Psalm 88:13 NIV

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

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Psalms 88:1-18

The first psalm in this lesson suggests Psalms 74:0 on which we did not dwell, but both of which depict the desolations of Judah by the Babylonians (compare Jeremiah 52:12-14 ). On this supposition their date would be that of the captivity, and their author a later Asaph than the Asaph mentioned in David’s time. Psalms 80:0 Has captivity features also. Some would say it relates to the ten tribes, as the preceding psalm does to Judah. The next several psalms are much alike in this respect and... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - Psalms 88:1-18

The Land of Forgetfulness Psalms 88:0 "Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?" ( Psa 88:12 ). This psalm is very mournful. The Psalmist is in great fear and sorrow. He has been crying day and night before God time out of mind. He is afraid that his prayer will never get to heaven; it will be lost somewhere in the darkness. By day his soul is full of troubles, and his life draws nigh unto the grave. He is a man who is marked for the pit.... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Psalms 88:13-18

There is a great degree of earnestness in the sorrows, again repeated, through these verses. Jesus, from the moment of his birth to the cross, sanctified and set apart as he was, a Nazarite from the womb, in the eye of the law, stood forth the Surety and the burden-bearer both of the sins and sorrows of his people: and it is a blessed thought for the believer, in the heart-felt knowledge and conviction of it, that though such rich, free, sovereign grace is shown to a poor sinner, in the... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Psalms 88:13

Sea. Hebrew, "the right," (Calmet) which here denotes the south, (Psalm cvi. 3.; Menochius) as Hermon may do the east, (Du Hamel) with reference to Thabor, which lies to the west, though this seems unusual. (Calmet) (Berthier) --- The north, &c., more probably refers to the limits of the promised land, from Libanus to the Indian or Mediterranean sea; and from Hermon, on the north-eastern part, to Thabor, on the west. (Haydock) --- These two mountains were particularly fertile, and... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 88:10-18

10-18 Departed souls may declare God's faithfulness, justice, and lovingkindness; but deceased bodies can neither receive God's favours in comfort, nor return them in praise. The psalmist resolved to continue in prayer, and the more so, because deliverance did not come speedily. Though our prayers are not soon answered, yet we must not give over praying. The greater our troubles, the more earnest and serious we should be in prayer. Nothing grieves a child of God so much as losing sight of him;... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Psalms 88:1-18

A Lament in the Midst of Suffering and Tribulation. A song or psalm for the sons of Korah, written by a member of this illustrious family of musicians, to the chief musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, for use in public worship, but in a sorrowful manner, with muffled voices, Maschil, a didactic poem, of Heman, the Ezrahite, one of the four wise men at the time of Solomon, 1 Kings 4:31, whose unusual musical gifts had caused him to be made a member of the Korahites, who were really more a guild... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Psalms 88:1-18

Psalms 88:0A song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite2 O Lord God of my salvation,I have cried day and night before thee:3 Let my prayer come before thee:Incline thine ear unto my cry:4 For my soul is full of troubles:And my life draweth nigh unto the grave.5 I am counted with them that go down into the pit;I am as a man that hath no strength.6 Free among the dead,Like the slain that lie in the... read more

Frederick Brotherton Meyer

F.B. Meyer's 'Through the Bible' Commentary - Psalms 88:1-18

a Cry from the Waves Psalms 88:1-18 Most of the psalms which begin in sorrow end in exuberant joy and praise. This is an exception. There seems to be no break in the monotony of grief and despair. In Psalms 88:1-8 it would appear that the psalmist was oppressed by some loathsome disorder which made even his friends shrink from companionship. But it is a hopeful sign when, even in such circumstances, a man can still speak of God as “the God of my salvation.” In Psalms 88:9-18 the psalmist... read more