Thoughts on Psalm 88

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88 A SONG. A PSALM OF THE SONS OF KORAH. TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO MAHALATH LEANNOTH. A MASKIL OF HEMAN THE EZRAHITE.

1  O LORD, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.
2  Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!

3  For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4  I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
5  like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
6  You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
7  Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

8  You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9  my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to you.
10  Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12  Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13  But I, O LORD, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14  O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15  Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless. 
16  Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17  They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
18  You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness (ESV).

This psalm is an individual lament. This psalm is also an anomaly in that it does not end in praise nor confession of confidence in the Lord. Verse 18 can also be translated darkness has become my only companion or darkness is my closest friend (NIV).

Robert Alter makes the observation that “the psalm deploys an unusual abundance of synonyms for the underworld” (The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, 2019, pp. 210-211) such as: Sheol (v. 3), the pit (vv. 4, 6), the grave (v. 5), the land of forgetfulness (v. 12).  

In Old Testament thought “the Lord does not involve himself with the dead…so the psalmist feels cut off from divine care” (D. Estes, Psalms 73-150 NAC, 2019, p. 154). The Psalmist has been suffering pain and affliction, being close to death since his youth (v. 15). Even though the Psalmist is suffering and feels cut off from God, he still trusts the God of “[his] salvation” (v. 1).

It may be significant that the Psalmist states that he takes his prayers to the Lord in the morning, as this is when the Lord most often intervened on His people’s behalf (see Pss 30:5; 46:5; Isa 37:6). “The psalmist suggests that for him prayer is the first item on his daily schedule. Prayer is not his last resort but his first impulse” (Estes, p. 156).

The Psalmist is unapologetically raw, sincere and vulnerable in expressing how he feels about his circumstances and the Lord’s silence. However, the Psalmist “does not accept his pain with stoic apathy because, as VanGemeren notes, ‘True faith is not an apathetic acceptance of whatever comes to pass. True faith lies in wrestling with the Lord in prayer'” (Estes, p. 155). The Psalmist “just casts the problem into the hands of the Lord, in effect challenging him to rectify the situation by his faithfulness and righteousness” (Estes, pp. 157-158).

“Psalm 88 teaches that the life of faith at times includes experiences of raw pain and desperate loneliness, but even in the blackest of nights those who trust in the Lord can and should take their frustrations to the Father (cf. Ps 139:12)” (Estes, p. 159).

That quote is what strikes me the most about this psalm. The Psalmist does not complain to his family, friends or anyone else who is willing or in earshot to listen. The Psalmist takes his laments, rhetorical questions and grief directly to God; crying out to Him. The Psalmist still has faith in the Lord even though He is silent.

When I first started typing this my title was “The Darkest Psalm.” While this psalm is indeed dark and bleak, Psalm 88 reveals that it is all right to ask God why even when he does not choose to answer the questions that we bring before Him. Psalm 13 and Job “As both Psalm 13 and the book of Job manifest, the Lord’s silence does not mean his absence, and his silent presence is enough for those who trust in him” (Estes, p. 159).  

In this time of COVID-19 may we take our laments and personal grief before our Heavenly Father. May we trust Him when it comes to dealing with this new normal. Dear reader, please know that is okay to cry out to God, to ask Him questions. While your questions may be met with silence like this Psalmist, I pray that you will still trust Him. 

Father God, I ask for You to strengthen Your people. Help us process and reconcile things that we have never seen before. Thank You Father for those who have training in how to deal with infectious diseases and outbreaks. Thank You Father for those who are calm. Lord God, help us to discern truth from error in regards to the news that is being presented to us. Lord God, may we be reminded that You are NOT the Author of confusion and chaos. Lord God, make prayer our impulse and default mode rather than our last resort. May we take our grief to You and have You help us with our grief before broadcasting our fears, troubles and anxieties to an already dark and anxious world. Lord God, I ask for Your Hand of mercy to be upon all Your people with small children, new babies and babies in the womb as life has changed from what it once was. Thank You Jesus for allowing us to pray in Your Name. Amen. 

