Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 88:15

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 88:15. From my youth up. — I have always been a child of sorrow, afflicted in my body, and distressed in my mind. There are still found in the Church of God persons in similar circumstances; persons who are continually mourning for themselves and for the desolations of Zion. A disposition of this kind is sure to produce an unhealthy body; and indeed a weak constitution may often produce an enfeebled mind; but where the terrors of the Lord prevail, there is neither health of body nor peace of mind.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 88:0 Darkness and despair

Overcome with trials and seeing no way out of the situation, the writer prays desperately to God (1-2). He sees himself as being close to death, with no way of being rescued (3-5). He feels as if he has been left to die by both God and friends (6-8). He wants to experience God’s saving power now, while he is still alive, for it will be too late when he is dead (9-12).
Looking back, the writer sees that all his life he has had nothing but suffering, yet God still seems to ignore him. In fact, it seems that God deliberately attacks him, crushing him with sorrow and taking away from him even the comfort of friends. In spite of this, he does not turn away from God, but brings his burden to him daily (13-18).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE CRY REPEATED; MORE DETAILS OF SORROW

“But unto thee, O Jehovah, have I cried; And in the morning shall my prayer come before thee. Jehovah, why casteth thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath is gone over me; They terrors have cut me off. They came round about me like water all the day long; They compassed me about together. Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, And mine acquaintance unto darkness.”

“In the morning shall my prayer come before thee” “Although the psalmist’s distress has reached critical proportions, his faith in God greets each new day with prayer, in spite of the fact that he is perplexed by God’s purposes as seen in his life.”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 506. He could not understand the reason for his wretched condition; and it was a mystery to him why he should have been required to pass through such terrible experiences; but he kept on praying every day! That is the glory of this ancient Saint. What a contrast is he with those persons who, signally blessed of God, and passing through life with large measures of success, and with practically no suffering of any kind, but who never worship God and never pray!

“Why hidest thou thy face?” The most sorrowful thing about this psalm is that the psalmist has no sense of feeling that God has answered his prayers, or even heard them. No assurance, comfort, and encouragement of any kind have come to him. He feels utterly cut off from every blessing of God.

In whatever direction the psalmist looks, he sees only blackness and despair. “Looking backward at the past, he sees nothing but ill health and ill fortune (Psalms 88:15). Looking unto God he is terrified (Psalms 88:15 b-17). Looking for human comfort, he can see no one at all (Psalms 88:18).”Derek Kidner, Vol. II, p. 218.

“Lover and friend hast thou put far from me” This is another line that would be extremely difficult to apply to the nation of Israel; but it seems appropriate enough if referred to the desertion of a leper by his family and friends.

“And mine acquaintance into darkness” Baigent noted that we should read this as, “Darkness is my one companion left.”The New Layman’s Bible Commentary, p. 662.

“Darkness” What an awful word with which to close a psalm; and yet it is admittedly very apt and appropriate for a psalm like this.

“Herein lies the wonder of this psalmist’s triumphant faith. That a man should see no light at all and yet go right on supplicating God in fervent, ceaseless prayer that is an unqualified marvel. Truly, this Old Testament saint can be our master and teacher.”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 506.

Kidner addressed the question of, “What, really, is the roll of this psalm in Scripture?”Derek Kidner, op. cit., p. 319. and we are indebted to him for some of the thoughts we have paraphrased here in our own efforts to assess the meaning of this psalm for Christians today.

(1)    This psalm reveals the truth that Christians may sometimes be subjected to the most unrelenting and terrible misfortunes in passing through this earthly life. It happened to Job; it happened to this psalmist; and it can happen to any child of God.

What a joyful thing it is that, unlike the pitiful sufferer here, the Christian today has the advantage of the blessed hope of the resurrection “in Christ” and the hope of eternal glory in heaven.

(2)    There is the lesson of this psalm that no matter how discouraging and terrible one’s lot in life may be, he should not fail to lay the matter before the Lord in prayer. God always answers the prayers of his saints, even if their specific requests must be denied, as in the case of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.”

