Psalm 88/Commentary

Psalm 88

“The Dark Night Of The Soul” Most all writers agree that there is no sadder prayer in the book of Psalms than this psalm. This is an individual lament in which the writer knows nothing but sorrow. However, even in the darkness of grief, he turns to the Lord for deliverance. “The dialogue between the psalmist and his God can only be understood from the perspective of faith, in which the godly are free to share their frustrations with their heavenly Father. As in the other psalms of lament, it is difficult to be sure of the precise circumstances of his suffering. He suffered for a long time (15), was ostracized by family and friends (8,18), and had looked to the Lord regularly for deliverance (9,13)” (Gaebelein p. 564).

The Title The term “Mahalath Leannoth” (MAY huh lath leh AN ahth), may refer to the tune to which the psalm is to be sung, or it “could mean: ‘the sickness of a certain one; to make humble’” (Leupold p. 628). “Heman”, a wise man, is mentioned in 1 Kings 4:31; and Heman (HEE muhn), a singer, in 1 Chronicles 6:33; 15:17; 25:4-6. It is most likely the latter who is referred to here. The term “Maskil” (MAHS keel), is a verb which means to make wise or prudent, or to have success or skill. Some say that this means that this psalm is an example of fine writing or was to be matched to elaborate music.

Lessons To Be Learned 1. There isn’t any resolution in this psalm, the suffering isn’t removed.

Unrelieved suffering might be our lot in life. “The happy ending of most psalms of this kind is seen to be a bonus, not a due. Even after we become Christians and should know better, most of us still feel that God owes us a happy or easy life. But we are not owed an easy life. Therefore, the withholding of such a life from God’s people is not proof of His displeasure, just as a happy life or the possession of riches is no sure proof of His approval” (Boice p. 721).

2. Like Job, the writer hasn’t received any answer from God concerning the “why” of his suffering, and yet on the same hand, the writer doesn’t turn from

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God. Rather, he is seen clinging to God, and praying to Him, even to the end.

3. There are times when simply praying to God is the most positive thing we can get out of suffering. The very fact that we are turning to God, is in itself a huge victory! “Burdened and despondent as he was, his existence was far from pointless. If it was a living death, in God’s hands it was to bear much fruit” (Kidner p. 317).

4. “It is good that we have a psalm like this, but it is also good that we have only one. It reminds us that life is filled with trouble, even to the point of despair, even for mature believers” (Boice p. 716).

5. Psalm 88 stands as a witness that our physical existence might not have a happy ending.

Sleepless Entreaty 88:1-2 This psalm is a story of mourning and crying out to God day and night, a story of being unrelenting in prayer, even when it seems that absolutely nothing is happening. In Luke 18:7, Jesus reminds us of God’s sensitivity to these ceaseless cries, even when it looks like He is being indifferent. “The God of my salvation”, is really the only positive note in the psalm, but it is enough. If suffering moves us to draw near to God and absolutely depend on Him, then we have succeeded, even if the suffering is never removed. To know that God is our only hope for salvation is to know enough! “We can come to Him without pretenses and tell Him who we really are” (Williams p. 134). “The writer has been calling to God for a very long time---he has been afflicted from his youth (15)—but God has not removed the cause of his suffering” (Boice p. 717).

Compare with 1 Thess. 5:17; 1 Peter 5:7 and 2 Corinthians 12:7-9.

Point To Note: Sometimes we assume that praying to God will solve the problem of suffering or keep us from suffering. God will deliver us, but He doesn’t always remove suffering or prevent it. The Father delivered Jesus, but Jesus still suffered and died a horrible death. Note that prayer is often spoken of as a “cry”. Are we moved by the problems of this life to “cry” out to God? The word here means a “loud cry”.

Encroaching Shadows 88:3 The writer has been suffering for so long that he has had enough, literally, his soul has been satisfied or satiated with suffering, and he cannot swallow any

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more. He feels his life ebbing away and being drawn toward Sheol (death, the grave), as we would say, “There is but a step between him and death”.

