The Land of Forgetfulness

Psa 88

“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. His strength has utterly given way; he is sure that he is going into the grave to be numbered with those who are remembered no more. He says that God has laid him in the lowest pit in darkness, in the deeps. He says that God’s wrath lies hard upon him. He tells God that he has no more waves in all his great sea that he can roll over the head that is bowed down in loss, and shame, and grief. Then he begins to ask questions. He wonders what will happen: “Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? 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?” This was a conception of the under-world. It was all darkness, all night, all silence, all deprivation. There was no immortality in the thought, no kind, blue, gentle heaven bending over the imagination of the people who formed that conception of the under-world; and they themselves had not dared even to fancy a heaven. There is a fabled river in ancient mythology called Lethe, simply meaning forgetfulness. The idea of the fabulist was that whoever drank water out of that river instantly forgot everything that had happened; all the past was a forgotten dream. Nay, more than this, consciousness itself was not left after the Lethal water was taken. The man who drank one draught of the water of Lethe, oblivion, was not aware of his own existence; that draught had utterly extinguished him. Men have often longed for a draught of that water; men have sighed for the land of forgetfulness; souls, harps on which music was meant to be played, have desired with unspeakable earnestness to be allowed to die, to forget, to be forgotten.

In some aspects, the land of forgetfulness is a desirable land. There are moments when we want to enter it and be enfranchised in it for ever. We could lie down with the dead, not with dead bodies only, that is nothing; the flesh is not the man: but there are moments of despair, spiritual chagrin, and self-detestation, when we could wish to be utterly blotted out and to be as if we had never been. We want to forget; memory is a tormenting friend; we have tried many a draught and many opiates if haply we might tempt the brain into final and everlasting sleep. What are these images that fill the air? What are these voices that rend the air? What are these touches that make us alive all over with life that overflows: keen, sensitive, agonised life? What is it that makes our life occasionally one burning pain? Surely God would not thus pursue and afflict us and throw us down if he meant that we were to end our existence in the grave. Is he not speaking to us that he may awaken our better nature? Is he not calling us to spiritual consideration? Is he not determined to torment us into goodness if he cannot lure us into the reverence that precedes loving surrender of soul to his will? How many men would gladly enter the land of forgetfulness? Things done forty years ago may not look at us with very vivid eyes, but they stir. A stirring frightens us more than a good straight defiant look would do. There is a silence that is terrible; there is a motion that means so much more than itself; it is suggestive that the judgment is coming, the penalty is impending, the end is near. There are things that other people have done to us that we long to forget; if we could wholly forget them life would be sweeter, friendship would be dearer, the outlook would be altogether more inviting. What is it that makes the land of forgetfulness a land in poetry, a land inaccessible? Is there no potion that the soul may take? there are potions that the body may drink, but we do not want to drink our bodies into some lower level and some baser consciousness; we are inquiring now about soul-potions, drinks that affect the mind, draughts that lull the soul.

There are other aspects in which the land of forgetfulness is an attainable land. We can so live as to be forgotten. Men can live backwards. Men can be dead whilst they are alive, and forgotten while they are present to the very eyes. What is there to remember about them? Beginning as ciphers they have continued as ciphers; they have never done anything for the world, or for any individual in the world. Where are the parts of character on which we can lay hold and say, By these we shall remember you evermore? What miracles are possible to man! He can so live as never to speak a word the world will care to remember; no sentence of his will ever be quoted; no beauteous sentiment ever escaped his lips; never was there a picture upon his face, never did morning gleam in his eyes, never did music engage his voice. We can so live as to be forgotten at our own fireside. There is nothing done that could be remembered. No child ever said, He brought me a toy, he made me glad, he played with me. No sorrowing heart can say, He was so gentle; if he did not pray aloud, his very breathing was praying; when he looked it was a benediction; his very speech had music in it So when there is a funeral it is not a mere putting away of the body, it is an obliteration of the whole identity. There is nothing missed, there is no sense of loss, the air is not vacant; the very solitude has a grim hospitality of its own. How are we going to live? When we die are people to say, We have lost something; we have lost life, we have lost leadership, we have lost companionship, we have lost the touch that made us strong, we have lost the music that sanctified silence and made the house a church all the week long: what is it that has gone? Then will come the loved name. Not the moment of weakness will be remembered when you shrunk into insignificance, and were frail and humble in your own sight, but some point of strength will be remembered in that glowing life of yours, and that point of strength will be the remembered picture, and it shall be spoken of, the quality of your character, the generosity of your hands, the largeness and lovingness of your hearts, long as memory retains and discharges her happy function. What is it that some men want to make them more conscious of life and more conscious of responsibility? Why do not all men seek to do something as well as receive something? We ought not to be mere receptacles, we ought to be fountains as well as reservoirs, always giving out some new stream of sacred water, always offering the world some larger and purer benefaction. The world is made up to us of ones and twos.

We know nothing about the millions. There are forty million people say in the island; we do not know them, they are not even moving figures before our eyes, for we can only see a few at a time, and the most of the millions we shall never see at all. It is this man, this woman, this child, this friend, this association, this comparatively little sphere that makes our earth heaven. Why not then be so good within it as to fill it with endeavour if not with success? If you will make up your minds to be remembered at home all the rest will take care of itself. There are some remembered at home whom crushed hearts would gladly forget. It is possible for you so to use your own child that that child will come in its old age to hate your name, and to say, Let that name never be mentioned in my hearing! You can live so if you like. Have faith in the man who is well-remembered at home. What do his chief associates say about him? Not, what do the newspapers say about him, or strangers, or paid critics, or hireling scribes, or indifferent observers; but what do they say about him who eat bread with him, who know him all the day, who see him in spring, in summer, in autumn, in winter, in health, in disease, on the mountain-top and on the level: what is their account of him? Do they long for him, miss him, wish for him, look out of the window and say, Oh that I could see him! for then would the house be glad? That is the only fame really worth living for; that is a sacred reputation: let all the rest take care of itself. We are thus narrowed down, focalised, so that one other life makes all the millions tolerable, one point of sympathy links us to the universe. Live richly, live tenderly, live so that souls will yearn for you when your turn comes to pass out of sight.

The land of forgetfulness is therefore in some aspects a desirable land, in other aspects an attainable land, but thirdly, it is in fact an impossible land. Effects follow causes: deeds grow consequences. Whilst, however, there is a sense in which a man may die and be forgotten, yet there is another sense in which his evil lives after him, and creates for him new epitaphs every day deepening in their malediction. The wine you drank in order to put the evil deed out of your mind will turn cold within you, and losing its heat you will lose the obliviousness which it momentarily gave you: so curious is nature in her working that the very momentary obliviousness shall kindle into larger, quicker vividness the very thing which you thought you had lost in intoxication. The children are to live after you, and you may be putting a most horrible stamp upon them, or you may be putting upon them a most beautiful signal and making them rich with sacred, tuneful, elevating memories, the very mention of which shall lift them above all care and solicitude and give them a new hunger towards the heavens. Every man is a minister, a preacher; every man is numbered among the clergy of God, revealing God, lifting up his own family into better life, if so be he will obey his function, the call of God.

Looking at the matter from a Christian standpoint, we have this gospel preached to us, namely, that evil can be forgotten. The Lord said he would forget; Omnipotence would find no place in all its infinity for sin. Thy sins and thine iniquities shall be remembered no more for ever: I will cast them behind me. Where is that land the land that lies behind infinity? But sin cannot be forgotten until it is forgiven. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Do not imagine that forgetfulness is an intellectual feat on the part of God. Never suppose that for some psychological reason impenetrable to our inquiry the Lord has contrived to forget that he ever made a world. The Lord forgets nothing: but after a process known to us by the sweet name “forgiveness” there comes the state in the divine mind which is known by the human word “forgotten.” Sometimes we say we can forgive but never forget. Then we cannot forgive; and if we cannot forgive we cannot pray; if we cannot forgive we cannot believe. Forgiveness is the true orthodoxy. Largeness, sensitiveness, responsiveness of heart, slavery to love, that is orthodoxy. Consider this: if we do not forgive one another, God will not forgive us, and if God does not forgive us he cannot forget our sin, and if he cannot forget our sin he must punish it: and when God punishes, what imagination of man can conceive the quality, the extent, and the duration of that penalty? God never forgets man’s humblest service. There is no law by which that service can be blotted but. God is not unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labour of love. He remembers what the workers themselves have forgotten; he will tell them at the last what they have done, and they will say, Lord, when? when? We have no recollection of this having taken place. Then he will remind them when it was all done. And he also remembers what is not done: Ye did not…. Ye came not…. Ye visited me not. And then will come the question, When, Lord? Oh, tell us when! when? We never saw thee sick, or in prison, and did not come unto thee; we never saw thee an hungred or athirst and did not minister unto thee: when, Lord, did all this occur? And he will say when. Neglected opportunities are aggravated sins. You might have helped that man and did not; that is set down against you in Christ’s book. The man asked you for a cup of cold water, and you shut the door in his face: it is written down in the books. Your own flesh and blood came to you and asked for help, and you refused it: it is written down. You have ministered to those who were destitute, afflicted, tormented; you have opened your doors and said, Come in, and said it in such a gentle voice that the very saying of it was itself a pledge of security: it is all written. No man can give a cup of cold water to a disciple in Christ’s name without that cup of cold water being spoken of by the Lord himself; and if anybody should break one box of nard and pour it upon the Lord’s head, that shall be told in all the languages of time and in all the nations of the earth, a perpetual, a fragrant memorial.

