Reflections on Psalms 88

 Psalms 88(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A song and a psalm by the people of Korah for the music leader. To the tune "Mahalath Leannoth." A special psalm by Heman the Ezrahite.) You keep me safe, LORD God. So when I pray at night,
   
2. please listen carefully to each of my concerns.
   
3. I am deeply troubled and close to death;
   
4. I am as good as dead and completely helpless.
   
5. I am no better off than those in the grave, those you have forgotten and no longer help.
   
6. You have put me in the deepest and darkest grave;
   
7. your anger rolls over me like ocean waves.
   
8. You have made my friends turn in horror from me. I am a prisoner who cannot escape,
   
9. and I am almost blind because of my sorrow. Each day I lift my hands in prayer to you, LORD.
   
10. Do you work miracles for the dead? Do they stand up and praise you?
    
11. Are your love and loyalty announced in the world of the dead?
    
12. Do they know of your miracles or your saving power in the dark world below where all is forgotten?
    
13. Each morning I pray to you, LORD.
    
14. Why do you reject me? Why do you turn from me?
    
15. Ever since I was a child, I have been sick and close to death. You have terrified me and made me helpless.
    
16. Your anger is like a flood! And I am shattered by your furious attacks
    
17. that strike each day and from every side.
    
18. My friends and neighbors have turned against me because of you, and now darkness is my only companion.

---

Psalms 88 is recognized as the saddest psalm in the book. The brightest spot in the whole psalm is the opening phrase: "Lord, God of my salvation." Despite the psalmist's misery and length of suffering, he still looked to God as his salvation. But he also attributed his suffering to God. He pointed out that his troubles had brought him near the grave and in fact was counted by others as approaching the grave. He had been abandoned by family and friends as if he were already dead. And having described his situation he told the Lord that He had put him in this position: "You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit, in the darkest places, in the depths. Your wrath weighs heavily on me; You have overwhelmed me with all Your waves." (88:6-7)

He then attempted to plead his case before the Lord on the bases of being useless to the Lord after death. He does so through a series of questions: Can the Lord work wonders for him after he is dead? Can the dead give Him praise? Can the Lord exercise His faithful love for the dead? His questions reveal the lack of complete knowledge about death and the hereafter by Old Testament believers. Knowledge that came later through Jesus Christ. Therefore he viewed the grave as the end which gave him more reason to avoid death. However, in reality he would be praising the Lord more in death when he was in the presence of the Lord than in life when His glory is not fully revealed.

Following this appeal, the psalmist returned to describing his plight. He had been afflicted "from my youth." He saw in this that the Lord's "wrath sweeps over me; Your terrors destroy me." From his perspective all of this was from the Lord. And furthermore, the Lord had "distanced loved one and neighbor from me; darkness is my only friend." (88:18) And if the Lord was the source of his trouble He was the only one to whom he could direct his appeal. Therefore, he said, "I call to You for help, LORD; in the morning my prayer meets You." (88:13)

Besides his incomplete understanding of death from an Old Testament perspective, he also had a flawed perspective regarding God's involvement in his troubles. He assumed them to be God's punishment, an assumption one cannot automatically make. Was there sin in his life for which he was receiving this punishment? He makes no such reference. Maybe he thought it to be sin for which he was unaware? But Jesus dispelled this thinking in an incident in which some people reported that some Galileans had been persecuted by Pilate. The assumption was that these Galilians must have some great sin for which they were being punished. But Jesus asked them, "Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all Galileans because they suffered these things?" (Luke 13:2) Then He said to them, "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as well!" The Galileans were no more sinful than the ones reporting the incident to Jesus. We all have sin and will all perish unless we repent of our sin. The suffering of the Galileans was not due to their sin.