saves me. Day and night I cry out to you. 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:27.120 May my prayer come before you. Turn your ear to my cry. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:35.120 This psalm is one long desperate cry which descends into ever increasing darkness. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:43.120 Together we are going to enter into the experience of this writer as he shares his struggle. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:52.120 An experience that is common to us all at different times and in different ways. 00:02:52.120 --> 00:03:04.120 We will follow the downward spiral from deep darkness to deeper darkness and into deepest darkness. 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:09.120 So first, deep darkness. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:14.120 When we are down and depressed it can feel like a living death. 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:21.120 Verse 3. I'm overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death. 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:29.120 Verse 5. I am set apart with the dead like the slain who lie in the grave. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:36.120 This feeling of depression, this state of mind can affect reality. 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:40.120 It can distort a correct view of God. 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:46.120 This distortion, I think, is expressed in two ways in this psalm. 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:50.120 First, that God has forgotten me. 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:56.120 Verse 5. I am set apart with the dead like the slain who lie in the grave. 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.120 Whom you remember no more. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:03.120 Who are cut off from your care. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:13.120 You see, in such deep darkness, in times like this we think we are as good as dead to God. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.120 He doesn't care for me. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:17.120 He doesn't remember me. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.120 He doesn't love me. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:21.120 I'm just a body in a grave. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:29.120 You see, if God was really compassionate, he would lift me out of this deep darkness. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:38.120 A second distortion is not only that God has forgotten me, but that God is punishing me. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:46.120 Verse 6. You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:50.120 Verse 7. Your wrath lies heavily on me. 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:55.120 You have overwhelmed me with all your waves. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:00.120 We think God is angry and is bringing his judgment and his wrath upon us. 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:02.120 I must have done something wrong. 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.120 I must be dishonouring God. 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:06.120 I'm not doing what I should be doing. 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:09.120 I'm just a sinful person. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:21.120 You see, if God was truly kind, he would lift me up out of this deep darkness. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:26.120 Feeling down and being depressed is a very real experience. 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:31.120 And it can distort a true understanding of God. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:34.120 This is where the writer is. 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:38.120 He is struggling with his thoughts and his view of God has become twisted. 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:40.120 Look at the end of verse 8. 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:43.120 I am confined and cannot escape. 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:47.120 My eyes are dim with grief. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:55.120 He is struggling with his thoughts and his view of God has become twisted. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:03.120 Our struggle and suffering is so deep that sometimes we cannot see God clearly. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:08.120 You see, we live in a world that is broken. 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:18.120 And part of that brokenness means we will suffer physically, spiritually and at times mentally. 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:26.120 Being in deep darkness can lead to a distorted view of who God is. 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:27.120 And part of that brokenness means we are not completely different. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:29.120 It is. 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:30.120 It is. 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:32.120 Second, deeper darkness. 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:39.120 As the writer continues, so we descend into an even deeper darkness. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:42.120 Instead of getting better, it seems to get worse. 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:47.120 In the darkness, we call out to God. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.120 Look at the second part of verse 9. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:52.120 I call to you, Lord, every day. 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:55.120 I spread out my hands to you. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:07:02.120 And what follows is a series of quick-fired questions which express how we feel. 00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:05.120 Each answer is a negative no. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:07.120 Verse 10. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:10.120 Do you show your wonders to the dead? 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:11.120 No. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:15.120 Do the dead rise up and praise you? 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:16.120 No. 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:22.120 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in destruction? 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:23.120 Never. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:30.120 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:32.120 Of course not. 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:39.120 Again, all of this leads to wrong and distorted thoughts. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:44.120 First, the writer feels he is abandoned by God. 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:51.120 God doesn't show his wonders or declare his love or work his goodness to the dead. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:55.120 No, God does his wondrous acts in the land of the living. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:04.120 And the fact that I don't experience God's healing and that God doesn't intervene means I must be abandoned. 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:07.120 I'm nothing to God. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:10.120 I'm dead to him. 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:15.120 A second wrong thought is that I am beyond God. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:22.120 Because God doesn't show his wondrous deeds, I'm beyond the reach of God. 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:24.120 I'm too far gone. 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:26.120 I'm beyond saving. 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:28.120 I'm lost forever. 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:33.120 Even if God wanted to save me, he can't. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:40.120 I'm stuck in this unreachable pit of deeper darkness. 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:44.120 You see, these experiences are real. 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:49.120 And sometimes we cannot see any hope or light. 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:53.120 Have you ever had moments like that? 00:08:53.120 --> 00:09:02.120 You go to bed in deep darkness, only to awaken in a deeper darkness. 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:09.120 I don't understand why God allows us to go through these seasons. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:14.120 I don't know why God doesn't always intervene. 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:17.120 But it's a reality. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:25.120 Sometimes we see no hope and no light. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:26.120 Third. 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:32.120 Deepest darkness. 