Let us forget all unkindness, incivility, discourtesy. Let us forget our good deeds. That will be one great step towards the land of heaven. There are some who remember every good deed they ever did, and therefore they never did anything worth doing. No man has ever done anything for God if he has kept account of it. It may be difficult to teach this lesson, and to drive it home; but so long as a man can tell you when he gave pounds and shillings, and when he rendered service, and to what inconvenience he put himself, all that he did is blotted out. The value of our greatest deeds is in their unconsciousness. The rose does not say, I emitted so much fragrance yesterday and so much the day before. The rose knows nothing about it; it lives to make the air around it fragrant. Thus ought souls to live, not knowing how long they have preached, how much they have done, what the extent of their good deeds has been. They know nothing about it; they are absorbed in love; they are borne away by the divine inspiration, and whilst anything remains they suppose that nothing has been given. Do not have a dramatic land of forgetfulness, do not create some momentary oblivion, and think that you have done everything because you have stored your past within its dreary clouds. Be frank with yourselves: write down all your evil deeds and humble yourself to every man you have wronged. If you have done any man wrong, the humblest servant in your employment, go and tell him and beg his pardon. If you have kept back one solitary penny of the price pay it with interest and beg the pardon of the man you have wronged. If you have spoken unkindly to your dearest friend, spend the remainder of your life in speaking sweetly. If you have been caught in anything that is of the nature of wrong, betake yourselves to the Cross, the Saviour’s Cross, the Cross of sacrifice, the altar of pardon, and there talk out the matter with the offended Lord. We say good-bye to thee, 1889, so far as Sabbath-days are concerned. We thought to have used thee better; thou didst come to us as a white spotless sheet of paper from heaven, and we meant to write thee all over with bars of music, vows of loyalty to Christ, with purposes and endeavours such as the Cross itself would approve. Here and there we find some good writing. There the Lord helped us in very deed. But so much of the writing is poor; there are so many erasures and interlineations and marginal notes, we cannot read it; we do not want to read it, it hurts our eyes. That paper is storied with falsehood, meanness, broken vows, and many evil things. Lord, grant us another scroll 1890 let us have it, and help this poor stumbling hand to do better. For Christ’s sake we ask thee for that scroll and for that better hand. Amen.

Prayer

Almighty God, we bless thee that, though we are always dying, yet we cannot die: thou hast given us immortality in our Lord Jesus Christ, and though the flesh must fall into the grave, yet shall our spirits rise and praise thee in other worlds, duration without end. This is our hope, and sometimes it is our agony, for are we not now in the wilderness? are not the enemies abundant? do they not come upon us at unexpected times? and is not our immortality somewhile threatened by foes we cannot repel? Sometimes we long to escape these narrow boundaries of time and these limitations of sense, that we may enter into the complete liberty, the glorious freedom, of the sinless kingdom. Give us patience, help us to wait as men who would gladly go but are remaining here to do the Lord’s will. Save us from all repining discontentment and bitterness of soul, give unto us the deep rest of faith, the sweet and tender peace of assured acceptance with God. In all things fill us with the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ: he is thy Son, he is the living Vine; may we be in that living Vine as living branches, bringing forth much fruit, so that thou mayest be satisfied. We bless thee for all thy care: we cannot tell where it begins, we know not where it ends; we cannot lay a line upon the measure thereof, nor can we count its innumerable instances. Behold our life is a witness of thy care, and we daily testify to the presence of thy Spirit in our life, working out for us ways we could not have carved for ourselves and giving Us solutions infinitely beyond our own sagacity. Let thy word dwell in us richly; a living word, a word so deep, so high, so full of music and all hopeful voices, a word that is a word of light, illuminating the darkness and making all things beautiful. Sanctify to us our sorrows: may our tears be the showers that water the roots of our joys; may we know that thou dost not willingly afflict the children of men; teach us the mission and the power of discipline; may we remember that we are the creatures, not the creators, of the universe, and, being such, may we humbly bow and yield to thee the homage of loving trust, knowing that thou doest all things well. Turn our hair white with age, break down our backs with heavy burdens and lame us in every limb we have; take the roof from above our heads and the bread from our tables and the water out of the channel that flows by the house-side but take not thy Holy Spirit from us. The Lord bless the little children here and at home: set a child in the midst of us to teach us the mystery of thy kingdom, and rebuke us in all our greatness and pride and ability and cleverness teach us that our hope and our heaven are to be found in the meekness and charity and nobleness and self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ, in whose great, sweet Name we pray. Amen.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

PSALMS

XI

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS

According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:

1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.

2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.

3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.

4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.

5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.

6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.

7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.

At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.

The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.

The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.

They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”

The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:

1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.

2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.

3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .

In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.

It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.

There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.

The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.

The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.

The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:

Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)

Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)

Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)

Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)

Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)

They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.

There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:

Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.

Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:

1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.

2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.

3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.

4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.

5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.

All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:

In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).

In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).

In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).

In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).

The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .

QUESTIONS

1. What books are commended on the Psalms?

2. What is a psalm?

3. What is the Psalter?

4. What is the range of time in composition?

5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?

6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?

7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?

8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.

9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?

10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?

11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?

12. How many psalms in our collection?

13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?

14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?

15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?

16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?

17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?

18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?

19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?

20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?

21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?

22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?

23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?

24. How many of the psalms have no titles?

25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?

26. How do later Jews supply these titles?

27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?

XII

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)

The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:

1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).

2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).

3. The nature, or character, of the poem:

(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).

(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).

4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).

5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).

6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).

7. The kind of musical instrument:

(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).

(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).

(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).

8. A special choir:

(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).

(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).

(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).

9. The keynote, or tune:

(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).

(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).

(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).

(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).

(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).

(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.

(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.

(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.

10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).

11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)

12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).

The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.

The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.

David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:

1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.

2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.

3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.

4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.

5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.

As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:

1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.

2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.

3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.

4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.

5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.

6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.

The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.

Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.

Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:

I. By books

1. Psalms 1-41 (41)

2. Psalms 42-72 (31)

3. Psalms 73-89 (17)

4. Psalms 90-106 (17)

5. Psalms 107-150 (44)

II. According to date and authorship

1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )

2. Psalms of David:

(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).

(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).

(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).

3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).

4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).

5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).

6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )

7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )

8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)

III. By groups

1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.

2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )

3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)

4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )

5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”

IV. Doctrines of the Psalms

1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.

2. The covenant, the basis of worship.

3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.

4. The pardon of sin and justification.

5. The Messiah.

6. The future life, pro and con.

7. The imprecations.

8. Other doctrines.

V. The New Testament use of the Psalms

1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.

2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.

We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:

1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )

2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )

3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )

4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )

5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )

6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )

7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )

8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )

9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )

The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.

There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.

It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.

The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.

Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:

1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.

2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.

3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.

The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.

QUESTIONS

1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.

2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?

3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?

4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?

5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.

6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?

7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?

8. What other authors are named in the titles?

9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?

10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.

11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?

12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.

13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?

14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?

15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?

16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?

17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.

18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?

19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?

20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?

XVII

THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS

A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.

Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.

The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:

1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.

2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.

3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.

In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).

This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.

It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:

1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.

2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.

We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.

1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.

The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.

The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”

In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).

But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .

Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).

This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.

2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:

(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).

(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .

(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”

(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).

What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!

3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.

(1) His divinity,

(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;

(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .

(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .

(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .

(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .

(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .

(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.

(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .

4. His offices.

(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).

(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).

(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).

(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).

(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).

5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:

(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .

(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.

(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .

(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).

And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).

And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).

Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).

These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .

(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).

(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .

(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).

(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).

(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).

(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).

(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).

The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).

The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).

The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).

His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).

In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).

His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).

Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).

With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).

We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.

QUESTIONS

1. What is a good text for this chapter?

2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?

3. What is the last division called and why?

4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?

5. To what three things is the purpose limited?

6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?

7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?

8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?

9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?

10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?

11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.

12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?

13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?

14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?

15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.

16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.

17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.

18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Psa 88:1 A Song [or] Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day [and] night before thee:

A Psalm or Song ] Psalmus totus luctuosus, a doleful ditty, beginning and ending with complaints; and therefore sung in the primitive times, among other penitential psalms, as the public confession of persons excommunicated.

Upon Mahalath Leannoth ] A musical instrument sounding heavily as a shaulm doth, and therefore called infirmity, for humbling, or for antiphenies. A fit title.

Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite ] i.e. The instruction of Heman, who was a very wise man, 1Ki 4:31 , descended of Zerah, the son of Judah, 1Ch 2:4 , and thence called the Ezrahite, brother to Ethan, who penned the next psalm, 1Ch 2:6 . Nobile par fratrum.