88:4-5 “The psalmist is alive but dead as to his contemporaries. He exists like a shade, “a man without strength”. He further compares himself with an unknown soldier who together with ‘the slain’ was buried in a mass grave” (Gaebelein p.

566). The “pit” is the grave.

88:5 “Whom Thou doest remember no more”: The writer doesn’t deny God’s remembrance and care but speaks of the way this looks to man. From the standpoint of this world, the dead are viewed as unremembered, cut off and silenced, see Ecclesiastes 9:5-6. The writer may be saying that he feels like all of the above. He feels like a dead man, as one forgotten by God or severed from His ability to help. The word “forsaken”, can mean “free”, but here the idea is probably, an allusion to the dissolving of earthly ties, in the bad sense of “cut adrift”.

The Social Outcast 88:8 The writer finds himself without the fellowship and encouragement of family or close friends. His situation resembles that of Job, as his friends did not understand him. More than that, our Lord’s suffering on earth was such that His own disciples forsook Him (Luke 23:49). “To all this must be added the rather painful attitude of his ‘acquaintances’ who for some reason or other stay away from him…It could have been due to repulsive sickness; it could have been because his suffering had continued for so long a time. Who likes to be a witness to any man’s agony?” (Leupold p. 629).

88:8 “I am shut up and cannot go out”: This is either due to a physical illness or confinement or imprisonment. He feels trapped and completely boxed in.

88:9 This is simply a picture of abject misery long drawn out. In these verses the thought has progressed from mental and physical pain to divine and human rejection. He is a picture of total despair. Yet, this man refuses to let go of God. 88:6-7 The writer feels that he is experiencing God’s displeasure. Like Job, God had caused Job’s suffering, if not directly, at least by permitting Satan to afflict him. Job was unable to imagine why and this is what the psalmist is claiming too. “We know from the beginning and ending of Job that God had a purpose in Job’s suffering. It was to demonstrate before Satan, the demons, and the watching angels that a man will serve God for love’s sake quite apart from what God may do for him materially. But the point of Job is that this great patriarch did not himself know what was going on. And neither apparently did the psalmist. Both works are present in Scripture to remind us that we do not necessarily know what God is accomplishing by our suffering, either” (Boice p.

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719). We may never know why certain things happened to us in this life, who was supposed to learn the lesson, or who God was trying to teach. And we also learn that God doesn’t always tell us why. To simply know that He would never unnecessarily allow us to suffer, that He always has our best interest at heart, and that He never allows us to be tempted beyond what we are able, is to know enough (1 Corinthians 10:13).

88:7 “Selah”: (SEE luh) Most agree that this term is some sort of musical direction. It may mean an interlude, a pause in the singing while the orchestra continues. Or it may mean the equivalent of today’s “Amen”. It could also refer to a change of voices or “repeat”.

88:8 Like Job, this writer found himself alienated from his former friends. “This could refer to a sickness that has made him ritually unclean or to their moral rejection of him because his illness comes as a result (in their minds) of sin and judgment (compare with John 9:2)” (Williams p. 137). He is without the encouragement and fellowship of close friends during this time of trial. “To all this must be added the rather painful attitude of his acquaintances, who for some reason or other stay away from him. In what way he is to be thought of as being utterly abhorred by them is a matter of surmise. It could have been due to repulsive sickness; it could have been because his suffering had continued for so long a time. Who likes to be a witness to any man’s agony? To all this must be added the fact that he is not free to go out among men” (Leupold p. 629).

“More than that, our Lord’s suffering on earth was such that his own disciples forsook him (Luke 23:49)” (Gaebelein p. 567).

Point To Note: Many people have experienced the truth that when they are suffering, their friends tend to stay away from them. Many women or men have noted that when they lost their mate, people tended to avoid them.

88:8 “Thou hast…Thou hast made”: I don’t think that the writer is blaming God, rather, it appears that he is saying, “God, you have allowed this to happen”.

He realized that God is in control of this world. Which means that God can also do something about this suffering!

88:9 But the writer is continuing to pray, even when suffering and forsaken.

