Psalm 88

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:12

Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? - In the dark world; in “the land of darkness and the shadow of death; a land of darkness, as darkness itself, and where the light is as darkness.” Job 10:21-22. “And thy righteousness.” The justice of thy character; or, the ways in which thou dost maintain and manifest thy righteous character.In the land of forgetfulness - Of oblivion; where the memory has decayed, and where the remembrance of former things is blotted out. This is a part of the general... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:13

But unto thee have I cried, O Lord - I have earnestly prayed; I have sought thy gracious interposition.And in the morning - That is, each morning; every day. My first business in the morning shall be prayer.Shall my prayer prevent thee - Anticipate thee; go before thee: that is, it shall be early; so to speak even before thou dost awake to the employments of the day. The language is that which would be applicable to a case where one made an appeal to another for aid before he had arisen from... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:14

Lord, why castest thou off my soul? - Why dost thou forsake or abandon me? Why is it that thou dost not interpose, since thou hast all power, and since thou art a God of mercy? Why dost thou not deliver me from my troubles? How often are good people constrained to ask this question! How often does this language express exactly what is passing in their minds! How difficult, too, it is to answer the question, and to see why that God who has all power, and who is infinitely benevolent, does not... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:15

I am afflicted and ready to die - I am so afflicted - so crushed with sorrow and trouble - that my strength is nearly gone, and I can endure it but a little longer.From my youth up - That is, for a long time; so long, that the remembrance of it seems to go back to my very childhood. My whole life has been a life of trouble and sorrow, and I have not strength to bear it longer. It may have been literally true that the author of the psalm had been a man always afflicted; or, this may be the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:16

Thy fierce wrath goeth over me - Like waters. See Psalms 88:7.Thy terrors have cut me off - That is, I am as one already dead; I am so near to death that I may be spoken of as dead. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:17

They came round about me daily like water - Margin, “as in” Hebrew, all the day. That is, his troubles seemed to be like the waves of the sea cohnstantly breaking on the shore. See Psalms 42:7.They compassed me about together - My troubles did not come singly, so that I could meet them one at a time, but they seemed to have banded themselves together; they all came upon me at once. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:18

Lover and friend hast thou put far from me - That is, Thou hast so afflicted me that they have forsaken me. Those who professed to love me, and whom I loved - those whom I regarded as my friends, and who seemed to be my friends - are now wholly turned away from me, and I am left to suffer alone. See the notes at Psalms 88:8.And mine acquaintance into darkness - The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate render this, “my acquaintance from my misery.” Luther, “Thou hast caused my friends and neighbors,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 88

A.M. 2981. B.C. 1023. This is the most melancholy of all the Psalms: it is all lamentation, and mourning, and wo. Here we have the pressure of spirit which the psalmist was under, Psalms 88:1-9 . His humble pleading with God, Psalms 88:10-14 . A further declaration of his affliction, Psalms 88:15-18 . Title. Upon Mahalath Leannoth Dr. Waterland renders this, The hollow instrument for answering; and Houbigant, For the choirs that they may answer. But Mudge renders the latter word, To... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 88:1-4

Psalms 88:1-4. O Lord God of my salvation Who hast so often saved me in former distresses; I have cried day and night before thee Thus God’s own elect are said, by Christ, to cry to him, Luke 18:7; and thus ought men always to pray and not to faint. Let my prayer come before thee To be accepted of thee. For my soul is full of troubles Troubles of mind, from a sense of God’s wrath and departure from him, as appears Psalms 88:14-16. I am counted with them that go down into the pit I... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 88:5

Psalms 88:5. Free among the dead Well nigh discharged from the warfare of the present life, and entered, as a member, into the society of the dead; or, removed from all the affairs and conversation of men as if I were really dead. Like the slain, whom thou rememberest no more Whom thou seemest wholly to neglect and to bury in oblivion. He speaks of these matters, not as they are in truth, for he knew very well that forgetfulness was not incident to God, and that God did remember all the... read more

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:12

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:13

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:14

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:15

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:16

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:17

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:18

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 88

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 88:1-4

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 88:5

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