 

 

 

Published by

Blue Collar Theologian

My name is Mandy Sweigart-Quinn, I live in Lancaster, PA and I am a “Blue Collar Theologian.” I love Jesus! I am passionate about His Word (The Holy Bible)! I come alive when I can encourage others in their walk with Jesus (whether by writing or speaking). As a “Blue Collar Theologian” it is my aim to live/practice/work out my Christian hope with sincerity, authenticity and genuineness. As a “Blue Collar Theologian,” I strive to meet people right where they are (“Incarnational Theology”). I graduated in May 2019 from Capital Seminary and Graduate School with a Master's in Biblical Studies. I am a passionate, excited and enthusiastic person! I love flowers, sports and sunsets. Since January 2, 2018 I have had the privilege of being married to Nathan.

27 thoughts on “Thoughts on Psalm 88”

  2. Wonderful word from God’s Word. We all suffer at times. Still, we experience that God is faithful. It is the fullness of time right now that we trust Him for the outcome of our world-wide crisis in which Corona Virus has instilled the rule of leaders and governors and kings and presidents to bring it’s people into harsh subjection. People need to think seriously about what is happening. We have been brought to our knees by government rule over us. It is not so much Corona that is causing global turmoil. Christians, look carefully at what is taking place. Remember the words of Christ: He will come as a thief in the night. When you least expect.

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  3. GOD has a purpose of including this verse of a person inflicted with a lot of “unlucky” circumstances (a Filipino for “sobrang kamalasan”), broken and spilled out but still talking to GOD (and not being irreverent about it). And one of those reasons is that, someday the blue collar Theologian, encouraged by the Holy Spirit, will shed light on this verse. Thank you, Mandy! You showed hope in GOD and encouraged faith in Jesus Christ in your explanation on a bleak Psalm.

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  4. Really? Thank you, thank you, Mandy. It is worth burning the night candle. Actually, I was also commenting and then responding to Tom, Donna, and David’s article. Yes, I need prayers, Mandy, for Godly wisdom; I have an innate fear of responding inaccurately or off.

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  5. I’m actually eager to know more about ways to counter RCC belief vs biblical christianity, Mandy, which Tom has a series on the matter. Just in case if GOD will grant that I have another chance of discussing the topics (for starters) of 1) GOD’s grace and not sacraments and works, 2) faith in Jesus alone and not with plus others, and 3) the Holy Spirit is the sole intercessor and not other human/mortal beings (saintly life or otherwise). Most of my friends and some of my relatives are RCC. I need GOD’s grace in devising/strategizing for an argument, should it happen.

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  6. I relate to that psalm. In a period of 4 months (early 2019) my wife lost her mom, I lost dad and our middle daughter was life-flighted to hang in the balances for some time before getting better. The whole world could have come crashing down and all I (and my wife) could do was trust, put our whole implicit trust (whatever the outcome) in a seemingly silent God whom we knew loved us. We are still shell shocked a bit but not afraid of death and definitely not a virus
    I think this only makes sense in hind sight for us as we have 40 years of our own history of walking with the Lord and quite a few stories of God’s faithfulness in many times and areas of life.

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    1. Hey, thank you for reading! I’m sorry, I know Psalm 112 is your favorite and I had some thoughts for that; however, the timing hasn’t seem right. Thank you again for your time and for reading. I know you’re busy!!! Love and blessings!

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  9. I’m a few days behind my blog feed; thanks for looking at Psalm 88! Been thinking of whether or not I should teach more devotionals on the Psalms with my churches’ midweek Bible study….

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  10. Answering your question: My week is well, just busy with teaching via internet. Going to do an Apologetics Q&A and young men discipleship today. I’m going to talk to my mom again second time this week after the kids are done with their thing. Praying for your house search

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