Ver. 1. O Lord God of my salvation ] This is the only one expression of his faith found in this whole psalm, and it nmst be understood that he thus believed and prayed, as here, Psa 88:2 , when he was at worst, and most despairingly complained.

I have cried day and night unto thee ] Though in such a state as they were, Act 27:20 , when neither sun nor star appeared, yet he cast anchor, and prayed still for day.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

This too is “A song, a psalm, for the sons of Korah, To the chief musician, upon Mahalath, and Leannoth, an instruction, of Heman the Ezrahite.” Where can we find such a strain of profound sorrow and sense of wrath with no glimmer of light beyond the opening words? Israel to be blessed must pass through this, and have Christ’s Spirit and sympathy with them in it. What could law do for those under it but press its terrors unto death? His Spirit felt it in grace.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 88:1-9

1O Lord, the God of my salvation,

I have cried out by day and in the night before You.

2Let my prayer come before You;

Incline Your ear to my cry!

3For my soul has had enough troubles,

And my life has drawn near to Sheol.

4I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit;

I have become like a man without strength,

5Forsaken among the dead,

Like the slain who lie in the grave,

Whom You remember no more,

And they are cut off from Your hand.

6You have put me in the lowest pit,

In dark places, in the depths.

7Your wrath has rested upon me,

And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah.

8You have removed my acquaintances far from me;

You have made me an object of loathing to them;

I am shut up and cannot go out.

9My eye has wasted away because of affliction;

I have called upon You every day, O Lord;

I have spread out my hands to You.

Psa 88:1 O Lord This Psalm uses the covenant name for Deity, YHWH, in a vocative sense three times. See SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY .

the God of my salvation This title for Deity (cf. Psa 24:5; Psa 27:9) is descriptive of what the psalmist wants YHWH to do for him, save, deliver, act on his behalf. This opening verse is the most positive line of the Psalm. YHWH is the Covenant God and the psalmist prays but senses no response. He even feels God has purposefully caused his plight!

I Notice the number of first person singular pronouns and second person singular pronouns (You). This is a very personal cry from a believer to his God.

I have cried out This verb (BDB 858, KB 1042) is the first of many perfect verbs. The psalmist is asserting his diligent seeking of God but God has not yet responded (cf. Psa 88:13-18).

by day and in the night This phrase is the psalmist’s way of asserting his constant prayer (cf. Psa 22:2; Psa 25:5; Psa 86:3).

Psa 88:2 This verse has two parallel requests.

1. let my prayer come before You – BDB 97, KB 112, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense (cf. Psa 18:6); the psalmist felt his prayer was not being heard (cf. Psa 88:9; Psa 88:13-14)

2. incline Your ear to my cry – BDB 639, KB 692, Hiphil imperative (cf. Psa 17:6; Psa 31:2; Psa 71:2; Psa 86:1; Psa 102:2)

Psa 88:3-9 The psalmist lists the reasons why God should hear and respond (the perfect describes a settled condition).

1. his soul (BDB 659) is full (another perfect) of troubles, Psa 88:3 a

2. his life (BDB 313) has arrived (another perfect) near to Sheol (see Special Topic: Where Are the Dead?), Psa 88:3 b

3. he is reckoned (another perfect) among those who go down to the pit (cf. Psa 28:1; Psa 143:7), Psa 88:4 a

4. he has become (another perfect) like a man without strength (i.e., helpless, BDB 33, only here in the OT; Aramaic loan word), Psa 88:4 b

5. he has been forsaken among the dead; the adjective translated forsaken is lit. freed, BDB 344, Psa 88:5 a

NKJV adrift

TEV, JPSOA abandoned

NJB left alone

The MT has freed and seems to refer to the freedom from all the responsibilities of life (cf. USB Text Project, p. 350).

6. he whom You remember (another perfect) no more, Psa 88:5 c

7. he whom You cut off (another perfect) from Your hand, Psa 88:5 d

8. he whom You have put (another perfect) in the lowest pit, Psa 88:6 a

9. he whom You have put in dark places, in the depths, Psa 88:6 b

10. he on whom Your wrath has rested (lit. lies heavy, another perfect) Psa 88:7 a (this verb BDB 701, KB 759 is mostly used of YHWH upporting someone but here, the antithesis)

11. he whom You have afflicted (lit. overwhelmed, another perfect) with all Your waves, Psa 88:7 b

12. he whom You have removed his acquaintances far away (another perfect), Psa 88:8 a

13. he whom You have made an object of loathing (another perfect), Psa 88:8 b

14. he whom You have shut up, Psa 88:8 c

15. his eyes have wasted away (another perfect), Psa 88:9 a

16. he has called upon You every day (another perfect), cf. Psa 88:1 b, 9b

17. he has spread out his hands (i.e., prayer, another perfect) to You, Psa 88:9 c

Notice the combination of

1. the psalmist’s acts

2. the things he asserts that God has done to him

Psa 88:7 Selah See notes at Psa 3:2.

Psa 88:8 acquaintances This (BDB 393, KB 390) is a Pual participle from the verb to know (see Special Topic: Know ). The same form is also in Psa 88:18 along with

1. lover – BDB 12, KB 17 Qal participle

2. friend – BDB 945

This man felt totally alienated from God and other humans!

Psa 88:9 Psa 88:9 is similar in content to Psa 88:1 and may be an example of inclusio.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Title. Maschil = Instruction. The eleventh of thirteen so named. See note on Title, Psalm 32, and App-65. The title, rearranged as above, removes the difficulty of this Psalm being ascribed to two different writers.

Heman. Celebrated for wisdom (with Ethan, 89), 1Ki 4:31. 1Ch 6:33, 1Ch 6:44; 1Ch 25:4. He was a Kohathite, while Ethan was a Merarite. See App-63and App-64.

Ezrahite. Put for Zerahite. Probably the name of a district. Compare the case of Elkanah (1Sa 1:1.

The Psalm is prophetic of Messiah’s humiliation, corresponding with Psalm 86. See the Structure, p. 789.

LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4).

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Psa 88:1-18 is just a sad psalm, all the way through. There just seems to be no hope; it’s just miserable. When you really are feeling lower than low, and you think there is absolutely no way out, there’s no answer, this is it, this is the end, then you can read Psa 88:1-18 . And you can, you know… it’ll say, well, yes, that’s right. I have, man, that’s… I’m there, you know.

O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; For my soul is full of trouble: and my life draws near to the grave. I am counted with them that go down to the pit: I am as a man that has no strength: Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom you remember no more: and they are cut off from your hand. You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, and in the deeps. Your wrath lies hard upon me, and you’ve afflicted me with all the waves. You have put away my acquaintance far from me; you have made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. My eye mourns by reason of the affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto you. Will you show wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or your faithfulness in destruction? Shall your wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. LORD, why do you cast off my soul? why do you hide your face from me? I am afflicted, I’m ready to die from my youth up: and while I suffer your terrors I am distracted. Your fierce wrath goes over me; your terrors have cut me off. They came round about me daily like water; they encircled me all about together. Lover and friend have you put far from me, and my acquaintance into darkness ( Psa 88:1-18 ).

Not even a glimmer of hope. Most of the psalms that start out like this at the last it says, “But I know, Lord, that You will deliver Your servant, you know. And those that call upon Thee,” and all. And usually the last verse, even in some of these dismal psalms, there’s a little light at the end of the tunnel, but not here. This thing starts in the dark and ends in the dark. It just he’s down and he’s not going to come out of it during this psalm. It’s just one of complete… it’s a total downer. So you might just inscribe that one, “the total downer.”

But you come out into the next psalm and you’re singing. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahaloth Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. I think that this is the darkest of all the Psalms; it has hardly a spot of light in it. The only bright words that I know of are in the first verse the rest of the Psalm is very dark, and very dreary. Why, then, am I going to read it? Because, it may be, there is some poor heart here that is very heavy; you cannot tell out of this great crowd how many sorrowing and burdened spirits there may be amongst us; but there may be a dozen or two of persons who are driven almost to despair. My dear friend, if this is your case, I want you to know that somebody else has been just where you are. Remember how the shipwrecked man upon the lonely island all of a sudden came upon the footprints of another human being; so here, on the lone island of despondency, you shall be able to trace the footprints of another who has been there before you. Hear how he prays

Psa 88:1. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:

It was only a cry, a cry as of an animal in pain, or at best the cry as of a child that has lost its mother: I have cried day and night before thee.

Psa 88:2. Let my prayer come before thee:

Give me an audience, O Lord. Do not shut the door in my face. My prayer has been knocking, knocking, knocking, at thy gate; open to it. Let my prayer come before thee.

Psa 88:2. Incline thine ear unto my cry;

Stoop down to me out of heaven, O Lord. Bow that ear of thine to hear even my feeble and unworthy cry. I know that I do not deserve it. I know that it will be a great act of condescension on thy part; but do incline thine ear unto my cry.

Psa 88:3. For my soul is full of troubles:

Full of troubles, brimming over with grief, and every drop of it is as bitter as gall.

