Jesus' Suffering For Our Sins

Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah. Psalm 88:7

Psalm 88 is the most complete picture of what Christ endured in Hades between His death and His resurrection. It is also one of the saddest psalms because there is very little hope in it. There is only one ray of hope—the psalmist calls the Lord “the God of his salvation” (88:1).

“For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to the grave. I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength” (88:3-4). The word “troubles” in the original Hebrew text should be more accurately translated as “evil.” Jesus was, in effect, saying, “My soul is saturated with evil. My soul has arrived at Hades, the kingdom of the dead. I am like a man without God.” There in Hades, Jesus was totally cut off from God’s presence: “Adrift among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, and who are cut off from Your hand” (88:5).

There are different levels in Hades. Right there in the lowest pit, within the darkest darkness, the soul of Jesus endured the full impact of God’s wrath. “Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out” (88:7-8). Languishing in hopelessness for the sin of all mankind, Jesus—like you—had to exercise faith to believe that God would save Him from the pit. So He cried out, “LORD, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?” (88:14). You see, His resurrection was not a foregone conclusion in His mind. Jesus had to put His trust in God. Jesus says, “I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.

Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my fl esh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Acts 2:25-27). Isn’t this encouraging? Jesus too needed to exercise faith that God can deliver Him from a seemingly hopeless situation. If faith works for Christ, it will also work for you. It may well be that you too are going through a seemingly hopeless situation. Hold fast to the God of your salvation, and you too will be singing your song of triumph.