9. Mine eye mourneth—literally, "decays," or fails, denoting exhaustion (Psalms 6:7; Psalms 31:9). I . . . called— (Psalms 86:5; Psalms 86:7). stretched out—for help (Psalms 44:20). read more
1. The sufferer’s affliction 88:1-9a read more
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
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
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
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
(9) Mourneth.—Rather, fadeth, or pineth. So a Latin poet of the effects of weeping:—“Mæsta neque assiduo tabescere lumina fletu.Cessarent, tristique imbre madere genæ.”CATULLUS: xxviii. 55. read more
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
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
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Psalms 88:9
THE CRY REPEATED; HELP! BEFORE TOO LATE"I have called daily upon thee, O Jehovah;I have spread forth my hands unto thee.Wilt thou show wonders to the dead?Shall they that are deceased arise and praise thee?(Selah)Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?Or thy faithfulness in Destruction?Shall thy wonders be known in the dark?And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?"The string of questions here are presumed by the psalmist to call for negative answers; and the thought seems... read more