Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 88:7

"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah" — Psalms 88:7 (ASV)

Thy wrath lieth hard upon me—Presses me down; burdens me. The meaning is that what was the proper and usual expression of wrath or displeasure—namely, bodily and mental suffering—pressed hard on him and crushed him to the earth. He interpreted these bodily sufferings, in the sad and gloomy state of mind in which he was, as evidence of the divine displeasure against himself.

And thou hast afflicted me—You have oppressed me, or broken me down.

With all thy waves—This means literally, “your breakers;” that is, with expressions of wrath like the waves of the sea, which foam and break on the shore.

Nothing could be a more striking image of wrath. Those “breakers” seem to be so furious and angry; they rush along with so much impetuosity, they are so mighty, and they dash with such fury on the shore, that it seems as if nothing could stand before them.

Yet they find a barrier such as we would little expect. The low and humble beach made of shifting sand, where there seems to be no stability, is an effectual barrier against all their rage, just as the humble piety of the child of God, apparently without strength to resist calamity, bears all the beatings of affliction and maintains its place as the heavy waves of sorrow roll upon it.

On the meaning of the word used here, and on the idea expressed, see the notes at Psalms 42:7.