PSALM 88 [1]

Crying from the darkness of Sheol

The Psalmist cries out in his wasting affliction (vv.1-9)

1 O Yahweh, the God of my salvation,		I have cried out (צָעַק [tsa`aq]) by day and in the night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;		Incline Your ear to my cry!
3 For my soul/physical life [2] has had enough troubles,		And my life has drawn near to Sheol.
4 I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit;		I have become like a man without strength,
5 Forsaken among the dead,		Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,		And they are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,		In dark places (machshak), in the depths.
7 Your wrath has rested upon me,		And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah.
8 You 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.
9 My eye has wasted away because of affliction;	I have called upon You every day, O Yahweh;		I have spread out my hands/palms to You.

Six questions (vv.10-12)

10 Will You perform wonders for the dead?	Will the departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah.
11 Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,	Your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Will Your wonders be made known in the darkness (choshek)?	And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

The Psalmist cries out from the darkness (vv.13-18)

13 But I, O Yahweh, have cried out (שָׁוַע [shava`]) to You for help,	And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 O Yahweh, why do You reject my soul/physical life?	Why do You hide Your face from me? [3]
15 I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on;	I suffer Your terrors (אֵימָה [’eymah]); I am overcome/desperate.
16 Your burning anger has passed over me;	Your terrors (בִּעוּתִים [bi`uwthiym]) [4] have destroyed me.
17 They have surrounded me like water all day long;	They have encompassed me altogether.
18 You have removed lover and friend far from me; [5]	My acquaintances are [in] darkness (machshak). [6] [7]

[1] This is the last of the eleven psalms of Korah (42-49, 84, 85, 87, 88). However, William Holladay argues that the superscription “A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director; according to Mahalath Leannoth” originally belonged at the end of Psalm 87 (The Psalms through Three Thousand Years, 71).

The Westminster Confession of Faith (XVIII:3-4) and the Westminster Larger Catechism (Q.81; Q.172) make use of Psalm 88 when discussing the assurance of grace and salvation.

[2] Here the word “soul” does not have the Greek connotation but “refers to the individual as a living, breathing person, and highlights the aspects of desire and affection” (Schaeffer 214). The word has the same meaning in verse 14 (cf. Gen.37:21; 44:29-31; Exodus 21:23; Lev.24:17-18; Numbers 19:13; Deut.12:23; Psalm 56:6,13; etc.).

[3] This is the eighth and final question of Psalm 88. If any ultimate meaning is to be found in our suffering and any answers to our questions we must look to the Suffering Servant who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).

[4] The NASB95 has the regrettable habit of using synonyms when the Hebrew does not and not using synonyms when the Hebrew does.

[5] In Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian ended up in Doubting Castle because he did not listen to the advice of Hopeful and Bunyan gives Psalm 88:18 as a proof text. But it is unclear to me that the Psalmist is suffering because of his sin. He could be suffering for the same reason Job suffered – because he was blameless and upright, a man who feared God and shunned evil. He could have been suffering for the reason that some people are born blind – that the glory of God might be displayed in them.

[6] “Light was the first of God’s creation; the poet’s last encounter is with darkness” (Schaeffer 217).

[7] Psalm 88 ends with what has been called a “terminative term” – darkness. Other Psalms ending with “terminative terms” are 1 [perish]; 15 [forever]; 16 [forever]; 18 [forever]; 23 [forever]; 28 [forever]; 39 [and am no more]; 45 [forever and ever]; 48 [until death]; 49 [perish]; 56 [life]; 57 [Your glory]; 111 [forever]; 112 [perish]; 115 [forever Praise Yah]; 121 [forever]; 131 [forever]; 133 [life forever]; 136 [His lovingkindness is everlasting]; 138 [do not forsake]; 139 [in the everlasting way]; 145 [forever and ever]; 146 [to all generations Praise Yah].