Too Late for Me (first published October 19, 2016)

Will You do wonders for the dead?  Will the shades arise and acclaim you?  Selah.  Psalm 88:11  (Robert Alter translation)

Wonders – When is it too late?  When does the power of the Lord cease to be effective?  When you’re dead!  Death ends it.  As the Korahites sang, we can cry out to the Lord now while we are still alive but once the end has come, nothing more can be done.  The questions of this verse are rhetorical.  The expected answer is “No.”  This song speaks of the utter despair of the author, his hopelessness, his plight, his rejection.  But even in this terrible condition, something is still in his favor.  He’s not dead yet!   It is still possible for God to act.

Perhaps we need just such a reminder.  Life can be pretty awful.  No matter how much we try, things can fall apart.  Injuries can happen, both physical and emotional.  We are not immune to disaster.  Job gives the correct prognosis of the human condition.  “Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.”[1]  There isn’t any escape.  For most of humanity, the future is grim, unrelenting, and dark.  Heschel is right.  Human history is a nightmare, and it doesn’t look like we are going to wake up anytime soon.

But then there are the rhetorical questions.  If those who go down to the pit can no longer offer praise, if heavenly wonders are no longer displayed, then God has every reason to act now.  Waiting only means the decibels of devotion diminish.  So, Lord, recognize the inevitability of the answer—and act now!  Act while it is still possible to praise You.  Act while Your handiwork can still be seen.  Act while men are still able to call You good and full of grace.  Don’t wait, Lord, until it’s too late!

Perhaps you haven’t realized that God has every reason to do something marvelous today.  Perhaps you see only the storm on the horizon, the open mouth of the grave, the fruitlessness of our fight.  Perhaps you haven’t turned the question upside-down and realized that it is a question for God, not for men.  It is a question designed to elicit His response.  Why should He act today?  Because today we can praise Him.  Because today He can receive the glory due Him.  Because today it is still not too late.

Do you cry for some small wonder to befall you?  Are you desperate for a reason to proclaim His care and compassion?  Tell Him it’s not too late for you—yet.  Tell Him now is the day of His glory, the day that He shows Himself the God of righteousness, of promise-keeping.  Today is the day He can still receive your thanks and praise.

Topical Index: wonders, pele’, death, praise, Psalm 88:11 (H), Psalm 88:12 (E), Job 5:7

[1] Job 5:7