Psalm 88:18

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Psalms 88:18

put far from me. Compare Psalms 88:8 , the corresponding member. read more

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Psalms 88:18

Psalms 88:18. And mine acquaintance into darkness— My acquaintance are not to be seen. Literally, My acquaintance a place of darkness; Lost in darkness; vanished out of sight. REFLECTIONS.—1. The prayer of the Psalmist is fervent and importunate. O Lord God of my salvation, from whom alone I can expect relief, I have cried day and night before thee, long and often, and still continue to look up, though my troubles are unabated. Let my prayer come before thee, and incline thine ear unto my cry;... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

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

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 88:13-18

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 88:18

(18) And mine acquaintance into darkness.—This is an erroneous rendering. Rather, My acquaintance is darkness, or, darkness is my friend, having taken the place of those removed. The feeling resembles Job 17:14; or we may illustrate by Tennyson’s lines:—“O sorrow, wilt thou live with me,No casual mistress, but a wife,My bosom friend, and half my life?As I confess it needs must be.” read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 88:1-18

Psalms 88:15 St. John of the Cross in The Ascent of Mount Carmel quotes this text in its Latin form: 'Pauper sum ego et in laboribus a juventute mea'. He says that David calls himself poor although it is clear that he was rich, because his will was not set on riches, and so he was in the same state as if he had really been poor. But if he had formerly been actually poor and had not been poor in will, he would not have been truly poor, since the soul was rich and full in appetite. Obras... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 88:1-18

Psalms 88:1-18A PSALM which begins with "God of my salvation" and ends with "darkness" is an anomaly. All but unbroken gloom broods over it, and is densest at its close. The psalmist is so "weighed upon by sore distress," that he has neither definite petition for deliverance nor hope. His cry to God is only a long-drawn complaint, which brings no respite from his pains nor brightening of his spirit. But yet to address God as the God of his salvation, to discern His hand in the infliction of... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Psalms 88:1-18

Psalms 88:0 The Deepest Soul Misery Poured Out 1. In deepest misery and distress (Psalms 88:1-7 ) 2. Crying and no answer (Psalms 88:8-18 ) This is a Maschil Psalm by Heman the Ezrahite. See 1 Kings 4:31 ; 1 Chronicles 6:33 ; 1Ch 6:44 ; 1 Chronicles 25:4 . It is a Psalm of deepest distress, picturing the darkest experience with no ray of light or word of comfort. That it describes the real experience of a saint no one would doubt. But in it we can hear again the voice of sorrow of Him who... read more

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