Psa 88:3-4. And my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit:

They put me down as a dead man. They that see the lines of fierce despair upon my face reckon that I cannot live long: I am counted with them that go down into the pit. These were his pleas in crying unto God,-

Distresses round me thicken,

My life draws nigh the grave;

Descend, O Lord, to quicken,

Descend, my soul to save!

Psa 88:4. I am as a man that hath no strength:

Here is one, in the time of manhood when he should be strongest, who yet says, I am as a man that hath no strength. This subject may not interest some of you, just now; but it is here, so we must mention it; and it may be wanted even by you one of these days. Bright eyes are not always bright, and the earthly joy that leaps and dances does not abide for ever. The dry may come when you will turn to this Psalm with the two eights to it, and find comfort in it because it describes your case also.

Psa 88:5. Free among the dead,-

A freeman of the sepulcher, at home at deaths dark door: Free among the dead,

Psa 88:5. Like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

This is perhaps the most awful depth of the whole Psalm. The writer bemoaned that be was not remembered even by God any more, and that he was cut off from Gods hand at least, so he thought.

Psa 88:6-7. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah,

Very properly here comes a Selah. Such a strain upon the harp-strings had put them all out of tune; so the players had notice to retune their harps, and the singers were bidden to lift up the strain of their song. It seems to me as if the writer here lifted his head above the waves of the tempestuous sea, and still kept on swimming.

Psa 88:8. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

This is the utterance of a soul imprisoned in solitary confinement, nobody able to come to it to breathe out consolation: Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me. They cannot come to me, and I am shut up, and I cannot come forth to them.

Psa 88:9. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

Now hear how the psalmist pleads with the Lord. Prayer is always best when it rises to pleading. The man who understands the sacred art of prayer becomes a special pleader with God.

Psa 88:10. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

Shall the dead arise, and praise thee? Not in this life, though the godly will praise the Lord in the world to come. But now, when a Christian man dies, God loses a chorister from the choirs of earth, there is one the less to sing his praises here; and the psalmist therefore pleads: Lord, if I live, thou canst show thy wonders to me; but wilt thou show thy wonders to the dead? If I am alive, I can praise thee; but shall the dead arise, and praise thee?

Psa 88:11-12. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shalt thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

He pleads that, if he dies, he shall not be able to tell out the mercy of the Lord. God will lose a singer from his earthly choir, a witness from his earthly courts, a testifier of his lovingkindness, and faithfulness, and righteousness.

Psa 88:13. But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer repent thee.

I will be up betimes, before thou comest to me. I will be first to approach thee. I will salute the rising sun with my rising prayer.

Psa 88:14. LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?

Note again the earnestness of the psalmists pleadings. We have had many of them already; each verse has, I think, had at least two pleadings in it. If thou wouldst be heard with God, take care that thou dost reason with him, and press thine arguments with the Most High. He delights in this exercise of persevering supplication which will take no denial.

Psa 88:15-18. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off. They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together. Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

There the Psalm ends. It is a sorrowful wail, and it comes to a close when you do not expect it to finish. It really has no finish to it, as when men wind up their songs with proper finales; but it is broken off, like a lily snapped at the stalk. I have read you this eighty-eighth Psalm as an example of persevering prayer. The man who wrote it-Heman the Ezrahite-kept on praying even when he did not seem to be heard, and thus he is a pattern to us. Yet notice how the next Psalm begins: I will sing of the mercies of the Lord. It is not always the sorrowful sackbut that is to be in our hand; we can play the joyous harp as well. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. I will never leave off praising him. With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Psa 88:1-9

NATIONAL LAMENT DURING THE EXTREME DISTRESS OF THE EXILE;

THE SORROWFUL PRAYER OF A DYING LEPER;

THE SADDEST PSALM IN THE PSALTER

We have given three headings of this psalm because of our uncertainty concerning which is correct. Briggs advocated the first of these; Kittel suggested the second; and Kirkpatrick gave us the third.

Certainly, the near hopeless tone of the psalm would apply equally well to the emotions of one fatally with leprosy, or to the almost total despair of the children of Israel during the times of their sojourn as captives in Babylon.

Having once visited a leper colony in the Far East, this writer prefers the second of these chapter headings, at the same time admitting the inability to prove that this choice is correct. Certain passages in the psalm itself seem to be best explained by the tragic situation of the leper.

THE SUPERSCRIPTION

A Song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah; for the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.

An alternative reading on “Leannoth” here is “for singing.” The unusual interest in this superscription is that the authorship has a double assignment: “of the sons of Korah,” and “of Heman.” This was satisfactorily explained by Leupold who pointed out that, “Heman was the author; and he belonged to the guild of singers called the `Sons of Korah.’ Heman is mentioned in 1Ch 6:13; 1Ch 15:17; 1Ch 25:4-6).

The paragraphing we follow here is that of Maclaren.

Psa 88:1-9 a

THE PSALMIST’S CRY TO GOD

“Oh Jehovah, the God of my salvation,

I have cried day and night before thee.

Let my prayer enter into thy presence;

Incline thine ear unto my cry.

For my soul is full of troubles,

And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol.

I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit;

I am as a man that hath no help,

Cast off among the dead,

Like the slain that lie in the grave,

Whom thou rememberest no more,

And they are cut off from thy hand.

Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,

In dark places in the deeps.

Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,

And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.

(Selah)

Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me;

Thou hast made me an abomination unto them:

I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction.”

We have never read a passage describing the approach of death any more impressive than this one. “Sheol” (Psa 88:3); “the pit” (Psa 88:4); “among the dead” (Psa 88:5); “the grave” (Psa 88:5); “the lowest pit” (Psa 88:6); “dark places” (Psa 88:7); and “the deeps” (Psa 88:7) are seven synonyms for the realm of the dead, or Hades; and the mind of the psalmist seems utterly overcome with the gloom of approaching death.

“O God of my salvation” (Psa 88:1). Surely this is an exclamation of faith in God, and the very fact of the psalmist’s turning to God in prayer is an indelible mark of trust and devotion.

“I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit” (Psa 88:4). The psalmist here says that people have already written him off as a dead man. In the sixty-four years of the ministry of this writer, he has often called upon terminally persons who had indeed been “accounted as already dead” by members of their family and the community. This psalmist was in such a tragic condition.

“Whom thou rememberest no more … cut off from thy hand” (Psa 88:5). The attitude here is that even God will remember him no more when death comes, and that God Himself will not do anything for him in the grave. The vast difference between the near-hopelessness of the Old Testament saint and the New Testament believer in Christ is dramatically emphasized by such statements as these.

“Thy wrath lieth hard upon me” (Psa 88:7). Although the psalmist ascribes his condition to the wrath of God, he makes no mention of sins and does not ask forgiveness.

“Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me … made me an abomination unto them” (Psa 88:8). This is one of the lines in the psalm that seems to picture the repulsiveness of lepers. When this writer visited a leper compound near Pusan, Korea, in 1953, it exhibited the most repulsive and pitiful spectacle of human misery and wretchedness that the mind can imagine. One looked in horror upon wretched human bodies with lips, eyelids, nose, ears, fingers, etc. missing because of disease, the horrible odor of the “compound,” the terribly inadequate tent-shacks built by the lepers themselves from cardboard, tin, brush, scrap lumber, anything, and the “water supply” nothing but a polluted ditch nearby. The food supply was from an occasional garbage truck that dumped all kinds of waste near the camp. The soul-chilling memory of that experience still remains with this writer almost forty years afterward!

Did any of the inmates of that “compound” have loved ones who visited them? My host chaplain assured me that they were already accounted as dead by both family and the community. The verses of this psalm bring vividly to memory what was seen in that dreadful “compound.”

“I am shut up, and cannot come forth” (Psa 88:8). “These words have been interpreted to mean that the psalmist was a leper, and therefore cut off from society and the public worship of God (Lev 13:1-8; Lev 13:45-46).

“Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction” (Psa 88:9 a). This also describes what happens in the disease of leprosy. The loss of eyelids exposes the eye, not only to all kinds of atmospheric debris, but also to harsh sunlight with the eventual loss or drastic reduction of eyesight.

E.M. Zerr:

Psa 88:1. See the comments at Psa 86:12 for Lord God. Salvation is used here to embrace every benefit that David had ever received from God or expected ever to receive. His immediate concern, however, was salvation from the persecutions of his personal enemies who were daily seeking to rob him of his peace of mind.

Psa 88:2. Come before thee means for his prayer to be admitted into the recognition of God. Incline thine ear means about the same as to be “open unto their prayer” as expressed in 1Pe 3:12.

Psa 88:3. Soul and life are used in the same sense, meaning David’s earthly existence. His enemies were so bitter against him that his life was in danger.

Psa 88:4. Pit is used figuratively, referring to a condition of forgetfulness. By continual oppression of David, the enemies were threatening to reduce his strength.

Psa 88:5. Free means he was left alone and forsaken as a man would be were he in his grave. God does not actually forget anything as we commonly use that word. Rememberest no more is used as meaning that God does not have any dealings with the body while it is in the grave. The last clause of the verse means the same as the thought expressed in connection with rememberest.

Psa 88:6. David did not charge God with directly dealing with him in the manner described. He knew that it was only in the sense of testing him by suffering his enemies to oppress him. This was indicated by a figurative use of the words pit, darkness and deeps.

