Psalm 88

Lord, you are the God who saves me;
    day and night I cry out to you.
May my prayer come before you;
    turn your ear to my cry.
I am overwhelmed with troubles
    and my life draws near to death.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am like one without strength.
I am set apart with the dead,
    like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
    who are cut off from your care.
You have put me in the lowest pit,
    in the darkest depths.
Your wrath lies heavily on me;
    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
You have taken from me my closest friends
    and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
    my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, Lord, every day;
    I spread out my hands to you.
Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness in Destruction?
Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
But I cry to you for help, Lord;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Why, Lord, do you reject me
    and hide your face from me?
From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
    I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
Your wrath has swept over me;
    your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood;
    they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
    darkness is my closest friend.

• Psalm 88:1-18

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm is a lamentation, one of the most melancholy of all the psalms; and it does not conclude, as usually the melancholy psalms do, with the least intimation of comfort or joy, but, from first to last, it is mourning and woe. It is not upon a public account that the psalmist here complains (here is no mention of the afflictions of the church), but only upon a personal account, especially trouble of mind, and the grief impressed upon his spirits both by his outward afflictions and by the remembrance of his sins and the fear of God’s wrath. It is reckoned among the penitential psalms, and it is well when our fears are thus turned into the right channel, and we take occasion from our worldly grievances to sorrow after a godly sort. In this psalm we have, I. The great pressure of spirit that the psalmist was under, ver. 3-6. II. The wrath of God, which was the cause of that pressure, ver. 7, 15-17. III. The wickedness of his friends, ver. 8, 18. IV. The application he made to God by prayer, ver. 1, 2, 9, 13. V. His humble expostulations and pleadings with God, ver. 10, 12, 14. Those who are in trouble of mind may sing this psalm feelingly; those that are not ought to sing it thankfully, blessing God that it is not their case.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 88:5 “The psalmist likened himself to ‘the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more.’ It is all very well for those who are in robust health and full of spirit to blame those who are sickly with the pale cast of melancholy, but the evil is as real as a gaping wound, and all the harder to bear because it lies so much in the region of the soul that to the inexperienced it appears to be a mere matter of fancy and diseased imagination. Reader, never ridicule the nervous and hypochondriacal; their pain is real. Though much of the evil lies in the imagination, it is not imaginary. ‘And who are cut off from Your hand.’ Poor Heman felt as if God Himself had smitten him and laid him among the corpses of those executed by divine justice. He mourned that the hand of the Lord had gone out against him and that he was divided from the great Author of his life. This is the essence of wormwood. Humans’ blows are trifles, but God’s smitings are terrible to a gracious heart.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon and the Psalms

My Thoughts

God saves the psalmist day and night, but the psalmist is on his last leg.  He is counted among those ready to die.  I do not think that it is against the confidentiality of our prayer list to say that in the past, we have had people reported to be “only a matter of time.”  Sometimes they are gone within a week, but sometimes the next month’s update is the same, only a matter of time.  The psalmist is saying that this is his situation.

Yet, the psalmist hangs on.

The psalm is Heman the Ezrahite, a son of Korah.  And the psalmist is saying he has been near death since birth, but here he is still alive and kicking while his friends and family have all gone.

I remember my mother-in-law.  She had outlived her brothers and sisters.  She outlived her husband by decades.  She outlived her canasta buddies.  She outlived all her friends at her little Catholic church.  Why was she still around?

As we get older and our infirmities make it more and more difficult to get around, we sometimes ask the same questions.  Why are we still here?

But if we look outward rather than inward, we see others in the same boat.  We see that we can share our hope.  And when all hope is gone, we can share the love of God until our last breath.

Psalm 89

I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
    with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
    through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
    that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
    I have sworn to David my servant,
‘I will establish your line forever
    and make your throne firm through all generations.’”
The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,
    your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?
    Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?
In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
    he is more awesome than all who surround him.
Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?
    You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

• Psalm 89:1-8

For all of Psalm 89, click the link HERE.

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“Many psalms that begin with complaint and prayer end with joy and praise, but this begins with joy and praise and ends with sad complaints and petitions; for the psalmist first recounts God’s former favours, and then with the consideration of them aggravates the present grievances. It is uncertain when it was penned; only, in general, that it was at a time when the house of David was woefully eclipsed; some think it was at the time of the captivity of Babylon, when king Zedekiah was insulted over, and abused, by Nebuchadnezzar, and then they make the title to signify no more than that the psalm was set to the tune of a song of Ethan the son of Zerah, called Maschil; others suppose it to be penned by Ethan, who is mentioned in the story of Solomon, who, outliving that glorious prince, thus lamented the great disgrace done to the house of David in the next reign by the revolt of the ten tribes. I. The psalmist, in the joyful pleasant part of the psalm, gives glory to God, and takes comfort to himself and his friends. This he does more briefly, mentioning God’s mercy and truth (ver. 1) and his covenant (ver. 2-4), but more largely in the following verses, wherein, 1. He adores the glory and perfection of God, ver. 5-14. 2. He pleases himself in the happiness of those that are admitted into communion with him, ver. 15-18. 3. He builds all his hope upon God’s covenant with David, as a type of Christ, ver. 19-37. II. In the melancholy part of the psalm he laments the present calamitous state of the prince and royal family (ver. 38-45), expostulates with God upon it (ver. 46-49), and then concludes with prayer for redress, ver. 50, 51. In singing this psalm we must have high thoughts of God, a lively faith in his covenant with the Redeemer, and a sympathy with the afflicted parts of the church.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 89:14 ”The single most difficult pursuit is truth and love.
“That sentence is grammatically correct. I know every English teacher would like to pluralize it to read: The most difficult pursuits are those of truth and love. But that’s not what I mean to say.
“Love is a difficult pursuit.
“Truth is a tough one, too.
“But put them together, pursue truth and love at the same time and hang on baby, you’re in for the ride of your life.
“Love in truth. Truth in love. Never one at the expense of the other. Never the embrace of love without the torch of truth. Never the heat of truth without the warmth of love …
“To pursue both is our singular task.”

• Max Lucado, The Inspirational Study Bible

My Thoughts

Ethan is mentioned in 1 Kings 4, along with Heman who wrote Psalm 88, as a wise man, yet Solomon was wiser than either of them.

This psalm starts with praise and adulation of God, who is greater than who are in the Heavenly hosts.  The reference to Rahab is a reference to Egypt, per Rev. MacArthur.

Love and faithfulness define who God is.  They go before Him.  And those who remain in God’s righteousness and justice are blessed by Him.  These upright people exalt the Lord.

The Lord spoke in a vision about how David was found and anointed by God and his horn will be exalted.  His enemies would not overtake him.

And David’s kingly line would last forever, but if the sons do not follow God’s law, they will be punished.  This is much like the Davidic covenant.

Then the psalm shifts into a Messianic prophecy for nearly the rest of the psalm, half describing how Jesus was God’s first born, but then He was rejected.

And how long will it be?  No one shall escape death.  We have mocked your anointed servant, Lord.

Yet, praise the Lord, forever and ever.  Amen and amen.

Psalm 90

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
    throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.
Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.
We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins in the light of your presence.
All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.
Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.

• Psalm 90:1-17

Type of Psalm

Didactic psalms: These psalms are psalms that are intended to teach.  In most cases the psalm instructs us in moral principles.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“The foregoing psalm is supposed to have been penned as late as the captivity in Babylon; this, it is plain, was penned as early as the deliverance out of Egypt, and yet they are put close together in this collection of divine songs. This psalm was penned by Moses (as appears by the title), the most ancient penman of sacred writ. We have upon record a praising song of his (Exod. 15:1-21), which is alluded to Rev. 15:3), and an instructing song of his, Deut. 32:1-47 But this is of a different nature from both, for it is called a prayer. It is supposed that this psalm was penned upon occasion of the sentence passed upon Israel in the wilderness for their unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion, that their carcases should fall in the wilderness, that they should be wasted away by a series of miseries for thirty-eight years together, and that none of them that were then of age should enter Canaan. This was calculated for their wanderings in the wilderness, as that other song of Moses (Deut. 31:19, 21) was for their settlement in Canaan. We have the story to which this psalm seems to refer, Num. 14:1-45 Probably Moses penned this prayer to be daily used, either by the people in their tents, or, at lest, by the priests in the tabernacle-service, during their tedious fatigue in the wilderness. In it, I. Moses comforts himself and his people with the eternity of God and their interest in him, ver. 1, 2. II. He humbles himself and his people with the consideration of the frailty of man, ver. 3-6. III. He submits himself and his people to the righteous sentence of God passed upon them, ver. 7-11. IV. He commits himself and his people to God by prayer for divine mercy and grace, and the return of God’s favour, ver. 12-17. Though it seems to have been penned upon this particular occasion, yet it is very applicable to the frailty of human life in general, and, in singing it, we may easily apply it to the years of our passage through the wilderness of this world, and it furnishes us with meditations and prayers very suitable to the solemnity of a funeral.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 90:3 “God is here and He is speaking-these truths are back of all other Bible truths; without them there could be no revelation at all. God did not write a book and send it by messenger to be read at a distance by unaided minds. He spoke a Book and lives in His spoken words, constantly speaking His words and causing the power of them to persist across the years. God breathed on clay and it became a man; He breathes on men and they become clay. ‘Return, ye children of men’ was the word spoken at the Fall by which God decreed the death of every man, and no added word has He needed to speak. The sad procession of mankind across the face of the earth from birth to the grave is proof that His original word was enough.”

• A. W. Tozer, Pursuit of God

My Thoughts

This psalm of Moses is rather maudlin.  Moses starts by praising God. God gave birth to the mountains.  Everything comes from Him, but then God’s wrath is great, and we are nothing but dust.

God’s wrath is great.  Our days are numbered.

But then the mood changes.  With numbered days, let us be satisfied.  Let us have hearts of wisdom.  Let us be joyful in the few days that we have.

Have compassion on us, Lord.

Show your favor to us, Lord.

May God’s deeds be shown to God’s servants and God’s splendors shown to their children.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 88

“1. Is it possible for devoted believers to be in perpetual trouble? Depressed? Feel forsaken?
“2. Do you fear or suffer from illness? Do you see God as a healer? Why are some healed and others not? Of what would like to be healed?
“3. Have you ever been treated like a ‘leper’? Have you treated someone like that? Who are the lepers in your life? Society? Church? Family? What can you do to help them? As a group?
“4. Why do you suppose this psalm is in the Psalter? What good are unanswered questions about suffering? Can comfort be found here?
“5. Can a Christian be both a committed realist and optimist? Which do you tend to be? Do you feel the need to grow in one area?  What steps can you take?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 89

“1. Does God seem to keep promises with you or have you felt misled or confused? What situation of life has called God’s promises into question?
“2. When you experience setbacks what is your first reaction: (a) Become overwhelmed by feelings? (b) Focus on the problem? (c) Affirm God’s control? What is the psalmist’s approach?
“3. Do you see God at work in the adversities you face now? Do you feel free to go to God in the ‘hard times’ or do you think you have to ‘be at your best’? How you do keep yourself hidden from God?
“4. What has God created in your life? What battles has God won for you? Your church? The group?
“5. Does God’s faithfulness excite you? Why or why not? Do you make the Lord’s faithfulness known ‘through all generations’? What do you want others to know? How can you become a more effective broadcaster?
“6. How did the early Christians feel God solved the problem of the lost Davidic line (see Rev 1:5)? How is God’s covenant to Israel alive in the church today?
“7. Have you ever felt that God didn’t come through on a promise? What happened? To what divine quality would you appeal to guarantee God keeps his promise?
“8. What does this psalm say about our ability to resolve contradictions by our­ selves? How does this keep us ‘hanging on’ in crisis?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Psalm 90

“1. What do you think is the biggest difference between God and people? What difference is hardest to understand? Hardest to accept?
“2. Would you call this psalm pessimistic? Realistic? Encouraging? Why? Do you con­ sider life something God has ‘afflicted’ you with?
“3. Are you ‘teachable’? When are you most able to receive instruction? When are you most resistant?
“4. How do you ‘number your days’: (a) One day at a time? (b) Make each one count? (c) On a scale of 1 to 10? (d) With a clock and calendar? (e) Lost count?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions for each of these psalms.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.