October 1, 2026
Most ministry leaders know David. Many know Asaph. Few know Heman.
Heman was one of the chief musicians appointed by David to lead worship in Israel. He was a songwriter, worship leader, and trusted spiritual voice among God’s people. By every outward measure, he was a successful leader. He held a significant role in the worship life of the nation and helped guide God’s people in their praise.
But when we hear Heman’s voice most clearly in Scripture, we do not find him standing on a platform celebrating victory.
We find him hurting.
Psalm 88 is one of the most unique Psalms in all of Scripture. Most Psalms of lament eventually turn a corner. Somewhere near the end, hope breaks through. The writer remembers God’s faithfulness and finishes with renewed confidence.
Not Heman.
He begins in darkness, and he ends in darkness. His anguish is unrelenting. His distress appears unresolved. His circumstances seem unchanged.
Listen to his words:
“I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.”
“I am like one without strength.”
“You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.”
These are not the words of a man who has everything figured out. These are the words of a ministry leader carrying a burden he cannot seem to shake. What strikes me most about Psalm 88 is not the darkness. It is the direction. Heman never stops talking to God.
The Psalm opens with these words:
“O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you.”
And then he keeps crying out. Even when heaven seems silent. Even when the answers do not come. Even when the darkness lingers longer than he would like.
He keeps praying.
As I reflect on Heman’s story, I cannot help but think about the ministry leaders I meet every week. The worship pastor carrying criticism that nobody else sees. The pastor navigating a difficult season of leadership. The student minister wondering if the investment is making any difference. The bi-vocational leader who is exhausted from balancing ministry, work, and family. The ministry spouse quietly carrying burdens while supporting everyone else.
Many of us have been taught how to lead ministries, teams, rehearsals, meetings, and people. We have learned how to cast vision, solve problems, organize events, and care for others.
What we often have not learned is how to lead ourselves through disappointment.
We know how to keep serving. We know how to keep producing. We know how to keep showing up.
But when grief, loneliness, rejection, discouragement, or uncertainty enters our lives, many of us do not know what to do with it. So we hide it. We minimize it. We convince ourselves that if we were stronger spiritually, we would not feel this way. Heman gives us a different picture. He refuses to pretend. He tells God the truth. And in doing so, he models something that every ministry leader desperately needs: Understanding Emotional Health.
Emotional health is not the absence of struggle. It is not having all the answers. It is not reaching a place where disappointment no longer affects you. Emotional health is having the courage to bring your whole self before God.
Your fears. Your questions. Your frustrations. Your grief. Your doubts. Your exhaustion. Your disappointment.
Heman does not sanitize his emotions before bringing them to the Lord. He simply tells the truth about where he is. That honesty is one of the clearest signs of spiritual maturity.
As I coach ministry leaders, I have discovered that many of our greatest struggles are not primarily ministry problems. We often think we need a better strategy, a better plan, a better system, or a better solution. Sometimes what we actually need is the courage to bring our whole hearts before God.
Heman reminds us that emotional health begins when we stop pretending and start praying honestly.
This is also where I often see the connection to what I call the Primal Question.
Each of us carries a deep emotional question that shapes how we experience relationships, leadership, and even our walk with God. For some, the question is, Am I Safe? For others, Am I Secure? Am I Loved? Am I Wanted? Am I Successful? Am I Good Enough? Or Do I Have Purpose?
Most of the time those questions stay beneath the surface.
But pain has a way of bringing them to light.
When ministry gets hard, the question gets louder.
And when the question gets louder, we often move into what I call the Scramble. We begin searching for answers through performance, approval, control, perfectionism, productivity, or withdrawal. We start trying to solve emotionally what only God can truly answer spiritually.
But Heman models a different way.
What makes Psalm 88 so compelling is not that Heman finds an answer. He doesn’t. The darkness remains. The questions remain. The circumstances appear unchanged. Yet throughout the Psalm, he continues bringing his heart before God.
Rather than searching for relief in his position, his influence, or his accomplishments, Heman keeps turning toward the Lord. He refuses to let his pain have the final word. Instead of running from God in his confusion, he runs to Him.
That may be the most powerful lesson of Psalm 88.
The goal is not to stop asking your question. The goal is to bring your question to God instead of demanding that ministry answer it for you. So many of us look to ministry success, attendance, recognition, productivity, or influence to provide something they were never intended to give. We quietly hope they will settle the questions in our souls. But ministry was never designed to carry that weight.
Only God can do that.
Heman understood something many leaders spend years learning. Honest faith is not the absence of struggle. Honest faith is continuing to seek God when the struggle remains. Psalm 88 closes without the resolution we often hope for, but it closes with a man who is still praying, still seeking, and still turning toward the Lord.
Perhaps that is exactly what some of us need to hear today.
You may still be carrying the burden. The answer may not have arrived. The situation may not look any different than it did yesterday. But if you are continuing to bring your whole heart before God, you are not failing. In fact, you are walking the same path as one of Scripture’s most faithful ministry leaders.
Sometimes the greatest act of leadership is not having all the answers. And sometimes the greatest act of worship is not singing a song of victory. Sometimes it is simply refusing to stop calling on the God of your salvation.
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