Psa 88:7. The waves were the surges of wrath that God suffered to come over David. It was such a solemn period of meditation that he called for the use of the punctuation term Selah. See Psa 3:2 for the explanation of the word.

Psa 88:8. In times of trouble one’s professed friends sometimes desert him. It happened that way to David when he was tormented by his persecutors. His friends held him at a distance so that he could not come forth into their company as before.

Psa 88:9. This verse is a pitiable picture of David’s state of mind through his afflictions. He spent much of his time in supplications.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This is a song sobbing with sadness form beginning to end. It seems to have no gleam of light or of hope. Commencing with an appeal to Jehovah to hear, it proceeds to describe the terrible sorrows through which the singer is passing. He is whelmed with trouble, and nigh unto death. Moreover he is alone; his acquaintances are put away from him. Death is a terrible outlook, for the singer sees no light in it. Therein God Himself will be unknown, and unable to succour.

Again the song sings in yet profounder notes of sadness, which are like the breaking of great waves over the soul; which seem as though they must silence it utterly. The last declaration is a most terrible one of utter loneliness, lover and friend are put away from him, and the final word is darkness. One cannot help the consciousness that this psalm was a foreshadowing of realisation in the Messiah. The not of present value however, is that while, as we said at the beginning, there seems to be no light, there is light everywhere. The singer is in great sorrow, but he comes to Jehovah. He is afraid of going into death because there Jehovah cannot help him; but he has come there, and therefore still cries out for God. While the sense of God abides, darkness has not triumphed.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

a Cry from the Waves

Psa 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 Psa 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 Psa 88:9-18 the psalmist combats his despair by reminding God and himself that his has been a praying soul. Surely the Almighty will not forget his outstretched hands, nor the prayers that have anticipated the morning! It is a true argument. That you can pray at all is a sure sign that the divine Spirit is within your heart. From unknown depths He is helping your infirmity, and this proves that God has not forgotten or forsaken you. If just now lifes bark is overwhelmed with difficulty, God rules the waves. The storm-wind will presently subside at His rebuke. Lover and friend will again stand round about you, and your soul will come back into light. Gods days are not like mans-from morning to evening, but from dark to dawn.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Psa 88:1

This Psalm is written under feelings of affliction and deep heaviness of spirit. But its peculiarity is not that it is written under these feelings, but that these feelings are never once interrupted or relieved throughout it. Other psalms are expressions of grief, but they rise to joy eventually. This Psalm never rises to joy. What is the reason of this peculiarity? The Psalm is designed to express one particular stage of consolation; viz., the earliest one of all, that which consists in the simple expression of the sorrow itself, only with this addition, that it expresses it as in the presence of God, and as an address to Him. All its expression indeed is that of grief; but that very expression is only one stage of consolation. The grief is relieved by giving due and reverential vent to it. A surface of evil is accompanied by a reserve and undercurrent of hope, and a grief externally unchecked proceeds upon an understanding that it is seen and compassionated by One who is able to remove it.

I. Such a psalm is wanted, as being the representation of one particular stage and form of consolation in affliction.

II. This stage of consolation has its own peculiar and characteristic graces, which entitle it to such recognition. The earlier stages of consolation are nearer the beginning of things, closer to the fountain-head. In them the simple voice of Divine love speaks before man has yet added anything of his own strength and effort to it. The greatest victories of reason or of faith do not point so directly or so immediately to the one source of all consolation as that first stage and beginning of it which consists in the soul’s simple expression of its grief, and no more.

III. This Psalm reminds us of a great truth respecting this dispensation of things. The world does not contain much positive and pure happiness, and the satisfactions it does supply are rather of a secondary sort, remedial to dissatisfaction. Let us be content with moderate, with secondary, satisfactions. A remedial system, if it is solid and effective, is not to be underrated, as if it were not worth enjoying. Let us bear affliction with a single view to greater self-control, more resignation, more humility, ever strongly impressed with the great utility and serviceableness of it, the impossibility of growing in grace without it.

J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 52.

References: Psa 88:1, Psa 88:3.-Bishop Alexander, Bampton Lectures, 1876, p. 133. Psa 88:7.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix., No. 1090.

Psa 88:5

The freedom of which the author of this Psalm writes so despairingly must have been, for him at least, a freedom of isolation, of solitariness, of exile and expulsion, rather than of release, independence, and joy.

I. We are all conscious of the possibility of a freedom which should have nothing in it either of comfort or honour. (1) “Free among the dead” will have no cheerful sound if it be taken to mean, as probably the psalmist meant it, cast out of the sight of God, forsaken by the Divine superintendence, left to shift for himself in a world of shadowy forms and unsubstantial existences. Such freedom would be worse than any bondage. (2) There is a freedom, akin to the former, which is the loss of all employment and society, some one else filling your place and discharging your duties because an incurable sickness has stricken you, and that idleness which is the paradise of the dunce or the fool is put upon you, without and against your will, for the welfare of others, by the visitation of God. If this was the freedom of the dead as nature or fancy painted it to the psalmist, can we wonder that he used it as the synonym rather of misery than of repose?

II. Read now in the light of Jesus Christ, what shall the text become? (1) “He that is dead is freed from sin.” Free among the dead is, first and above all, free from sin. (2) Jesus Christ said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished.” The word “straitened” is the direct opposite of this “free among the dead.” Freedom among the dead was His emancipation from the “straitness” of earth. We, too, may make the words our comfort as we think of the departed, and our hope in the anticipation of a state which shall be our own.

C. J. Vaughan, Temple Sermons, p. 288.

Psa 88:15-16

What is it that the psalmist declares of himself in these words but that God’s judgments have always and habitually possessed his mind; that the fear of them has hung like a weight upon him; that even from his youth it has been present with him? If we look into any books of prayers or meditations of good men, the same feeling presents itself; we meet with expressions of sorrow and uneasiness under the consciousness of sin, as if sin were an evil no less real to them than we would conceive of some severe and continued bodily pain. It is this feeling which appears to me to be so commonly wanting amongst us.

I. The feeling of thinking lightly of sin is one of the evils which seem to accompany naturally what is called a state of high civilisation. As all things about us are softened, so are our judgments of our own souls.

II. We all fancy that if we were to commit any great crime, we should feel it very deeply, that we should be at once ashamed and afraid and should be dreading God’s judgments. As it is our faults are mostly in what we call little things; that is, in things which human law would scarcely punish at all, and which do not produce serious worldly loss or suffering to any one. We seem to fancy that in God’s sight the actions of our lives are blank; that they are things altogether too trifling for Him to notice; that He does not regard them at all.

III. St. Paul says, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” It is no exaggeration, then, but the simple truth, that our sins are more in number than the hairs of our head; and it might well be the case that, looking at all this vast number, and remembering God’s judgments, our hearts, as the psalmist says of himself, should fail us for fear. Remember that so many waking hours as we have in each day, so many hours have we of sin or of holiness; every hour delivers in, and must deliver, its record: and everything so recorded is placed either on one side of the fatal line or on the other; it is charged to our great account of good or of evil.

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. v., p. 106.

Psa 88:18

I. Look at the threefold loss bewailed in the text. There are, or ought to be, three circles round every man like the belts or rings round a planet: love, friendship, and acquaintanceship. Love is the nearest, while, at the same time, it lends its value to the other two. Friendship and acquaintanceship have no real pith, or substance, or value in them except as they are permeated by the spirit of the nearest circle. The three circles are needed by every man for the proper health and balance of his nature. No man suffices for himself. He needs others, as they need him. In proportion to the number and closeness of the ties in life is the pain in reserve for men. Strange life this, in which our best is the most subject to suffering, and pays a penalty as if it were the worst!

II. Reflections. (1) The thinking of departed friends will help us to realise our own death. It is of the highest moment that we should realise death, for without this we do not realise eternity, sin, or God. (2) Thinking of our departed will help to take away the bitterness of death. Death is but going as they have gone; it is just sharing with them. Death gets identified with the thought of father, or mother, or wife, or child; and we feel that we dare not and cannot shrink from going to them. (3) Thinking of the departed will enable us to realise immortality. One of the most effectual ways of bringing the unseen world before us as solid reality is to think of some loved and familiar one who has gone into the eternal state. They live, these departed ones; if truth and love are real, they live. Death can no more touch their souls than the stormy waves can quench the stars. (4) Thinking of the departed will take away the besetting feeling of solitude connected with death. What a glow it sheds over the future! How rich and full it makes it to think of meeting again some who have gone before. Their horizon is wide now. They have had experience of which we cannot form even a conception; but we know that no distance of time, no range of knowledge, no height or depth of experience, can ever alter their love to us. (5) Thinking of the departed cannot but fill us with regret and penitence. The place of death may be the birthplace of eternal life. Hearts that have been hard to every other plea may be conquered and melted here, and from this spot rise to heaven.

J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 118.

