Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 88
Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalms 88
Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalms 88
"O Jehovah, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee. Let my prayer enter into thy presence; Incline thine ear unto my cry. For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol. I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no help, Cast off among the dead, Like the slain that lie in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more, And they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me; Thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction: I have called daily upon thee, O Jehovah; I have spread forth my hands unto thee." — Psalms 88:1-9 (ASV)
The first words of the psalmist are the only words of comfort and support in this psalm. Good people can be so greatly afflicted, and may have such dismal thoughts about their afflictions and make such dark conclusions about their end, through the power of melancholy and the weakness of faith. He complained most of God's displeasure. Even the children of God's love may sometimes think they are children of wrath, and no outward trouble can be as hard for them as that.
Probably the psalmist described his own case, yet he leads to Christ. So we are called to look to Jesus, wounded and bruised for our iniquities. But the wrath of God poured the greatest bitterness into his cup. This weighed him down into darkness and the deep.
"Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall they that are decreased arise and praise thee? Selah Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in Destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But unto thee, O Jehovah, have I cried; And in the morning shall my prayer come before thee. Jehovah, why castest 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; Thy 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 into darkness. " — Psalms 88:10-18 (ASV)
Departed souls may declare God's faithfulness, justice, and lovingkindness; but deceased bodies can neither receive God's favors in comfort, nor return them in praise. The psalmist resolved to continue in prayer, and all the more so because deliverance did not come quickly. Though our prayers are not answered soon, we must not give up praying. The greater our troubles, the more earnest and serious we should be in prayer.
Nothing grieves a child of God as much as losing sight of him; nor is there anything he dreads as much as God's casting off his soul. If the sun is clouded, that darkens the earth; but if the sun were to leave the earth, what a dungeon it would be! Even those destined for God's favors may for a time suffer his terrors.
See how deep those terrors wounded the psalmist. If friends are put far from us by acts of providence or by death, we have reason to regard it as an affliction. Such was the calamitous state of a good man.
But the pleas used here were particularly suited to Christ. We are not to think that the holy Jesus suffered for us only at Gethsemane and on Calvary. His whole life was labor and sorrow; he was afflicted as no one ever was, from his youth.
He was prepared for that death, which he tasted throughout his life. No one could share in the sufferings by which others were to be redeemed. All forsook him, and fled. Often, blessed Jesus, we forsake you; but do not forsake us, O do not take your Holy Spirit from us.
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