00:09:32.120 --> 00:09:38.120 Experience tells us that sometimes we can fall into the deepest darkness. 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:42.120 That seems to be where the writer has come to. 00:09:42.120 --> 00:09:43.120 Look at verse 13. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:44.120 Verse 14. 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:46.120 But I cry to you for help, Lord. 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:49.120 In the morning my prayer comes before you. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:56.120 Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me? 00:09:56.120 --> 00:10:02.120 The why question of verse 14 repeats the writer's theme song. 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:06.120 We find ourselves at our deepest yet. 00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:12.120 Looking back over his life he can see nothing but darkness. 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:13.120 Verse 15. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:17.120 From my youth I have suffered and have been close to death. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:21.120 I have borne your terrors and am in despair. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:24.120 Your wrath has swept over me. 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.120 Your terrors have destroyed me. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:28.120 It's bleak. 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:29.120 Death. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:30.120 Despair. 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:31.120 Destruction. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:34.120 His conclusion is clear. 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:35.120 Verse 18. 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:36.120 You have taken from me friend and neighbour. 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:37.120 Darkness is my closest friend. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:42.120 Literally it reads, my closest friend is darkness. 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:49.120 Darkness is the last word. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:11:07.120 It seems the darkness has won. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:15.120 It expresses how Job also felt when he suffered terribly. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:23.120 In his struggle to God he cried out, Why then did you bring me out of the womb? 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:27.120 I wish I had died before any eyes saw me. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:30.120 Are not my few days almost over? 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:37.120 Turn away from me God so I can have a moment's joy before I go to the place of no return. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:41.120 To the land of gloom and utter darkness. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.120 To the land of deepest night. 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:47.120 Of utter darkness and disorder. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:51.120 Where even the light is like darkness. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:59.120 It seems that the darkness has won. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:04.120 Or has it? 00:12:04.120 --> 00:12:12.120 You see, if we look carefully across this psalm, there is a ray of light that beams across. 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:17.120 A light that draws us out of the deepest darkness. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:28.120 It brings courage to the destroyed, hope to the despairing and life to the dead. 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:33.120 First, it gives courage to the destroyed. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:35.120 Look at verse 16. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:38.120 Your wrath has swept over me. 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:41.120 Your terrors have destroyed me. 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:44.120 That's how we often can feel. 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.120 Destroyed. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.120 Utterly broken. 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:50.120 Nothing to give. 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:52.120 Nothing to live for. 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:55.120 We feel we are the only one who is like this. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.120 And like the writer says in verse 8. 00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:02.120 I am confined and cannot escape. 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:07.120 We feel the darkness has trapped us and there is no way out. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.120 But you are not alone. 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:14.120 And there is a way out. 00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:17.120 That's why this psalm is written. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:21.120 It's been recorded and preserved for you today. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:28.120 It tells you that darkness can and does descend. 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:36.120 But that doesn't mean that God has hidden his face or has forgotten you or is punishing you. 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:46.120 Just because you cannot see God or just because you cannot feel God's presence, it does not mean God is not there. 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.120 God is over you. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:55.120 He has brought you to this path and he will bring you through this path. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:14:03.120 Despite the darkness, the words of Psalm 139 are still true. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:18.120 Turn with me just for a moment to Psalm 139. 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:21.120 Verse 7. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:23.120 The writer cries out, 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:26.120 Where can I go from your spirit? 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:30.120 And where can I flee from your presence? 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:33.120 If I go up to the heavens, you are there. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:36.120 If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:41.120 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:45.120 Even there your hand will guide me. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:49.120 Your right hand will hold me fast. 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:51.120 If I say, 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:58.120 Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me, 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:02.120 Even the darkness will not be dark to you. 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:12.120 The night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:21.120 Despite the darkness, God is with you. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:25.120 To God the darkness is as light. 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:27.120 He sees you. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:30.120 He has not abandoned you. 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:35.120 He walks with you and holds you fast. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.120 You are never beyond His reach. 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:48.120 So let this flicker of light give you courage when you feel destroyed. 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:53.120 So first, courage to the destroyed. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:58.120 Second, hope for the despairing. 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:04.120 Look back at Psalm 88, end of verse 15. 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:10.120 I have borne your terrors, and am in despair. 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:17.120 As we go through this psalm, it descends into a greater and more intensifying darkness. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.120 It can leave us despairing. 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:25.120 But the greater the darkness, the greater the hope. 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:27.120 Look how the writer prays. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:28.120 Verse 2. 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:30.120 May my prayer come before you. 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:33.120 Turn your ear to my cry. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:40.120 And despite the troubles, he keeps on calling out to God. 00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:41.120 The end of verse 9. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.120 I call to you, Lord, every day. 00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:47.120 I spread out my hands to you. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:51.120 And although the struggles continue, he perseveres. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:58.120 It's almost that as the darkness intensifies, so his prayers intensify. 00:16:58.120 --> 00:16:59.120 Verse 13. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:02.120 But I cry to you, Lord, for help. 00:17:02.120 --> 00:17:08.119 In the morning my prayer comes before you. 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:16.119 Why does he keep on praying in what appears to be an utterly hopeless situation? 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:22.119 He's either mad, or he has promised hope. 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:25.119 Well, he does have hope. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:28.119 Look how the psalm starts. 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:29.119 Verse 1. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:35.119 Lord, you are the God who saves me. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:42.119 Lord, written in capitals, is the name of the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:48.119 The one who has promised to save, and is loyal and faithful to his promise. 00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:51.119 That's the hope the writer has. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:58.119 That one day, despite the darkness, the Lord will save. 00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:02.119 This is not glass half full kind of stuff. 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:09.119 This is a sure and certain hope that God will do as he promised. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:14.119 It's the kind of hope that Job expressed in his suffering. 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:20.119 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:26.119 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. 00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:33.119 I myself will see him, with my own eyes, I and not another. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:41.119 How my heart yearns within me. 00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:46.119 So, third, life for the dead. 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:49.119 Look at verse 15. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:53.119 From my youth I have suffered and have been close to death. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:59.119 I have borne your terrors and am in despair. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:04.119 The darkness sometimes feels like death. 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:06.119 It overwhelms. 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:15.119 But yet life comes because God is the one who saves. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:19.119 And he saves ultimately through Jesus. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:25.119 You see, only in Jesus does death become life. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:31.119 Only in Jesus does the darkness become light. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:37.119 You see, through Jesus God entered into the darkness of this world. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:43.119 He descended into the deepest darkness ever for you and for me. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:50.119 The Gospel writers record for us that when Jesus died on the cross, he says, 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:57.119 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:01.119 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:07.119 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:19.119 At that moment Jesus, as he died on the cross, was taking my sin and your sin on himself. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:24.119 The darkness of God's wrath fell on Jesus. 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:32.119 He was utterly forsaken, abandoned, hid from the Father's face. 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:41.119 God did this because he loved you and he promised to save you. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:49.119 He did this so that you could be forgiven of all your sin and never ever be abandoned. 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:59.119 But more than this, Jesus descended into the depths of death and hell itself so that we would never have to. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:04.119 Three days later, he was raised from the dead. 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.119 He defeated the darkness. 00:21:06.119 --> 00:21:09.119 He crushed death. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:15.119 He destroyed the grave so that we might have life with him forever. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:22.119 You see, Jesus knows what it means to say, 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:26.119 Darkness is my only friend. 00:21:26.119 --> 00:21:37.119 He went through the deepest depths of darkness so that in your darkness he could be your forever friend, 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:41.119 who never leaves you and never forsakes you. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:48.119 Even though it is dark, the darkness will be as light to him. 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:56.119 You see, there is no darkness so deep that we will not find our Saviour there. 00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:04.119 You see, when we come to Jesus in faith, the darkness is reversed. 00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:10.119 The light of Jesus brings courage, hope and life. 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:16.119 We can now read verse 10 with a declaration of yes. 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:18.119 Look at verse 10. 00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:21.119 Do you show your wonders to the dead? 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:23.119 In Jesus? 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:24.119 Yes. 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:27.119 Do the dead rise up and praise you? 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:29.119 Because of Jesus? 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:30.119 Yes. 00:22:30.119 --> 00:22:33.119 Is your love declared in the grave? 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:35.119 Your faithfulness in destruction? 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.119 Because of what Jesus has done? 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:39.119 Yes. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:42.119 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness? 00:22:42.119 --> 00:22:45.119 Or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:46.119 Yes. 00:22:46.119 --> 00:22:47.119 Yes. 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:48.119 And yes. 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:52.119 Jesus has overcome. 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:58.119 We are never beyond the reach of Jesus. 00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:05.119 No matter how deep the darkness might be, he is present. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:08.119 He has not abandoned you. 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:11.119 He loves you. 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:15.119 He will bring you through. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:22.119 See the light of Jesus in the midst of our darkness. 00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:28.119 I want to close by reading a hymn. 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:32.119 Psalm 88 is a hymn. 00:23:32.119 --> 00:23:35.119 While this is a more modern hymn. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:47.119 As I read, let it become your prayer and your longing as you cry out to God. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:51.119 How long, O Lord, shall I complain? 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.939 Like one that seeks his God in vain, 00:23:54.919 --> 00:23:57.679 Canst thou thy face for ever hide, 00:23:58.639 --> 00:24:00.839 And I still pray and be denied? 00:24:02.399 --> 00:24:05.359 How long shall my poor troubled breast 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:08.659 Be with these anxious thoughts oppressed, 00:24:08.959 --> 00:24:11.939 And Satan, my malicious foe, 00:24:12.379 --> 00:24:15.159 Rejoice to see me sunk so low? 00:24:16.659 --> 00:24:19.839 Whate'er my fears or foe suggest, 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:25.559 Thou art my hope, my joy, my rest, 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:29.819 My heart shall feel thy love and raise, 00:24:30.679 --> 00:24:34.659 My cheerful voice to songs of praise. 00:24:34.659 --> 00:24:37.179 Amen.