References: Psalm 88-S. Cox, Expositions, 3rd series, p. 123. Psa 89:1, Psa 89:2.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1565; S. Cox, Expositions, 3rd series, p. 166. Psa 89:2.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. x., p. 217; J. P. Gledstone, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 99. Psa 89:13.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii., No. 674, and vol. xxii., No.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Psalm 88

The Deepest Soul Misery Poured Out

1. In deepest misery and distress (Psa 88:1-7)

2. Crying and no answer (Psa 88:8-18)

This is a Maschil Psalm by Heman the Ezrahite. See 1Ki 4:31; 1Ch 6:33; 1Ch 6:44; 1Ch 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 was the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. It is His testimony concerning that He passed through as the Great Sufferer. Thou hast laid me into the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy waves.–Thy fierce wrath goeth over me, Thy terrors cut me off. Such was His experience when on the cross. The Christ in humiliation and suffering is mentioned so frequently to remind His people of the costprice of deliverance and glory, and that His must be the glory and the praise.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Mahalath

Or, M’holoth, meaning dancing with glad noises.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

Maschil: etc. or, A Psalm of Heman the Ezrahite, giving instruction, Supposed to have been written by Heman, son of Zerah, and grandson of Judah, on the oppression of the Hebrews in Egypt.

Heman: 1Ki 4:31, 1Ch 2:6

Lord: Psa 27:1, Psa 27:9, Psa 51:14, Psa 62:7, Psa 65:5, Psa 68:19, Psa 79:9, Psa 140:7, Gen 49:18, Isa 12:2, Luk 1:47, Luk 2:30, Tit 2:10, Tit 2:13, Tit 3:4-7

I have: Psa 22:2, Psa 86:3, Neh 1:6, Isa 62:6, Luk 2:37, Luk 18:7, 1Th 3:10, 2Ti 1:3

Reciprocal: Num 16:32 – all the 1Ki 8:28 – hearken 1Ch 6:33 – Heman 1Ch 25:4 – Heman 2Ch 5:12 – Asaph 2Ch 6:40 – my God Psa 1:2 – day Psa 24:5 – God Psa 25:5 – God Psa 42:6 – my God Psa 77:2 – In the Psa 88:9 – called Psa 116:2 – therefore Jon 2:2 – out Mat 26:38 – My Mat 26:42 – the second Mar 14:32 – while Luk 22:44 – being Act 10:2 – and prayed Rom 8:26 – with 1Th 2:9 – night Heb 5:7 – when 1Pe 1:11 – the sufferings

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The outcome as to man; in righteousness.

A psalm-song of the sons of Korah: to the chief musician; upon Mahalath Leannoth.

Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

The title of the eighty-eighth psalm is peculiar: and its two parts have been pleaded as contradictory; Heman the Ezrahite being of the tribe of Judah, and not a Korahite Levite. There was, however, a Levite of the name of Heman, and it is contended that this is the same person; finding his place by intermarriage among the men of Judah. On the other hand. it has been suggested that while really the work of a Judahite, the psalm may have been written “

for the sons of Korah,” as we may read it. Such reasonings show, at least, that it is unsafe to reject even part of a title in an inspired book, without plainly confirmatory evidence; and that we are free at least to take it as it stands, and inquire as to its possible meaning.

Mahalath Leannoth means “sickness for humiliation”: a very suitable and suggestive title, surely. We have need of such humbling, and therefore God permits such suffering as this psalm shows, that there may be truth in the inward parts before Him. Then, it is, with its fellow, a Maskil, or “instruction”; belonging to that series of such psalms to which the thirty-second introduces us. Most necessary truth here for the “wise” in Israel, or anywhere else, who is to be worthy of the name. And Heman was one of the special sages of Israel, compared with Solomon (1Ki 4:31), and his name (“faithful”), according to its derivation, may well point out to us both wisdom and faithfulness to agree, in putting their “amen” to the sayings of God.

The Ezrahite, again, is what is “indigenous,” or springs up from its native soil; and the experience that follows is indeed home-born; and natural enough to such as we are; nay, what is proper to the whole race outside of paradise; though, thank God, to face it is to find deliverance from it; and this connects once more these closing psalms.

1. But eighteen verses altogether in the one before us; and yet what misery is shut up in them! Not that God is not looked to; for it is to Him that all is poured out. It is when we begin to live that the meaning of death becomes possible to understand. He who cries cries to One in whose hands he knows himself to be, and in no other’s. God is the God of his salvation: nowhere else is salvation to be found. He cries aloud for Him to hearken; baring to Him all the misery with which his soul is filled and bowed down even to Sheol; already to be reckoned among those going down to it, prostrate, nerveless, and impotent. Nay, he is like one for whom the business of life is over, discharged from it, “free among the dead,” like one cut off from God’s remembrance and His help. Not that he will say, this is so, but that so it seems. And God Himself has done this, laid him in the lowest pit, in the awful darkness of His prison-house -in the depths.

Ah, it is all His anger: that is the utter misery from which there is no escape and no relief. Heat of anger and the overwhelming waves that break, wave after wave, upon him: all figures are used, and all figures fail to convey the dread reality, when it is God whose wrath is upon us. For “if God be for us, who can be against us?” and then conversely, if He be against us, where can be found help or hope?

2. But he turns to the Hand that afflicts him, -the Hand that has shut him up in isolation from all others, as a leper, an abomination to his acquaintance, -and he pleads his misery to the Heart that still he knows must be behind the Hand: how the eye wastes with its sorrow as it looks and sees not. “Jehovah, I have called upon Thee all the day long; I have stretched out my palms unto Thee.” God dwells among the praises of His people, amid the music of happy hearts tuned in accordance with His own: will He do wonders among the dead? he asks: “shall the shades arise? shall they praise Thee?” It is of course a Jew with his earthly hopes that speaks so: “shall thy loving-kindness be recounted in the grave? Thy faithfulness in destruction?” shall this be the experience of one who looks to Thee? “shall thy wonders be known in the darkness? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?”

It is clear that this is a Jew under the shadows of a law of which death was the penalty, and cut off from the earthly hopes of the nation: for whom death was a perplexity, a “land of darkness,” into which the light of life had not yet descended. Job, outside of Israel, utters the same wail; but the earthly promises by their very brightness only made it darker, as a gospel out of reach, a mockery of hopes which it raised and scattered.

3. Here accordingly, he turns to his sanctuary, to find but the veil unrent, and the One Face which has brightness for him hidden. Like Another Sufferer, but from a different stand-point, he asks “why?” but the answer is not here. He answers it who goes into the outside darkness to dispel it for others, and who asserts it to be the necessity of divine holiness in regard to sin.

4. The psalm ends without relief. The experience here is but a monotony of distress. From his youth up there has been nothing else -a living death, a distraction of terrors. Wrath gone over him; terrors around him, the undoing of every social bond even. Such is the hopeless misery of man as regards self-help, and apart from a Mediator.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

Psa 88:1-4. O Lord God of my salvation Who hast so often saved me in former distresses; I have cried day and night before thee Thus Gods own elect are said, by Christ, to cry to him, Luk 18:7; and thus ought men always to pray and not to faint. Let my prayer come before thee To be accepted of thee. For my soul is full of troubles Troubles of mind, from a sense of Gods wrath and departure from him, as appears Psa 88:14-16. I am counted with them that go down into the pit I am given up by my friends and acquaintance for a lost man.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Dr. Lightfoot affirms that this, and the eighty ninth psalm, were written by Heman and Ethan, sons of Zerah, or the Ezrahites mentioned in 1Ch 2:6. Consequently, they lived about the time when the male infants were slain in Egypt. But, though this be true of the former psalm, it cannot be true of the latter, because David is mentioned in the fourth verse; and not as a Cyrus who should be born, but as being then alive. Others think that the authors of these psalms were two levites of the above names. 1Ki 4:31. Vitringa classes this, and the twenty second, and the sixty ninth in one, and applies them to our Saviours passion. But I think, if these sorrows had a reference to Christ, the psalm, like the other two, would have closed with a bright aspect. Hence the judicious Claude and others do not take that liberty with this remarkable psalm.

Title. Leannoth, a wind instrument proper for pensive tones.Heman, the Ezrahite. See 1Ki 4:31, where it is said that Solomon was wiser than this man and three others, illustrious for literature.

Psa 88:5. Free among the dead, like the slain. I dwell in solitude, immured, and exempt from the duties of life. So the word is used in 2Ch 26:21, respecting the secluded state of a leper. It had been more consoling, if like St. Paul, he had cheered the prison-house with the bright hope that the Lord had laid up a crown of righteousness for him, and for all them that love his appearing.

Psa 88:6. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit. The grave of trouble, darkness, and depression.

Psa 88:11. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? David uses the same argument in Psalms 30., to excite the divine compassion. He repeats his pathetic addresses. In the morning shall my prayer prevent thee, as when, in time of great need, we gain a benefactors ear before he has entered on the business of the day. Morning prayer, like a morning fire, burns clear.

REFLECTIONS.

After the bright view of Zion, and the glorious hope of her children, so richly painted in the preseding psalm, we find here one of her sons suffering solitude, covered with a cloud, and crying day and night to the Lord; for his people in this world are not exempt from anguish and affliction. The psalmist however was most afflicted with an apprehension that God was angry with him, and consequently, that he suffered all his waves to go over his head. How natural is it for a desponding mind to feast itself in drawing dark and gloomy conclusions.