Here we find praying without ceasing, even when God is silent. Note, suffering hasn’t made this man bitter or angry with God, he still realizes that God is his only hope.

Death’s Alien Land

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88:10-12 First of all, here we have a description of death. It is the place of departed spirits (10; James 2:26). The term “Abaddon” (ah BAD un) in verse 11 means, “destruction” or “place of destruction”. The realm of the dead is also called “the land of forgetfulness”, not because God forgets about the dead, but rather, the dead are forgotten by those left behind and succeeding generations.

“Those who die are soon forgotten by men” (Psalms 6:5; 31:12; Ecclesiates 9:5).

Points To Note: 1. For the righteous person death is a victory and the righteous dead are comforted (Luke 16:22,25). 2. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the dread of death has been removed for the believer (Hebrews 2:15). 3. Yet, what the writer says about death in many aspects is still true. Even in the New Testament, miracles primarily benefited the living. Worship services are for the living. The dead cannot come back to this earth and proclaim God’s faithfulness and neither can they preach to anyone in torment. Even in our time, the dead are eventually forgotten. The New Testament agrees with this basic description, calling death the “last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:26). 4.

Our society tends to romanticize death and view it as some sort of wonderful “natural cycle” or the circle of life. But death is an enemy, death isn’t a natural part of this world, rather, it is a consequence of man’s sin. From the perspective of this writer, death is far from desirable. Paul, could only view death as something positive because it brought him that much closer to the Lord, but it also had some negative side effects, i.e., he couldn’t save any more souls (Philippians 1:21-23). 5. Once again note that the writer isn’t bitter against God, rather he is appealing to God for deliverance. He is saying, “God, I need help really soon, or it may be too late. And if I die, I can’t tell any more people about how great You are.” Note that the writer doesn’t pray about “selfish” reasons to stay alive, i.e., to make more money, to have more time to enjoy the physical pleasures of this life.

The Unanswered Cry 88:13 Even though he is facing death, he is still crying out diligently for God to help him. This is faith and this is the type of faith that will save the soul. It is a faith that will cling to God even when it looks like such faith isn’t being rewarded at all (Romans 8:35-39).

88:14 The writer asks “why?”, and is never answered (at least here). Faith realizes that many of our questions concerning why God did or didn’t do something will never be answered in this life (Deuteronomy 29:29).

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88:15 This writer has been suffering since youth. “He cannot recall any happy or brighter days to cheer him up” (Boice p. 720). “All of this has not left him cold and calm: he has suffered terrors because of it” (Leupold p. 631).

88:16 This is a believer and yet he is experiencing God’s wrath in this life. In the Bible God’s wrath was real to God’s people, and they knew when it had hit them.

88:17-18 He feels completely overwhelmed and he finds himself isolated not only from his friends, but from his wife. “Have you ever felt like this? Most of us have times when the heavens seem made of brass and the prayers we throw upward fall back upon our heads unanswered” (Boice p. 720).

Points To Note: 1. “As we conclude this study, we may well ask, why is there no resolution here?

Why is there no confession of faith? Why is there no cry of confidence? Why is there no healing?” (Williams p. 139) The answer may be: The very fact that this writer continually prayed to God and looked to God as his only hope, is a confession of faith, which often is the most important form of healing.

2. This psalm is a reminder: A. We might struggle with a hardship until we die, God doesn’t remove all suffering. B. We live outside the Garden of Eden in a world cursed by sin. “The psalm adds its voice to the ‘groaning in travail’ which forbids us to accept the present order as final. It is a sharp reminder that ‘we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies’ (Romans 8:22f)” (Kidner p. 319). C. This author never gives up. He completes his prayer, still in the dark and totally unrewarded. The taunt, ‘Does Job fear God for naught?’, is answered yet again. There are people who will serve God for absolutely no earthly reward, rather, they will serve Him just because they love Him! D. In addition, the last verse in this psalm is the last verse in his prayer, but it wasn’t the last event in this man’s existence. Like Job, this writer would experience that in the final outcome of the Lord’s dealings, “the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful” (James 5:11) to the faithful.

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