Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:18
18. into darkness—Better omit "into"—"mine acquaintances (are) darkness," the gloom of death, c. (Job 17:13 Job 17:14). read more
Psalm 88
Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 88:1-2
These verses are an introduction to what follows. The psalmist announced that he prayed unceasingly to the God from whom he hoped to receive deliverance. He pleaded with God to entertain his request and act upon it by saving him."In the midst of tribulation, faith holds on to the God who has promised to deliver." [Note: Ibid., p. 565.] read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 88:1-9
1. The sufferer’s affliction 88:1-9a read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 88:1-18
Psalms 88This is one of the saddest of the psalms. One writer called it the "darkest corner of the Psalter." [Note: R. E. O. White, "Psalms," in the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, p. 388.] It is an individual lament. It relates the prayer of a person who suffered intensely over a long time yet continued to trust in the Lord."Psalms 88 is an embarrassment to conventional faith. It is the cry of a believer (who sounds like Job) whose life has gone awry, who desperately seeks contact with... read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 88:3-9
aEvidently the psalmist’s suffering had resulted in his friends separating from him. God, too, had apparently abandoned him. Heman felt very close to death. He viewed his condition as coming directly from God. He felt alone and miserable."One of the first steps toward revival is to be completely transparent when we pray and not tell the Lord anything that is not true or that we do not really mean." [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 250.] read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 88:9-12
2. The sufferer’s prayer 88:9b-12Even though Heman had prayed for relief and restoration every day, God had not delivered him. He asked for mercy by posing rhetorical questions, all of which expect a negative answer. If the writer died, he could no longer praise the Lord in the land of the living. What he said does not contradict revelation concerning conscious existence after death. It simply reflects Heman’s desire to praise God this side of the grave. [Note: See the discussion of Sheol, the... read more
Thomas Constable
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 88:13-18
3. The sufferer’s faith 88:13-18For the third time, Heman cried out to God for help (cf. Psalms 88:1-2; Psalms 88:13). He asked for an explanation of his suffering (Psalms 88:14). Then he described his sufferings further (Psalms 88:15-18). Still, he kept turning to God in prayer, waiting for an answer and some relief."With darkness as its final word, what is the role of this psalm in Scripture? For the beginning of an answer we may note, first, its witness to the possibility of unrelieved... read more
John Dummelow
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 88:1-18
This is the saddest and most despairing of all the Pss. The writer is apparently the victim of some incurable disease like leprosy, with which he has been afflicted from his youth (Psalms 88:15), and which cuts him off from the society of men (Psalms 88:8, Psalms 88:18). His life is already a living death (Psalms 88:3-6), and beyond death he has no hope (Psalms 88:10-12). He traces his trouble to God’s displeasure (Psalms 88:7, Psalms 88:14, Psalms 88:16), yet it is to God that he turns in... read more
Charles John Ellicott
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 88
LXXXVIII.“If you listen,” says Lord Bacon, “to David’s harp, you will hear as many hearse-like airs as carols.” But even among these this psalm stands alone and peculiar for the sadness of its tragic tone. From beginning to end—with the one exception of the word “salvation” in the first line—there is nothing to relieve its monotony of grief. If this wail of sorrow is the expression of individual suffering there is no particular interest in ascertaining its date, unless we could also fix on its... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Psalms 88:16
16, 17. the extremes of anguish and despair are depicted. read more