Seventh-day Adventist Bible CommentaryPsalms 88

Of my salvation. This seems to be the only ray of light in the entire psalm. Despite the overwhelming gloom of the psalm, David trusts in God as his Saviour. A child of God should never come to the place where he gives up in despair.

Of troubles. See Job 10:15; Ps. 123:4. The tone of the psalm resembles the complaints of Job in the first chapters of the book of Job. Grave. Heb. she’ol (see on Prov. 15:11). The psalmist urges his extremity as the reason for God’s hearing him. Sick unto death, Hezekiah could plead as did David (see PK 340, 341).

Pit. See on Ps. 28:1.

Among the dead. That is, the psalmist was counted as though dead. Thou rememberest no more. In his gloom the psalmist comes to feel that God forgets a man when he lies down to sleep the sleep of death. From thy hand. Or, “from Thy power,” the hand being the symbol of power.

Thy wrath. David considers his suffering the result of God’s anger (see on Ps. 38:3). All thy waves. See on Ps. 42:7. Selah. See on p. 629.

Put away. See v. 18; cf. Ps. 31:11; 38:11; 69:8; Job 19:13–17. An abomination.That is, something to be detested, abhorred, and therefore shunned, as unclean. Shut up. Presumably as unclean, or suspected of being unclean (see Lev. 13).

Dead. Heb. repha’im (see on Job 26:5). In Ugaritic (see p. 618) rphwm also means “dead.” The psalmist seems to reason thus with God: Why dost Thou condemn me to death when Thy power and goodness cannot be demonstrated in the grave (see Job 10:21, 22)? Selah. See p. 629.

Lovingkindness. Dead men cannot appreciate the attributes of God. Only the living can praise God for His love (see Ps. 89:1). Destruction. Heb. ’abaddon (see on Job 26:6).

Land of forgetfulness. A land of oblivion, where the dead neither remember nor are remembered.

Have I cried. The psalmist returns, as it were, to the realization that he is not in the grave, but still in the living flesh. Though on the edge of the grave, he will continue to pray for God to come to his rescue. In the morning. See on Ps. 5:3.

My soul. Or, “me” (see on Ps. 16:10). Unaware of grievous sin, he cannot understand why he should have to suffer so heavily.

Why hidest thou? See on Ps. 13:1. It seems to David that God has deliberately turned His attention away from him in his distress.

From my youth up. This phrase may imply that the psalmist was smitten at an early age and has suffered for many years, or it may be the hyperbolic language of deep emotion: his suffering is so intense that his remembrance of it seems to go back to his youth.

Like water. The psalmist is like a man about to drown (see Ps. 42:7).

Lover and friend. Compare v. 8. The psalmist repeats his complaint as a last pathetic note in his song. Even those to whom he had a right to look for help and sympathy in his plight have deserted him (see Job 19:13–21). It is well to note, despite the hopelessness of the psalm, that David confesses God as his Saviour (v. 1); acknowledges His loving-kindness, faithfulness, strength, and righteousness (vs. 10–12); and continues to pray (v. 13). We may be sure that, although the psalm closes in darkness, light eventually broke forth and all was well (see Job 5:18; 13:15). The psalm is a supreme example of perfect faith: though David sees no release, he remains firm in God. Mine acquaintance. In the poetic parallelism of v. 18 these words stand as the counterpart of “lover and friend.” An “acquaintance,” presumably, would be on less intimate terms than a “lover and friend”; yet David mourns the loss of the friendship of even those who are not his most intimate associates.