Because this pious and devout man conceived himself to be an object of divine displeasure, he thought that God had inclined the heart of his acquaintance, his friends and lovers, to stay away from him. Yea, to abandon him as an abomination, as a carcase in the grave, free among the dead. We should learn to show compassion to christians afflicted with nervous and desponding fears, that Satan may not take occasion to tempt them. It is however a painful task; for they reject comfort, and make ingenious replies to all the promises. As a bird has ranged his cage a thousand times, and found no avenue of escape, so they have already reviewed the promises, and drawn the awful conclusion, that help and hope for the present are fled away. But what can we do? God spares them, and friends must have patience. We must still repeat the same things, and divert them from the object of their gloom by cheering subjects. We must pray for them, for God can restore both body and soul in answer to prayer.

Persons so afflicted, on every subject but that under which they groan, are often distinguished by strength of intellect, and are possessed of the finest imagination. Of this we have proof in this psalm. The whole style of pleading with God is sublimely grand; the arguments are just, and penetrating beyond all that comment can convey. Now if God, the gracious God, shall please for a while to afflict us, let us be assured it is for some good. Perhaps our proud and assuming heart needs abasing. Perhaps it might hurry us into dissipation; and therefore it is better for us to be mourning at home, than rioting in gay life. Or should it prove a hopeless case of melancholy, let families be comforted by our Saviours word. This man hath not sinned, nor yet have his parents, so as to occasion the calamity; but one man is born blind, that all the country may be thankful for their eyesight; and another is caused to despond, that others may be thankful for reason.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

LXXXVIII. A Lepers Prayer.This Ps. has striking peculiarities. The suffering here portrayed has been long and terrible. The Psalmist has been tormented by sickness from his youth (Psa 88:15). Yahweh has put lover and friend away from him. This seclusion was, no doubt, due to leprosy, which was a living death, separating a man from his dearest. The malady was supposed to come directly from God: it was His stroke par excellence. The Psalmist mentions no enemies, he confesses no sin, he pleads no merits. Nor does he draw comfort from the thought of an afterlife. On the contrary, he shares the common belief in Sheol (Psa 88:10-12). But he still holds to his faith in God, and assumes (Psa 88:14) that there is some reason for Gods wrath, for he did not doubt that the leprosy came from Gods anger (Psa 88:7; Psa 88:14; Psa 88:16).

Psa 88:1. Read, Yahweh my God I have cried in the daytime, and my plaint is before thee in the night.

Psa 88:5. Cast off: the meaning is doubtful, perhaps my bed; or we may read I have been reckoned or I have been made to dwell.

Psa 88:15. distracted: read, benumbed.

Psa 88:18. Read perhaps, and only darkness is my familiar.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

PSALM 88

The soul exercises of a godly man, in learning the reality and horror of God’s wrath against sin.

The unrelieved distress of soul, of which this psalm is the deep expression, arises neither from the opposition of enemies nor from trial of circumstances. The distress is not from the surrounding difficulties of the path, but from the inward exercises of the soul.

The psalm depicts the deep distress of a godly soul who is learning in his conscience the reality and horror of God’s wrath against sin, and a broken law. God is known and appealed to as Jehovah. Thus there is the knowledge that there is loving-kindness with God, and the soul has confidence to look to God. Nevertheless, in order to have the full enjoyment of this loving-kindness, the horror of God’s wrath against sin must be learned.

(vv. 1-7) The godly man realizes that salvation is alone found with God. Thus he addresses Jehovah as the God of his salvation. Nevertheless, the soul is in deep distress that leads it to cry to God day and night. In prayer he owns before God that this soul is full of troubles. He is made to feel that the effect of sin is to separate the soul from God; that it brings into death; that it leaves man without strength, and brings to the grave where the soul is utterly forsaken by God – remembered no more, and cast off from God, where there is only darkness, with God’s wrath abiding on the soul.

What a terrible picture of the effect of sin! The soul filled with trouble (v. 3); the life forfeited, drawing near to the grave (v. 3); no strength against sin (v. 4); brought into death (v. 5); forsaken by God (v. 5); left in darkness (v. 6); and under judgment (v. 7).

(vv. 8-9) Moreover there is the consciousness that sin not only separates from God, but that sin makes the person an object of loathing to his acquaintance. That it shuts the soul up in an awful loneliness from which he cannot come forth. Nevertheless, in its misery, the soul is not allowed to be abandoned to despair: thus the hands are stretched out to God.

(vv. 10-12) However, turning to God only makes the distressed soul more conscious that, while there are wonders with God (v. 10), loving-kindness, faithfulness (v. 11), and righteousness, yet the effect of sin, if allowed to work out to its full result, is to bring the soul into death and the land of forgetfulness, where God in all these blessed attributes is unknown.

(vv. 13-14) Nevertheless, the soul in its distress, clings to Jehovah, even though it feels, by reason of its sin, God has cast off the soul and hidden His face.

(vv. 15-18) Thus, under the sense that God has hidden His face, the soul is afflicted and ready to die. Instead of enjoying God’s wonders, and loving-kindness, and faithfulness, it is only conscious of God’s terrors, God’s wrath, and God’s forsaking.

The psalm closes in distress with the godly man compassed about by terrors, forsaken by friends, and left in darkness. The relief can only be found in the mercies and faithfulness of God that form the theme of the succeeding psalm.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

88:1 [A Song [or] Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath {a} Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.] O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day [and] night {b} before thee:

(a) That is, to humble. It was the beginning of a song by which tune this psalm was sung.

(b) Though many cry in their sorrows, yet they cry not earnestly to God for remedy as he did whom he confessed to be the author of his salvation.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Psalms 88

This 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 Yahweh, but who is unable to evoke a response from God. This is indeed ’the dark night of the soul,’ when the troubled person must be and must stay in the darkness of abandonment, utterly alone." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 78.]

Heman was a wise man who was a singer in David’s service and a contemporary of Asaph and Ethan (1Ki 4:31; 1Ch 15:19; 1Ch 16:41-42; 1Ch 25:1; 1Ch 25:6). The sons of Korah arranged and or sang this psalm.

"The emotions and suffering expressed by the psalmist are close in spirit to those of Psalms 22. In the tradition of the church, these psalms were linked together in the Scripture reading on Good Friday." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 564.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. The sufferer’s affliction 88:1-9a

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 88:1-18

A 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 sorrows, is the operation of true though feeble faith. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him,” is the very spirit of this psalm. It stands alone in the Psalter, which would be incomplete as a mirror of phases of devout experience, unless it had one psalm expressing trust which has ceased to ask or hope for the removal of life-long griefs, but still clasps Gods hand even in the “darkness.” Such experience is comparatively rare, and is meant to be risen above. Therefore this psalm stands alone. But it is not unexampled, and all moods of the devout life would not find lyrical expression in the book unless this deep note was once sounded.

It is useless to inquire what was the psalmists affliction. His language seems to point to physical disease of long continuance and ever threatening a fatal termination; but in all probability sickness is a symbol here, as so often. What racked his sensitive spirit matters little. The cry which his pains evoked is what we are concerned with. There is little trace of strophical arrangement, and commentators differ much in their disposition of the parts of the psalm. But we venture to suggest a principle of division which has not been observed, in the threefold recurrence of “I cry” or “I call,” accompanied in each case by direct address to Jehovah. The resulting division into three parts gives, first, the psalmists description of his hopeless condition as, in effect, already dead (Psa 88:1-8); second, an expostulation with God on the ground that, if the psalmist is actually numbered with the dead, he can no more be the object of Divine help, nor bring God praise (Psa 88:9-12); and, third, a repetition of the thoughts of the first part with slight variation and addition (Psa 88:13-18).

The central portion of the first division is occupied with an expansion of the thought that the psalmist is already as good as dead (Psa 88:3-6). The condition of the dead is drawn with a powerful hand and the picture is full of solemn grandeur and hopelessness. It is preceded in Psa 88:1-2, by an invocation which has many parallels in the psalms, but which here is peculiarly striking. This saddest of them all has for its first words the Name Which ought to banish sadness. He who can call on Jehovah as the God of his salvation possesses a charm which has power to still agitation, and to flush despair with some light of hope as from an unrisen sun. But this poet feels no warmth from the beams, and the mists surge up, if not to hide the light, yet to obscure it. All the more admirable, then, the persistence of his cry; and all the more precious the lesson that Faith is not to let present experience limit its conceptions. God is none the less the God of salvation and none the less to be believed to be so though no consciousness of His saving power blesses the heart at the moment.

Psa 88:1 b is obscure. Psa 22:2 and other places suggest that the juxtaposition of day and night is meant to express the continuity of the psalmists prayer; but, as the text now stands, the first part of the clause can only mean “In the time (day) when I cry,” and the second has to be supplemented so as to read “[My cry comes] before Thee.” This gives a poor meaning, and there is probability in the slight emendation on the word for day; which is required in order to make it an adverb of time equivalent to “In the day,” as in the passage already quoted. Another emendation, adopted by Graetz, Bickell, and Cheyne, changes “God of” into “my God,” and “my salvation” into “I cry” (the same word as in Psa 88:13), and attaches “by day” to the first clause. The result is, –

Jehovah, my God,

I cry to Thee by day,

I call in the night before Thee.

