Psalm 88:14-16

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 88:10-18

In these verses, I. The psalmist expostulates with God concerning the present deplorable condition he was in (Ps. 88:10-12): ?Wilt thou do a miraculous work to the dead, and raise them to life again? Shall those that are dead and buried rise up to praise thee? No; they leave it to their children to rise up in their room to praise God; none expects that they should do it; and wherefore should they rise, wherefore should they live, but to praise God? The life we are born to at first, and the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 88:14

Lord, why castest thou off my soul ?.... Here begins his prayer, which he determined to present early in the morning, and consists of expostulations, and a representation of his distressed case: this shows that he was under soul desertion, and which was what so greatly afflicted him; imagining that his soul was cast off by the Lord, and had no more share in his affection, and was no more under his care, and in his sight: such expostulations of the saints, the church, and people of God, in a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 88:15

I am afflicted ,.... In body and mind, from within and from without, by Satan, by the men of the world, and by the Lord himself; which is the common lot of God's people, Psalm 34:19 and was the case of the Messiah, who was afflicted both with the tongues and hands of men, by words, by blows, and by the temptations of Satan; and was smitten and afflicted of God, by divine justice, as the sinner's surety: see Psalm 22:24 or I am poor F1 עני "pauper", V. L. Pagninus, Junius &... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 88:16

Thy fierce wrath goeth over me ,.... Or "wraths" F8 חרוניך "irae tuae", Pagninus, Montanus; "furores tui", Musculus, Tigurine version. , burning wrath; the whole of divine wrath, in all its fierceness, due to the sins of his people: these, like the mighty waves of the sea, passed over him, threatening to overwhelm him, Psalm 89:38 , thy terrors have cut me off ; from the presence of God, and out of his sight; as sometimes the Lord's people are ready to imagine, when forsaken by... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 88:14

Why castest thou off my soul? - Instead of my soul, several of the ancient Versions have my prayer. Why dost thou refuse to hear me, and thus abandon me to death? read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 88:15

From my youth up - I have always been a child of sorrow, afflicted in my body, and distressed in my mind. There are still found in the Church of God persons in similar circumstances; persons who are continually mourning for themselves and for the desolations of Zion. A disposition of this kind is sure to produce an unhealthy body; and indeed a weak constitution may often produce an enfeebled mind; but where the terrors of the Lord prevail, there is neither health of body nor peace of mind. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 88:16

Thy fierce wrath goeth over me - It is a mighty flood by which I am overwhelmed. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 88:14

Verse 14 14.Wherefore, O Jehovah! wilt thou reject my soul? These lamentations at first sight would seem to indicate a state of mind in which sorrow without any consolation prevailed; but they contain in them tacit prayers. The Psalmist does not proudly enter into debate with God, but mournfully desires some remedy to his calamities. This kind of complaint justly deserves to be reckoned among the unutterable groanings of which Paul makes mention in Romans 8:26. Had the prophet thought himself... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 88:15

Verse 15 The reason why he says that he was ready to die (518) from his youth, (verse 15,) is uncertain, unless it may be considered a probable conjecture that he was severely tried in a variety of ways, so that his life, as it were, hung by a thread amidst various tremblings and fears. Whence also we gather that God’s wraths and terrors, of which he speaks in the 16th verse, were not of short continuance. He expresses them in the 17th verse as having encompassed him daily. Since nothing is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 88:1-18

Metrically, the psalm is almost without divisions—"a slow, unbroken wail," expressive of "the monotony of woe." read more

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