For the Sake of His Sorrowful Passion

Praying Psalm 88 in Holy Week

Aelbert Bouts The Man of Sorrows (1525)

I had hoped to do a series through Lent on praying the Psalms. Alas, due to the stroke, I was only able to do the first. One of the Psalms I had planned to cover is Psalm 88, which is what James Crenshaw called “a whirlpool of torment”—a lament Psalm that makes no turn of praise or repentance. Precisely because it is so dark, however, Psalm 88 illuminates the mystery of Christ’s sorrowful passion, allowing us to catch a glimpse through the heavy shadows of the Christ of the garden, the Christ of the cross, and the Christ of hell.