(3)    Our lives upon earth are only a moment compared to the ceaseless ages of eternity; and our attitude during the very worst of experiences should be the same as that of Job, who cried, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” (Job 13:15).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

I am afflicted and ready to die - I am so afflicted - so crushed with sorrow and trouble - that my strength is nearly gone, and I can endure it but a little longer.

From my youth up - That is, for a long time; so long, that the remembrance of it seems to go back to my very childhood. My whole life has been a life of trouble and sorrow, and I have not strength to bear it longer. It may have been literally true that the author of the psalm had been a man always afflicted; or, this may be the language of strong emotion, meaning that his sufferings had been of so long continuance that they seemed to him to have begun in his very boyhood.

While I suffer thy terrors - I bear those things which produce terror; or, which fill my mind with alarm; to wit, the fear of death, and the dread of the future world.

I am distracted - I cannot compose and control my mind; I cannot pursue any settled course of thought; I cannot confine my attention to anyone subject; I cannot reason calmly on the subject of affliction, on the divine government, on the ways of God. I am distracted with contending feelings, with my pain, and my doubts, and my fears - and I cannot think clearly of anything. Such is often the case in sickness; and consequently what we need, to prepare us for sickness, is a strong faith, built on a solid foundation while we are in health; such an intelligent and firm faith that when the hour of sickness shall come we shall have nothing else to do but to believe, and to take the comfort of believing. The bed of sickness is not the proper place to examine the evidences of religion; it is not the place to make preparation for death; not the proper place to become religious. Religion demands the best vigor of the intellect and the calmest state of the heart; and this great subject should be settled in our minds before we are sick - before we are laid on the bed of death.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

The reason why he says that he was ready to die ⁽⁵¹⁸⁾ from his youth, (verse 15,) is uncertain, unless it may be considered a probable conjecture that he was severely tried in a variety of ways, so that his life, as it were, hung by a thread amidst various tremblings and fears. Whence also we gather that God’s wraths and terrors, of which he speaks in the 16^th verse, were not of short continuance. He expresses them in the 17^th verse as having encompassed him daily. Since nothing is more dreadful than to conceive of God as angry with us, he not improperly compares his distress to a flood. Hence also proceeded his doubting. ⁽⁵¹⁹⁾ for a sense of the divine anger must necessarily have agitated his mind with sore disquietude. But it may be asked, How can this wavering agree with faith? It is true, that when the heart is in perplexity and doubt, or rather is tossed hither and thither, faith seems to be swallowed up. But experience teaches us, that faith, while it fluctuates amidst these agitations, continues to rise again from time to time, so as not to be overwhelmed; and if at any time it is at the point of being stifled, it is nevertheless sheltered and cherished, for though the tempests may become never so violent, it shields itself from them by reflecting that God continues faithful, and never disappoints or forsakes his own children.

(518) “C’est, se cachent.” —Fr. marg. “That is, hide themselves.” Walford reads, “The darkness of death is my associate;” on which he has the following note: — “The darkness of death. I take this literally to mean, ‘My acquaintance, or he that knoweth me, is darkness personified:’ — orcus, abaddon.”

(519) The original word for “ready to die” is גוע,goveang It is literally, I labour, orpant for breath, I breathe with pain and difficulty, as a person in great affliction and distress. The verb sometimes signifies to expire; but it does not so strictly express as imply death, from the obstruction of breathing that accompanies it. (See Parkhurst’s Lexicon, גגע, 1, 2.)

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 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 Psalms 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 ( Psalms 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. "

Dr. Constable's Expository 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 (1 Kings 4:31; 1 Chronicles 15:19; 1 Chronicles 16:41-42; 1 Chronicles 25:1; 1 Chronicles 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.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. The sufferer’s faith 88:13-18

For the third time, Heman cried out to God for help (cf. Psalms 88:1-2; Psalms 88:13). He asked for an explanation of his suffering (Psalms 88:14). Then he described his sufferings further (Psalms 88:15-18). Still, he kept turning to God in prayer, waiting for an answer and some relief.

"With darkness as its final word, what is the role of this psalm in Scripture? For the beginning of an answer we may note, first, its witness to the possibility of unrelieved suffering as a believer’s earthly lot. The happy ending of most psalms of this kind is seen to be a bonus, not a due; its withholding is not a proof of either God’s displeasure or His defeat. Secondly, the psalm adds its voice to the ’groaning in travail’ which forbids us to accept the present order as final. It is a sharp reminder that ’we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies’ (Romans 8:22 f.). Thirdly, this author, like Job, does not give up. He completes his prayer, still in the dark and totally unrewarded. The taunt, ’Does Job fear God for naught?’, is answered yet again. Fourthly, the author’s name allows us, with hindsight, to see that his rejection was only apparent (see the opening comments on the psalm). His existence was no mistake; there was a divine plan bigger than he knew, and a place in it reserved most carefully for him." [Note: Kidner, Psalms 73-150, p. 319. See also Brueggemann, pp. 80-81.]

When God does not relieve affliction, the godly continue to pray, trusting that He will eventually grant their petition if this is His will.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

I am afflicted,.... In body and mind, from within and from without, by Satan, by the men of the world, and by the Lord himself; which is the common lot of God's people, Psalms 34:19 and was the case of the Messiah, who was afflicted both with the tongues and hands of men, by words, by blows, and by the temptations of Satan; and was smitten and afflicted of God, by divine justice, as the sinner's surety: see Psalms 22:24 or

I am poor a; which as it is a character, which, for the most part, agrees with the saints, who are the poor of this world God has chosen, to whom the Gospel is sent, and by whom it is received, and who are effectually called by it, so likewise belongs to Christ, Zechariah 9:9,

and ready to die, from my youth up; a sickly unhealthful person from his infancy, and often in danger of death; which last was certainly the case of Christ in his infancy, through the malice of Herod; and many times afterwards, when grown up, through the attempts of the Jews to take away his life: some render it, "I am ready to die through concussion", or "shaking" b; meaning some very rough and severe dispensation of Providence, such an one as Job expresses by shaking him to pieces, Job 16:12 and was literally true of Christ, when his body was so shaken by the jog of the cross, that all his bones were put out of joint, Psalms 22:14

while I suffer thy terrors; or "bear" c them, or "carry", even terrible afflictions, in which he had terrible apprehensions of the wrath of God in them, of death they would issue in, and of an awful judgment that should follow that; all which are called the terrors of the Lord, Job 6:4, and which the saints, when left to God, have some dreadful apprehensions of: such were the terrors of the Lord the Messiah endured, when in a view of the sins of his people being laid upon him, and of the wrath of God coming on him for them, his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling to the ground, Luke 22:44. Compare with this Psalms 18:4.

I am distracted: not out of his mind, deprived of his senses, and without the use of reason; but his thoughts were distracted and confused, and his mind discomposed with the terrors of God upon him: the Hebrew word "aphunah" is only used in this place, and is difficult of interpretation, and is variously derived and rendered: some take it to be of the same root with "pen", which signifies "lest, perhaps" d; seeing persons in a panic are apt to use such expressions; perhaps, or it may be, such and such things will befall me; forming and framing in their minds ten thousand dreadful things, which they fear are coming upon them; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi; and is applied by Cocceius e to the solicitous care and fear of Christ concerning his body, the church, Hebrews 5:7 others derive it from "ophen", which signifies a wheel, and so may be rendered, "I am wheeled about" f; always in motion, and have no rest day nor night; as Christ was after his apprehension, being carried from place to place, and from bar to bar: others derive it from the Arabic word "aphan" g, which signifies to be in want of counsel and advice: Christ though, as God, needed no counsel, nor did he take counsel with any; and, as Mediator, is the wonderful Counsellor; yet, as man, he needed it, and had it from his Father, for which he blesses him, Psalms 16:7, others from the Hebrew root "phanah", which signifies to look unto, as persons in a panic look here and there; and as Christ did when suffering, who looked, and there was none to help, Isaiah 63:5. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it "amazed", or "astonished", which is said of Christ, Mark 14:33, the Vulgate Latin version is "troubled", which also agrees with Christ, John 12:27 as he must needs be, when his enemies surrounded him, the sins of his people were upon him, the sword of justice awaked against him, and the wrath of God on him, as follows.

a עני "pauper", V. L. Pagninus, Junius Tremellius "inops", Cocceius, Michaelis. b מנער "a concussione", Luther, Schmidt, Junius Tremellius "propter concussionem", Piscator; "prae concussione", Gejerus. c נשאתי "portavi", Pagninus, Montanus; "fero", Tigurine version, Piscator; "tuli", Musculus, Cocceius; "pertuli portavi", Michaelis. d אפונה a פן "ne forte", Amama, Gejerus; "anxius timeo vel metno, ne hoc vel illud fiat", Michaelis. e Lex. Heb. p. 663. f Heb. "rotor, seu instar rotae circumagor", Piscator. g "consilii inops fuit", Castel. Lex. col. 199.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      10 Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.   11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?   12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?   13 But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.   14 LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?   15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.   16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.   17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.   18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

      In these verses,

      I. The psalmist expostulates with God concerning the present deplorable condition he was in (Psalms 88:10-12; Psalms 88:10-12): "Wilt thou do a miraculous work to the dead, and raise them to life again? Shall those that are dead and buried rise up to praise thee? No; they leave it to their children to rise up in their room to praise God; none expects that they should do it; and wherefore should they rise, wherefore should they live, but to praise God? The life we are born to at first, and the life we hope to rise to at last, must thus be spent. But shall thy lovingkindness to thy people be declared in the grave, either by those or to those that lie buried there? And thy faithfulness to thy promise, shall that be told in destruction? shall thy wonders be wrought in the dark, or known there, and thy righteousness in the grave, which is the land of forgetfulness, where men remember nothing, nor are themselves remembered? Departed souls may indeed know God's wonders and declare his faithfulness, justice, and lovingkindness; but deceased bodies cannot; they can neither receive God's favours in comfort nor return them in praise." Now we will not suppose these expostulations to be the language of despair, as if he thought God could not help him or would not, much less do they imply any disbelief of the resurrection of the dead at the last day; but he thus pleads with God for speedy relief: "Lord, thou art good, thou art faithful, thou art righteous; these attributes of thine will be made known in my deliverance, but, if it be not hastened, it will come too late; for I shall be dead and past relief, dead and not capable of receiving any comfort, very shortly." Job often pleaded thus, Job 7:8; Job 10:21.

      II. He resolves to continue instant in prayer, and the more so because the deliverance was deferred (Psalms 88:13; Psalms 88:13): "Unto thee have I cried many a time, and found comfort in so doing, and therefore I will continue to do so; in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee." Note, Though our prayers be not answered immediately, yet we must not therefore give over praying, because the vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak and not lie. God delays the answer in order that he may try our patience and perseverance in prayer. He resolves to seek God early, in the morning, when his spirits were lively, and before the business of the day began to crowd in--in the morning, after he had been tossed with cares, and sorrowful thoughts in the silence and solitude of the night; but how could he say, My prayer shall prevent thee? Not as if he could wake sooner to pray than God to hear and answer; for he neither slumbers nor sleeps; but it intimates that he would be up earlier than ordinary to pray, would prevent (that is, go before) his usual hour of prayer. The greater our afflictions are the more solicitous and serious we should be in prayer. "My prayer shall present itself before thee, and be betimes with thee, and shall not stay for the encouragement of the beginning of mercy, but reach towards it with faith and expectation even before the day dawns." God often prevents our prayers and expectations with his mercies; let us prevent his mercies with our prayers and expectations.

      III. He sets down what he will say to God in prayer. 1. He will humbly reason with God concerning the abject afflicted condition he was now in (Psalms 88:14; Psalms 88:14): "Lord, why castest thou off my soul? What is it that provokes thee to treat me as one abandoned? Show me wherefore thou contendest with me." He speaks it with wonder that God should cast off an old servant, should cast off one that was resolved not to cast him off: "No wonder men cast me off; but, Lord, why dost thou, whose gifts and callings are without repentance? Why hidest thou thy face, as one angry at me, that either hast no favour for me or wilt not let me know that thou hast?" Nothing grieves a child of God so much as God's hiding his face from him, nor is there any thing he so much dreads as God's casting off his soul. If the sun be clouded, that darkens the earth; but if the sun should abandon the earth, and quite cast it off, what a dungeon would it be! 2. He will humbly repeat the same complaints he had before made, until God have mercy on him. Two things he represents to God as his grievances:-- (1.) That God was a terror to him: I suffer thy terrors,Psalms 88:15; Psalms 88:15. He had continual frightful apprehensions of the wrath of God against him for his sins and the consequences of that wrath. It terrified him to think of God, of falling into his hands and appearing before him to receive his doom from him. He perspired and trembled at the apprehension of God's displeasure against him, and the terror of his majesty. Note, Even those that are designed for God's favours may yet, for a time, suffer his terrors. The spirit of adoption is first a spirit of bondage to fear. Poor Job complained of the terrors of God setting themselves in array against him,Job 6:4. The psalmist here explains himself, and tells us what he means by God's terrors, even his fierce wrath. Let us see what dreadful impressions those terrors made upon him, and how deeply they wounded him. [1.] They had almost taken away his life: "I am so afflicted with them that I am ready to die, and" (as the word is) "to give up the ghost. Thy terrors have cut me off," Psalms 88:16; Psalms 88:16. What is hell, that eternal excision, by which damned sinners are for ever cut off from God and all happiness, but God's terrors fastening and preying upon their guilty consciences? [2.] They had almost taken away the use of his reason: When I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. This sad effect the terrors of the Lord have had upon many, and upon some good men, who have thereby been put quite out of the possession of their own souls, a most piteous case, and which ought to be looked upon with great compassion. [3.] This had continued long: From my youth up I suffer thy terrors. He had been from his childhood afflicted with melancholy, and trained up in sorrow under the discipline of that school. If we begin our days with trouble, and the days of our mourning have been prolonged a great while, let us not think it strange, but let tribulation work patience. It is observable the Heman, who became eminently wise and good, was afflicted and ready to die, and suffered God's terrors, from his youth up. Thus many have found it was good for them to bear the yoke in their youth, that sorrow has been much better for them than laughter would have been, and that being much afflicted, and often ready to die, when they were young, they have, by the grace of God, got such an habitual seriousness and weanedness from the world as have been of great use to them all their days. Sometimes those whom God designs for eminent services are prepared for them by exercises of this kind. [4.] His affliction was now extreme, and worse than ever. God's terrors now came round about him, so that from all sides he was assaulted with variety of troubles, and he had no comfortable gale from any point of the compass. They broke in upon him together like an inundation of water; and this daily, and all the day; so that he had no rest, no respite, not the lest breathing-time, no lucid intervals, nor any gleam of hope. Such was the calamitous state of a very wise and good man; he was so surrounded with terrors that he could find no place of shelter, nor lie any where under the wind. (2.) That no friend he had in the world was a comfort to him (Psalms 88:18; Psalms 88:18): Lover and friend hast thou put far from me; some are dead, others at a distance, and perhaps many unkind. Next to the comforts of religion are those of friendship and society; therefore to be friendless is (as to this life) almost to be comfortless; and to those who have had friends, but have lost them, the calamity is the more grievous. With this the psalmist here closes his complaint, as if this were that which completed his woe and gave the finishing stroke to the melancholy piece. If our friends are put far from us by scattering providences, nay, if by death our acquaintance are removed into darkness, we have reason to look upon it as a sore affliction, but must acknowledge and submit to the hand of God in it.