The changes are very slight and easy, and the effect of them is satisfactory: The meaning of the verse is obvious, whether the emendation is accepted or not. The gain from the proposed change is dearly purchased by the loss of that solitary expression of hope in the name of “God of my salvation,” the one star which gleams for a moment through a rift in the blackness.

With “For” in Psa 88:3 the psalmist begins the dreary description of his affliction, the desperate and all but deadly character of which he spreads before God as a reason for hearing his prayer. Despair sometimes strikes men dumb, and sometimes makes them eloquent. The sorrow which has a voice is less crushing than that which is tongueless. This overcharged heart finds relief in self-pitying depicting of its burdens, and in the exercise of a gloomy imagination, which draws out in detail the picture of the feebleness, the recumbent stillness, the seclusion and darkness of the dead. They have “no strength.” Their vital force has ebbed away, and they are but as weak shadows, having an impotent existence, which does not deserve to be called life. The remarkable expression of Psa 88:5 “free among the dead,” is to be interpreted in the light of Job 3:19, which counts it as one blessing of the grave, that “there the servant is free from his master.” But the psalmist thinks that that “freedom” is loathsome, not desirable, for it means removal from the stir of a life, the heaviest duties and cares of which are better than the torpid immunity from these, which makes the state of the dead a dreary monotony. They lie stretched out and motionless. No ripple of cheerful activity stirs that stagnant sea. One unvarying attitude is theirs. It is not the stillness of rest which prepares for work, but of incapacity of action or of change. They are forgotten by Him who remembers all that are. They are parted from the guiding and blessing influence of the Hand that upholds all being. In some strange fashion they are and yet are not. Their death has a simulacrum of life. Their shadowy life is death. Being and non-being may both be predicated of them. The psalmist speaks in riddles; and the contradictions in his speech reflect his dim knowledge of that place of darkness. He looks into its gloomy depths, and he sees little but gloom. It needed the resurrection of Jesus to flood these depths with light, and to show that the life beyond may be fuller of bright activity than life here-a state in which vital strength is increased beyond all earthly experience, and wherein Gods all-quickening hand grasps more closely, and communicates richer gifts than are attainable in that death which sense calls life.

Psa 88:7 traces the psalmists sorrows to God. It breathes not complaint but submission, or, at least, recognition of His hand; and they who, in the very paroxysm of their pains, can say, “It is the Lord,” are not far from saying, “Let Him do what seemeth Him good,” nor from the peace that comes from a compliant will. The recognition implies, too, consciousness of sin which has deserved the “wrath” of God, and in such consciousness lies the germ of blessing. Sensitive nerves may quiver, as they feel the dreadful weight with which that wrath presses down on them, as if to crush them; but if the man lies still, and lets the pressure do its work, it will not force out his life, but only his evil, as foul water is squeezed from cloth. Psa 88:7 b is rendered by Delitzsch “And Thy billows Thou pressest down,” which gives a vivid picture; but “billows” is scarcely the word to use for the downward rushing waters of a cataract, and the ordinary rendering, adopted above, requires only natural supplements.

Psa 88:8 approaches nearer to a specification of the psalmists affliction. If taken literally, it points to some loathsome disease, which had long clung to him, and made even his, friends shrink from companionship, and thus had condemned him to isolation. All these details suggest leprosy, which, if referred to here, is most probably to be taken, as sickness is in several psalms, as symbolic of affliction. The desertion by friends is a common feature in the psalmists complaints. The seclusion as in a prison house is, no doubt, appropriate to the lepers condition, but may also simply refer to the loneliness and compulsory inaction arising from heavy trials. At all events, the psalmist is flung back friendless on himself, and hemmed in, so that he cannot expatiate in the joyous bustle of life. Blessed are they who, when thus situated, can betake themselves to God, and find that He does not turn away! The consciousness of His loving presence has. not yet lighted the psalmists soul; but the clear acknowledgment that it is God who has put the sweetness of earthly companionship beyond his reach is, at least, the beginning of the happier experience, that God never makes a solitude round a soul without desiring to fill it with Himself.

If the recurring cry to Jehovah in Psa 88:9 is taken, as we have suggested it should be, as marking a new turn in the thoughts, the second part of the psalm will include Psa 88:9-12. Psa 88:10-12 are apparently the daily prayer referred to in Psa 88:9. They appeal to God to preserve the psalmist from the state of death, which he has just depicted himself as having in effect already entered, by the consideration which is urged in other psalms as a reason for Divine intervention {Psa 6:5; Psa 30:9, etc.} -namely, that His power had no field for its manifestation in the grave, and that He could draw no revenue of praise from the pale lips that lay silent there. The conception of the state of the dead is even more dreary than that in Psa 88:4-5. They are “shades,” which word conveys the idea of relaxed feebleness. Their dwelling is Abaddon-i.e., “destruction,”-“darkness,” “the land of forgetfulness” whose inhabitants remember not, nor are remembered, either by God or man. In that cheerless region God had no opportunity to show His wonders of delivering mercy, for monotonous immobility was stamped upon it, and out of that realm of silence no glad songs of praise could sound. Such thoughts are in startling contrast with the hopes that sparkle in some psalms (such as Psa 16:10, etc.), and they show that clear, permanent assurance of future blessedness was net granted to the ancient Church. Nor could there be sober certainty of it until after Christs resurrection. But it is also to be noticed that this psalm neither affirms nor denies a future resurrection. It does affirm continuous personal existence after death, of however thin and shadowy a sort. It is not concerned with what may lie far ahead, but is speaking of the present state of the dead, as it was conceived of, at the then stage of revelation, by a devout soul, in its hours of despondency.

The last part (Psa 88:13-18) is marked, like the two preceding, by the repetition of the name of Jehovah, and of the allusion to the psalmists continual prayer. It is remarkable, and perhaps significant, that the time of prayer should here be “the morning,” whereas in Psa 88:1 it was, according to Delitzsch, the night, or, according to the other rendering, day and night. The psalmist had asked in Psa 88:2 that his prayer might enter into Gods presence; he now vows that it will come to meet Him. Possibly some lightening of his burden may be hinted at by the reference to the time of his petition. Morning is the hour of hope, of new vigour, of a fresh beginning, which may not be only a prolongation of dreary yesterdays. But if there is any such alleviation, it is only for a moment, and then the cloud settles down still more heavily. But one thing the psalmist has won by his cry. He now longs to know the reason for his affliction. He is confident that God is righteous when He afflicts, and, heavy as his sorrow is, he has passed beyond mere complaint concerning it, to the wish to understand it. The consciousness that it is chastisement, occasioned by his own evil, and meant to purge that evil away, is present, in a rudimentary form at least in that cry, “Why castest Thou off my soul?” If sorrow has brought a man to offer that prayer, it has done its work, and will cease before long, or, if it lasts, will be easier to bear, when its meaning and purpose are clear. But the psalmist rises to such a height but for a moment, though his momentary attaining it gives promise that he will, by degrees, be able to remain there permanently. It is significant that the only direct naming of Jehovah, in addition to the three which accompany the references to his prayers, is associated with this petition for enlightenment. The singer presses close to God in his faith that His hardest blows are not struck at random, and that His administration has for its basis, not caprice but reason, moved by love and righteousness.

Such a cry is never offered in vain, even though it should be followed, as it is here, by plaintive reiterations of the sufferers pains. These are now little more than a summary of the first part. The same idea of being in effect dead even while alive is repeated in Psa 88:15, in which the psalmist wails that from youth he had been but a dying man, so close to him had death seemed, or so death-like bad been his life. He has borne Gods terrors till be is distracted. The word rendered “I am distracted” is only used here, and consequently is obscure. Hupfeld and others deny that it is a word at all (he calls it an “Unwort”), and would read another which means to become torpid. The existing text is defended by Delitzsch and others, who take the word to mean to be weakened in mind or bewildered. The meaning of the whole seems to be as rendered above. But it might also be translated, as by Cheyne, “I bear Thy terrors, my senses must fail.” In Psa 88:16 the word for wrath is in the plural, to express the manifold outbursts of that deadly indignation. The word means literally heat; and we may represent the psalmists thought as being that the wrath shoots forth many fierce tongues of licking flame, or, like a lava stream, pours out in many branches. The word rendered “Cut me off” is anomalous, and is variously translated annihilate, extinguish, or as above. The wrath which was a fiery flame in Psa 88:16 is an overwhelming flood in Psa 88:17. The complaint of Psa 88:8 recurs in Psa 88:18, in still more tragic form. All human sympathy and help are far away, and the psalmists only familiar friend is darkness. There is an infinitude of despair in that sad irony. But there is a gleam of hope, though faint and far, like faint daylight seen from the innermost recesses of a dark tunnel, in his recognition that his dismal solitude is the work of Gods hand; for, if God has made a heart or a life empty of human love, it is that He may Himself fill it with His own sweet and all-compensating presence.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary