Psalms 88 commentary

The first words of the psalmist are the only words of comfort and support in this psalm. Thus greatly may good men be afflicted, and such dismal thoughts may they have about their afflictions, and such dark conclusion may they make 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 themselves children of wrath and no outward trouble can be so hard upon them as that. Probably the psalmist described his own case, yet he leads to Christ. Thus are we called to look unto 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.

Departed souls may declare God's faithfulness, justice, and lovingkindness; but deceased bodies can neither receive God's favours in comfort, nor return them in praise. The psalmist resolved to continue in prayer, and the more so, because deliverance did not come speedily. Though our prayers are not soon answered, yet we must not give over praying. The greater our troubles, the more earnest and serious we should be in prayer. Nothing grieves a child of God so much as losing sight of 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 leave the earth, what a dungeon would it be! Even those designed for God's favours, may for a time suffer his terrors. See how deep those terrors wounded the psalmist. If friends are put far from us by providences, or death, we have reason to look upon it as affliction. Such was the calamitous state of a good man. But the pleas here used were peculiarly suited to Christ. And we are not to think that the holy Jesus suffered for us only at Gethsemane and on Calvary. His whole life was labour and sorrow; he was afflicted as never man was, from his youth up. He was prepared for that death of which he tasted through life. No man could share in the sufferings by which other men were to be redeemed. All forsook him, and fled. Oftentimes, blessed Jesus, do we forsake thee; but do not forsake us, O take not thy Holy Spirit from us.

PSALM 88

This psalm contains very grievous lamentations, poured forth by its inspired penman when under very severe affliction, and almost at the point of despair. But he, at the same time, whilst struggling with sorrow, declares the invincible steadfastness of his faith; which he displayed in calling upon God to deliver him, even when he was in the, deep darkness of death. “As well the singers as players, or dancers, shall be there; i e., the whole chorus of joy and praise. Dr Chandler renders it, ‘They shall sing like those that lead up the dance;’ i e., with joy and exultation.” — Williams Symmachus and Aquila translate the text:— ...Και ἁδοντες ὡς χωροι, πασαι πηγαι εν σοι:“And they shall sing as in leading up a dance; ‘All my fountains are in thee.’”

A Song or Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the chief musician upon Machalath, to make humble. An instruction of Heman, the Ezrahite.

Heman, whose name appears in the inscription, is probably the same person who is mentioned in sacred history, 1 Kings 4:31, where Solomon, when commended for his wisdom, is compared with Ethan, Heman, Chalcol, and Darda. There are various opinions as to the occasion of the composition of this psalm. Dr Kennicott conceives it to be the prayer of a person shut up in a separate house because of the leprosy, who seems to have been in the last stage of that distemper; this disease, under the Mosaic dispensation, having been supposed to come from the immediate stroke of God. Kimchi is of opinion that it was written in the name of the Jewish people during the captivity, in the language of a poor slave under his chains. Bishop Patrick supposes that Heman, the author of it, was during the same period cast into a dark prison, (see verses 5, 6,) or, that he was otherwise as miserably treated, as if he had been in a dungeon; and that he here bewails his private calamity. It is, therefore, not surprising that a man, so highly distinguished by the spirit of wisdom, was the author of this psalm. Some translate על-מהלת, al-machalath, upon infirmity; The Heman mentioned in that text has been supposed by some to be the son of Zerah, one of Judah’s sons, by his daughter-in-law Tamar, spoken of in 1 Chronicles 2:6. If these two passages refer to the same persons, then as the grandchildren of Judah are called in 1 Kings 4:31, the sons of Mahol, it would follow that Mahol was either another name of Zerah or the name of his wife. If this Heman was the author of the psalm before us, and if Ethan, his brother, wrote the subsequent psalm, as they lived at least one hundred and seventy years before Moses, these poems are the oldest poetical compositions extant, and the most ancient part of divine revelation. This, however, is far from being certain. Heman, the grandson of Judah, may have been the author of the 78th psalm; but the 79th could not have been written by Ethan, his brother, as it speaks of transactions that took place long after his time, at least as late as the days of David, who is particularly mentioned in it. Calvin obviously considers this Heman to have lived in the time of David or Solomon. There is a person of the same name who was constituted by David one of the chiefs of the sacred singers, 1 Chronicles 25:1. But he was a Levite, whereas the present Heman is called an Ezrahite, which is understood to denote a descendant from Zerah, the son of Judah. If, therefore, the chief musician in the time of David be intended, some transcriber must have erroneously applied to him the term Ezrahite. But if the psalm, as is supposed by many, was written during the Babylonish captivity, it must have been written by a different person. but it is probable, according to the ordinary use of the word, that it denotes either some instrument of music, or the beginning of some song. Street renders the title, “An instructive psalm in sickness, through affliction, by Aiman, the Ezrahite.” He observes, “מחלה, sickness, is used, Exodus 23:25. The word מהלת, is the construct form of it.” He adds — “The title thus translated agrees with the matter contained in the psalm.” Of the other words I have already sufficiently spoken elsewhere. Moreover, it is of importance to bear in mind, that in the person of one man there is presented to our view an example at once of rare affliction and of singular patience. God, in so sorely exercising Heman, whom he had adorned with such excellent gifts to be an example to others, did not do this for the sake of his servant only. His object was to present common matter of instruction to all his people. Carrying out this object, Heman ascending, as it were, an elevated stage, testifies to the whole Church his infirmities as well as his faith and constancy. It greatly concerns us to look upon such a distinguished servant of God, and one who was so eminently adorned with the graces of the Holy Spirit, thus overwhelmed with so heavy a burden of afflictions as made him mournfully complain that he differed nothing from a dead man, — it greatly concerns us, I say, to look on this spectacle, that our distresses, however grievous, may not overwhelm us with despair; or if we should at times be ready to faint through weariness, care, grief, sorrow, or fear, that we may not on that account despond, especially when we see that it is not without the highest effort that the holy prophet emerges from this profound darkness into the cheering light of hope. We should rather rest assured that the Spirit of God, by the mouth of Heman, has here furnished us with a form of prayer for encouraging all the afflicted who are, as it were, on the brink of despair to come to himself.

Psalm 88:1-5

1. O Jehovah! God of my salvation! I cry day and night before thee. 2. Let my prayer come into thy presence: incline thy ear to my cry; 3. For my soul is filled with troubles; and my life is drawing near to the grave. 4. I am numbered with them that go down to the pit: I have been as a man who hath no strength: 5. Free among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from thy hand.

1 O Jehovah! God of my salvation! Let me call upon you particularly to notice what I have just now stated, that although the prophet simply, and without hyperbole, recites the agony which he suffered from the greatness of his sorrows, yet his purpose was at the same time to supply the afflicted with a form of prayer that they might not faint under any adversities, however severe, which might befall them. We will hear him by and by bursting out into vehement complaints on account of the grievousness of his calamities; but he seasonably fortifies himself by this brief exordium, lest, carried away with the heat of his feelings, he might become chargeable with complaining and murmuring against God, instead of humbly supplicating Him for pardon. By applying to Him the appellation of the God of his salvation, casting, as it were, a bridle upon himself, he restrains the excess of his sorrow, shuts the door against despair, and strengthens and prepares himself for the endurance of the cross. When he speaks of his crying and importunity, he indicates the earnestness of soul with which he engaged in prayer. He may not, indeed, have given utterance to loud cries; but he uses the word cry, with much propriety’, to denote the great earnestness of his prayers. The same thing is implied when he tells us that he continued crying days and nights. Nor are the words before thee superfluous. It is common for all men to complain when under the pressure of grief; but they are far from pouring out their groanings before God. Instead of this, the majority of mankind court retirement, that they may murmur against him, and accuse him of undue severity; while others pour forth their cries into the air at random. Hence we gather that it is a rare virtue to set God before our eyes, that we may address our prayers to him.

PSALM 88

Psa 88:1-18. Upon Mahalath--either an instrument, as a lute, to be used as an accompaniment (Leannoth, "for singing") or, as others think, an enigmatic title (see on Psa 5:1, Psa 22:1, and Psa 45:1, titles), denoting the subject--that is, "sickness or disease, for humbling," the idea of spiritual maladies being often represented by disease (compare Psa 6:5, 6; 22:14, 15, &c.). On the other terms, see on Psa 42:1 and Psa 32:1. Heman and Ethan (see on Psa 89:1, title) were David's singers (1Ch 6:18, 33; 15:17), of the family of Kohath. If the persons alluded to (1Ki 4:31; 1Ch 2:6), they were probably adopted into the tribe of Judah. Though called a song, which usually implies joy (Psa 83:1), both the style and matter of the Psalm are very despondent; yet the appeals to God evince faith, and we may suppose that the word "song" might be extended to such compositions.

1-2. Compare on the terms used, Psa 22:2; 31:2.

3. grave--literally, "hell" (Psa 16:10), death in wide sense.

4. go ... pit--of destruction (Psa 28:1).

as a man--literally, "a stout man," whose strength is utterly gone.

5. Free ... dead--Cut off from God's care, as are the slain, who, falling under His wrath, are left, no longer sustained by His hand.

6. Similar figures for distress in Psa 63:9; 69:3.

7. Compare Psa 38:2, on first, and Psa 42:7, on last clause.

8. Both cut off from sympathy and made hateful to friends (Psa 31:11).

9. Mine eye mourneth--literally, "decays," or fails, denoting exhaustion (Psa 6:7; 31:9).

I ... called--(Psa 86:5, 7).

stretched out--for help (Psa 44:20).

10. shall the dead--the remains of ghosts.

arise--literally, "rise up," that is, as dead persons.

11-12. amplify the foregoing, the whole purport (as Psa 6:5) being to contrast death and life as seasons for praising God.

13. prevent--meet--that is, he will diligently come before God for help (Psa 18:41).

14. On the terms (Psa 27:9; 74:1; 77:7).

15. from ... youth up--all my life.

16-17. the extremes of anguish and despair are depicted.

18. into darkness--Better omit "into"--"mine acquaintances (are) darkness," the gloom of death, &c. (Job 17:13, 14).

O Lord God of my salvation - This is only the continuation of prayers and supplications already often sent up to the throne of grace.

Let my prayer come before thee - It is weak and helpless, though fervent and sincere: take all hinderances out of its way, and let it have a free passage to thy throne. One of the finest thoughts in the Iliad of Homer concerns prayer; I shall transcribe a principal part of this incomparable passage - incomparable when we consider its origin: - Και γαρ τε Λιται εισι Διος κουραι μεγαλοιο, Χωλαι τε, ῥυσσαι τε, παραβλωπες τ' οφθαλμω· Αἱ ῥα τε και μετοπισθ' Ατης αλεγουσι κιουσαι· Ἡ δ' Ατη σθεναρη τε και αρτιπος· οὑνεκα πασας Πολλον ὑπεκπροθεει, φθανει δε τε πασαν επ' αιαν, Βλαπτους' ανθρωπους· αἱ δ' εξακεονται ποισσω· Ὁς μεν τ' αιδεσεται κουρας Διος, ασσον ιουσας, Τονδε μεγ' ωνησαν, και τ' εκλυον ευξαμενοιο. Ὁς δε κ' ανῃνηται, και τε στερεως αποειπῃ, Λισσονται δ' αρα ταιγε Δια Κρονιωνα κιουσαι, Τῳ Ατην ἁμ' ἑπεσθαι, ἱνα βλαφθεις αποτιση. Αλλ', Αχιλευ, πορε και συ Διος κουρησιν ἑπεσθαι Τιμην, ῃτ' αλλων περ επιγναμπτει φρενας εσθλων.

Iliad., 9:498-510.

Prayers are Jove's daughters; wrinkled, lame, slant-eyed,

Which, though far distant, yet with constant pace

Follow offense. Offence, robust of limb,

And treading firm the ground, outstrips them all,

And over all the earth, before them runs

Hurtful to man: they, following, heal the hurt.

Received respectfully when they approach,

They yield us aid, and listen when we pray.

But if we slight, and with obdurate heart

Resist them, to Saturnian Jove they cry.

Against, us supplicating, that offense

May cleave to us for vengeance of the wrong.

Thou, therefore, O Achilles! honor yield

To Jove's own daughters, vanquished as the brave

Have ofttimes been, by honor paid to thee.

Cowper.

On this allegory the translator makes the following remarks: "Wrinkled, because the countenance of a man, driven to prayer by a consciousness of guilt, is sorrowful and dejected. Lame, because it is a remedy to which men recur late, and with reluctance. Slant-eyed, either because in that state of humiliation they fear to lift up their eyes to heaven, or are employed in taking a retrospect of their past misconduct. The whole allegory, considering when and where it was composed, forms a very striking passage." Prayer to God for mercy must have the qualifications marked above.

Prayer comes from God. He desires to save us: this desire is impressed on our hearts by his Spirit, and reflected back to himself. Thus says the allegory, "Prayers are the daughters of Jupiter." But they are lame, as reflected light is much less intense and vivid than light direct. The desire of the heart is afraid to go into the presence of God, because the man knows, feels, that he has sinned against goodness and mercy. They are wrinkled - dried up and withered, with incessant longing: even the tears that refresh the soul are dried up and exhausted. They are slant-eyed; look aside through shame and confusion; dare not look God in the face. But transgression is strong, bold, impudent, and destructive: it treads with a firm step over the earth, bringing down curses on mankind. Prayer and repentance follow, but generally at a distance. The heart, being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin does not speedily relent. They, however, follow: and when, with humility and contrition, they approach the throne of grace, they are respectfully received. God acknowledges them as his offspring, and heals the wounds made by transgression. If the heart remain obdurate, and the man will not humble himself before his God, then his transgression cleaves to him, and the heartless, lifeless prayers which he may offer in that state, presuming on God's mercy, will turn against him; and to such a one the sacrificial death and mediation of Christ are in vain. And this will be the case especially with the person who, having received an offense from another, refuses to forgive. This latter circumstance is that to which the poet particularly refers. See the whole passage, with its context.

I am counted with them, etc. - I am as good as dead; nearly destitute of life and hope.

Free among the dead - במתים צפשי bammethim chophshi, I rather think, means stripped among the dead. Both the fourth and fifth verses seem to allude to a field of battle: the slain and the wounded, are found scattered over the plain; the spoilers come among them, and strip, not only the dead, but those also who appear to be mortally wounded, and cannot recover, and are so feeble as not to be able to resist. Hence the psalmist says, "I am counted with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength," Psa 88:4. And I am stripped among the dead, like the mortally wounded (חללים chalalim) that lie in the grave. "Free among the dead," inter mortuos liber, has been applied by the fathers to our Lord's voluntary death: all others were obliged to die, he alone gave up his life, and could take it again, Joh 10:18. He went into the grave, and came out when he chose. The dead are bound in the grave; he was free, and not obliged to continue in that state as they were.

They are cut off from thy hand - An allusion to the roll in which the general has the names of all that compose his army under their respective officers. And when one is killed, he is erased from this register, and remembered no more, as belonging to the army; but his name is entered among those who are dead, in a separate book. This latter is termed the black book, or the book of death; the other is called the book of life, or the book where the living are enrolled. From this circumstance, expressed in different parts of the sacred writings, the doctrine of unconditional reprobation and election has been derived. How wonderful!

Thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves - The figures in this verse seem to be taken from a tempest at sea. The storm is fierce, and the waves cover the ship.

Thou hast made me an abonmination - This verse has been supposed to express the state of a leper, who, because of the infectious nature of his disease, is separated from his family - is abominable to all, and at last shut up in a separate house, whence he does not come out to mingle with society.

Wilt thou show wonders to the dead! - מתים methim, dead men.

Shall the dead - רפאים rephaim, "the manes or departed spirits."

Arise and praise thee? - Any more in this life? The interrogations in this and the two following verses imply the strongest negations.

Or thy faithfulness in destruction? - Faithfulness in God refers as well to his fulfilling his threatenings as to his keeping his promises. The wicked are threatened with such punishments as their crimes have deserved; but annihilation is no punishment. God therefore does not intend to annihilate the wicked; their destruction cannot declare the faithfulness of God.

The land of forgetfulness? - The place of separate spirits, or the invisible world. The heathens had some notion of this state. They feigned a river in the invisible world, called Lethe, Ληθη, which signifies oblivion, and that those who drank of it remembered no more any thing relative to their former state. - Animae, quibus altera fato

Corpora debentur, lethaei ad fluminis undam

Securos latices et longa oblivia potant.

Virg. Aen. 6: 713.

To all those souls who round the river wait

New mortal bodies are decreed by fate;

To yon dark stream the gliding ghosts repair,

And quaff deep draughts of long oblivion there.

Shall my prayer prevent thee - It shall get before thee; I will not wait till the accustomed time to offer my morning sacrifice, I shall call on thee long before others come to offer their devotions.

Why castest thou off my soul? - Instead of my soul, several of the ancient Versions have my prayer. Why dost thou refuse to hear me, and thus abandon me to death?

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.

Thy fierce wrath goeth over me - It is a mighty flood by which I am overwhelmed.

They came round about me daily like water - Besides his spiritual conflicts, he had many enemies to grapple with. The waves of God's displeasure broke over him, and his enemies came around him like water, increasing more and more, rising higher and higher, till he was at last on the point of being submerged in the flood.

Lover and friend - I have no comfort, and neither friend nor neiphbour to sympathize with me.

Mine acquaintance into darkness - All have forsaken me; or מידעי מחשך meyuddai machsach, "Darkness is my companion." Perhaps he may refer to the death of his acquaintances; all were gone; there was none left to console him! That man has a dismal lot who has outlived all his old friends and acquaintances; well may such complain. In the removal of their friends they see little else than the triumphs of death. Khosroo, an eminent Persian poet, handles this painful subject with great delicacy and beauty in the following lines: -

Ruftem sauee khuteereh bekerestem bezar

Az Hijereh Doostan ke aseer fana shudend:

Guftem Eeshah Kuja shudend? ve Khatyr

Dad az sada jouab Eeshan Kuja! "Weeping, I passed the place where lay my friends

Captured by death; in accents wild I cried,

Where are they? And stern Fate, by Echoes voice,

Returned in solemn sound the sad Where are they?"

J. B. C.

Counted - l am given up by my friends for a lost man.

Free - Well nigh discharged from the warfare of the present life, and entered as a member into the society of the dead. Whom - Thou seemest to neglect and bury in oblivion.

Waves - With they judgments, breaking in furiously upon me like the waves of the sea.

Wonders - In raising them to life. To praise thee - In this world?

Forgetfulness - In the grave, where men are forgotten by their nearest relations.

Prevent - Come to thee before the dawning of the day, or the rising of the sun.

Water - As the waters of the sea encompass him who is in the midst of it.

1 O LORD God of my salvation , I have cried day and night before thee.

Who hast so often saved me from former distresses, and, I hope, wilst do so at this time.

3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

Properly so called; for that he was under great troubles of mind from a sence of God's wrath and departure from him is evident from Verse 14. 13, 16.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] with.

4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit : I am as a man that hath no strength.

I am given up by my Friends and Acquaintance for a lost man.

5 Free among the dead , like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou remembrest no more : and they are cut off from thy hand .

Well-nigh discharged from the warfare of the present life, and entred as a member into the society of the dead; as Israelitish servants when they were made free were thereby made Denisons of the Commonwealth of Israel. I expect no other freedom from my miseries▪ but that which death gives, as Iob observes, Iob 3. 17, 18.

Whom thou seemest wholly to neglect and to bury in oblivion: for he speaks of these matters not as they are in truth, for he knew very well that forgetfulness was not incident to God, and that God did remember all the dead, and would call them to an account, but only as to sence and appearance and the opinion of the World, and the state and things of this life.

From the care and conduct of thy providence. Which is to be understood as the former clause. Or by thy hand. But our translation seems better to agree both with the foregoing branch which it explains and improves, and with the order of the words; for it seems improper after he had represented the persons as dead, and in their graves, to add that they are cut off, to wit, by death.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word], [illegible: 1+ letters]y thy [illegible: 1 word] ▪

6 Thou hast laid me in † the lowest pit, * in darkness, in the deeps .

Either first in the grave; the same thing being expressed in divers words, or secondly in hopeless and remediless calamities.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. the pit [illegible: 1 word] places be [illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]2 143. 3.

7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves . Selah.

Either first the sence of thy wrath, or rather secondly the effects of it; as the next clause explains this.

With thy judgments, breaking in furiously upon me like the waves of the Sea.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters]2. 7.

8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me, thou hast made me an abomination unto them : I am shut up , and I cannot come forth.

I am so sad a spectacle of thy vengeance that my friends avoid and detest me, lest by conversing with me they should either be filled with terrors, which men naturally abhor; or be made partakers of my guilt or plagues.

Either in the pit or deep mentioned, v. 6. or in my own House or Chamber, being afraid or ashamed to go abroad.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters]9. 13. [illegible: 1 word] 1[illegible: 1+ letters]2. 4.

9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction, LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee .

Understand, without effect: for thou dost not hear nor answer me.

10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead ? shall the dead arise and praise thee ! Selah.

To wit, in raising them to live again in this World, as it is in the next clause. I know that thou wilt not. And therefore now hear and help me, or it will be too late.

To wit, amongst mortal men in this World.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 6. 5.

11 Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction ?

I am not without hopes that thou hast a true kindness for me, and wilt faithfully perform thy gracious promises made to me and to all that love thee and call upon thee in truth. But then this must be done speedily, or I shall be utterly uncapable of such a mercy.

12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark ? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness ?

In the grave, which is called the land of darkness, Job 10. 21, 22.

In the grave so called, either first actively because there men forget and neglect all the concerns of this life, being indeed but dead carkasses without any sence or remembrance. Or rather secondly passively; because there men are forgotten, not only by men, as is noted, Iob 24. 20. Psal. 31. 12. but by God himself, as he complained, v. 5.

13. But unto thee have I cryed, O LORD, and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee .

i. e. Early come to thee before the ordinary time of Morning Prayer, or before the dawning of the Day, or the rising of the Sun. The sence is, Though I have hitherto got no answer to my Prayers, yet I will not give over praying nor hoping for an answer.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 89. 14. [illegible: 1 word] and Psal. [illegible: 1 word] 2.

14 LORD, why castest thou off my Soul? why hidest thou thy face from me !

This proceeding seems not to agree with the benignity of thy nature, nor with the manner of thy dealing with thy people.

15 I am afflicted and ready to die, from my youth up : while I suffer thy terrors , I am distracted.

My whole life hath been filled with a succession of deadly calamities. O Lord, take some pity upon me, and let me have a little breathing space before I die.

Upon my mind and conscience, which do accompany and aggravate my outward miseries.

Marginal references: Job 6. 4.

17 They came round about me daily, like water , they compassed me about together.

As the Waters of the Sea encompass him which is in the midst and bottom of it.

Marginal references: Or, all the day.

18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me , and mine acquaintance into darkness.

Of which see the note on v. 8.

Plaintive Prayer of a Patient Sufferer Like Job

Psalms 88 is as gloomy as Psa 87:1-7 is cheerful; they stand near one another as contrasts. Not Ps 77, as the old expositors answer to the question quaenam ode omnium tristissima, but this Psalms 88 is the darkest, gloomiest, of all the plaintive Psalms; for it is true the name “God of my salvation,” with which the praying one calls upon God, and his praying itself, show that the spark of faith within him is not utterly extinguished; but as to the rest, it is all one pouring forth of deep lament in the midst of the severest conflict of temptation in the presence of death, the gloom of melancholy does not brighten up to become a hope, the Psalm dies away in Job-like lamentation. Herein we discern echoes of the Korahitic Psa 42:1-11 and of Davidic Psalms: compare Psa 88:3 with Psa 18:7; Psa 88:5 with Psa 28:1; Psa 88:6 with Psa 31:23; Psa 88:18 with Psa 22:17.; v. 19 (although differently applied) with Psa 31:12; and more particularly the questions in Psa 88:11-13 with Psa 6:6, of which they are as it were only the amplification. But these Psalm-echoes are outweighed by the still more striking points of contact with the Book of Job, both as regards linguistic usage (דּאב, Psa 88:10, Job 14:14; רפאים, Psa 88:11, Job 26:5; אבדּון, Psa 88:12, Job 26:6; Job 28:22; נער, Psa 88:16, Job 33:25; Job 36:14; אמים, Psa 88:16, Job 20:25; בּעוּתים, Psa 88:17, Job 6:4) and single thoughts (cf. Psa 88:5 with Job 14:10; Psa 88:9 with Job 30:10; v. 19 with Job 17:9; Job 19:14), and also the suffering condition of the poet and the whole manner in which this finds expression. For the poet finds himself in the midst of the same temptation as Job not merely so far as his mind and spirit are concerned; but his outward affliction is, according to the tenor of his complaints, the same, viz., the leprosy (Psa 88:9), which, the disposition to which being born with him, has been his inheritance from his youth up (Psa 88:16). Now, since the Book of Job is a Chokma-work of the Salomonic age, and the two Ezrahites belonged to the wise men of the first rank at the court of Solomon (1Ki 4:31), it is natural to suppose that the Book of Job has sprung out of this very Chokma-company, and that perhaps this very Heman the Ezrahite who is the author of Psalms 88 has made a passage of his own life, suffering, and conflict of soul, a subject of dramatic treatment.

The inscription of the Psalm runs: A Psalm-song by the Korahites; to the Precentor, to be recited (lit., to be pressed down, not after Isa 27:2 : to be sung, which expresses nothing, nor: to be sung alternatingly, which is contrary to the character of the Psalm) after a sad manner (cf. Psa 53:1) with muffled voice, a meditation by Heman the Ezrahite. This is a double inscription, the two halves of which are contradictory. The bare להימן side by side with לבני־קרח would be perfectly in order, since the precentor Heman is a Korahite according to 1Ch 6:33-38; but חימן האזרחי is the name of one of the four great Israelitish sages in 1Ki 4:31, who, according to 1Ch 2:6, is a direct descendant of Zerah, and therefore is not of the tribe of Levi, but of Judah. The suppositions that Heman the Korahite had been adopted into the family of Zerah, or that Heman the Ezrahite had been admitted among the Levites, are miserable attempts to get over the difficulty. At the head of the Psalm there stand two different statements respecting its origin side by side, which are irreconcilable. The assumption that the title of the Psalm originally was either merely שׁיר מזמור לבני־קרח, or merely למנצח וגו, is warranted by the fact that only in this one Psalm למנצח does not occupy the first place in the inscriptions. But which of the two statements is the more reliable one? Most assuredly the latter; for שׁיר מזמור לבני־קרח is only a recurrent repetition of the inscription of Psa 87:1-7. The second statement, on the other hand, by its precise designation of the melody, and by the designation of the author, which corresponds to the Psalm that follows, gives evidence of its antiquity and its historical character.

Psa 88:1-7

The poet finds himself in the midst of circumstances gloomy in the extreme, but he does not despair; he still turns towards Jahve with his complaints, and calls Him the God of his salvation. This actus directus of fleeing in prayer to the God of salvation, which urges its way through all that is dark and gloomy, is the fundamental characteristic of all true faith. Psa 88:2 is not to be rendered, as a clause of itself: “by day I cry unto Thee, in the night before Thee” (lxx and Targum), which ought to have been יומם, but (as it is also pointed, especially in Baer’s text): by day, i.e., in the time (Psa 56:4; Psa 78:42, cf. Psa 18:1), when I cry before Thee in the night, let my prayer come... (Hitzig). In Psa 88:3 he calls his piercing lamentation, his wailing supplication, רנּתי, as in Psa 17:1; Psa 61:2. הטּה as in Psa 86:1, for which we find הט in Psa 17:6. The Beth of בּרעות, as in Psa 65:5; Lam 3:15, Lam 3:30, denotes that of which his soul has already had abundantly sufficient. On Psa 88:4, cf. as to the syntax Psa 31:11. איל (ἅπαξ λεγομ. like אילוּת, Psa 22:20) signifies succinctness, compactness, vigorousness (ἁδρότης): he is like a man from whom all vital freshness and vigour is gone, therefore now only like the shadow of a man, in fact like one already dead. חפשׁי, in Psa 88:6, the lxx renders ἐν νεκροῖς ἐλεύθερος (Symmachus, ἀφεὶς ἐλεύθερος); and in like manner the Targum, and the Talmud which follows it in formulating the proposition that a deceased person is חפשׁי מן חמצוות, free from the fulfilling of the precepts of the Law (cf. Rom 6:7). Hitzig, Ewald, Köster, and Böttcher, on the contrary, explain it according to Eze 27:20 (where חפשׁ signifies stragulum): among the dead is my couch (חפשׁי = יצועי, Job 17:13). But in respect of Job 3:19 the adjectival rendering is the more probable; “one set free among the dead” (lxx) is equivalent to one released from the bond of life (Job 39:5), somewhat as in Latin a dead person is called defunctus. God does not remember the dead, i.e., practically, inasmuch as, devoid of any progressive history, their condition remains always the same; they are in fact cut away (נגזר as in Psa 31:23; Lam 3:54; Isa 53:8) from the hand, viz., from the guiding and helping hand, of God. Their dwelling-place is the pit of the places lying deep beneath (cf. on תּחתּיּות, Psa 63:10; Psa 86:13; Eze 26:20, and more particularly Lam 3:55), the dark regions (מחשׁכּים as in Psa 143:3, Lam 3:6), the submarine depths (בּמצלות; lxx, Symmachus, the Syriac, etc.: ἐν σκιᾷ θανάτου = בצלמות, according to Job 10:21 and frequently, but contrary to Lam 3:54), whose open abyss is the grave for each one. On Psa 88:8 cf. Psa 42:8. The Mugrash by כל־משׁבריך stamps it as an adverbial accusative (Targum), or more correctly, since the expression is not עניתני, as the object placed in advance. Only those who are not conversant with the subject (as Hupfeld in this instance) imagine that the accentuation marks ענּית as a relative clause (cf. on the contrary Psa 8:7, Psa 21:3, etc.). ענּה, to bow down, press down; here used of the turning or directing downwards (lxx ἐπήγαγες) of the waves, which burst like a cataract over the afflicted one.

Psa 88:8-12

The octastichs are now followed by hexastichs which belong together in pairs. The complaint concerning the alienation of his nearest relations sounds like Job 19:13., but the same strain is also frequently heard in the earlier Psalms written in times of suffering, e.g., Psa 31:9. He is forsaken by all his familiar friends (not: acquaintances, for מידּע signifies more than that), he is alone in the dungeon of wretchedness, where no one comes near him, and whence he cannot make his escape. This sounds, according to Lev. 13, very much like the complaint of a leper. The Book of Leviticus there passes over from the uncleanness attending the beginning of human life to the uncleanness of the most terrible disease. Disease is the middle stage between birth and death, and, according to the Eastern notion, leprosy is the worst of all diseases, it is death itself clinging to the still living man (Num 12:12), and more than all other evils a stroke of the chastening hand of God (נגע), a scourge of God (צרעת). The man suspected of having leprosy was to be subjected to a seven days’ quarantine until the determination of the priest’s diagnosis; and if the leprosy was confirmed, he was to dwell apart outside the camp (Lev 13:46), where, though not imprisoned, he was nevertheless separated from his dwelling and his family (cf. Job, at Job 19:19), and if a man of position, would feel himself condemned to a state of involuntary retirement. It is natural to refer the כּלא, which is closely connected with שׁתּני, to this separation. עיני, Psa 88:10, instead of עיני, as in Psa 6:8; Psa 31:10 : his eye has languished, vanished away (דּאב of the same root as tābescere, cognate with the root of דּונג, Psa 68:3), in consequence of (his) affliction. He calls and calls upon Jahve, stretches out (שׁטּח, expandere, according to the Arabic, more especially after the manner of a roof) his hands (palmas) towards Him, in order to shield himself from His wrath and to lead Him compassionately to give ear to him. In Psa 88:11-13 he bases his cry for help upon a twofold wish, viz., to become an object of the miraculous help of God, and to be able to praise Him for it. Neither of these wishes would be realized if he were to die; for that which lies beyond this life is uniform darkness, devoid of any progressive history. With מתים alternates רפאים (sing. רפא), the relaxed ones, i.e., shades (σκιαὶ) of the nether world. With reference to יודוּ instead of להודות, vid., Ewald, §337, b. Beside חשׁך (Job 10:21.) stands ארץ נשׁיּה, the land of forgetfulness (λήθη), where there is an end of all thinking, feeling, and acting (Ecc 9:5-6, Ecc 9:10), and where the monotony of death, devoid of thought and recollection, reigns. Such is the representation given in the Old Testament of the state beyond the present, even in Ecclesiastes, and in the Apocrypha (Sir. 17:27f. after Isa 38:18.; Baruch 2:17f.); and it was obliged to be thus represented, for in the New Testament not merely the conception of the state after death, but this state itself, is become a different one.

Psa 88:13-18

He who complains thus without knowing any comfort, and yet without despairing, gathers himself up afresh for prayer. With ואני he contrasts himself with the dead who are separated from God’s manifestation of love. Being still in life, although under wrath that apparently has no end, he strains every nerve to struggle through in prayer until he shall reach God’s love. His complaints are petitions, for they are complaints that are poured forth before God. The destiny under which for a long time he has been more like one dying than living, reaches back even into his youth. מנּער (since נער is everywhere undeclined) is equivalent to מנּערי. The ἐξηπορήθην of the lxx is the right indicator for the understanding of the ἅπαξ λ.ε.γ. אפוּנה. Aben-Ezra and Kimchi derive it from פּן, like עלה from על,The derivation is not contrary to the genius of the language; the supplementing productive force of the language displayed in the liturgical poetry of the synagogue, also changes particles into verbs: vid., Zunz, Die synagogaie Poesie des Mittelalters, S. 421. and assign to it the signification of dubitare. But it may be more safely explained after the Arabic words Arab. afana , afina , ma'fûn (root 'f, to urge forwards, push), in which the fundamental notion of driving back, narrowing and exhausting, is transferred to a weakening or weakness of the intellect. We might also compare פּנה, Arab. faniya, “to disappear, vanish, pass away;” but the ἐξηπορήθην of the lxx favours the kinship with that Arab. afina , infirma mente et consilii inops fuit,Abulwalîd also explains אפוּנה after the Arabic, but in a way that cannot be accepted, viz., “for a long time onwards,” from the Arabic iffân ( ibbân , iff , afaf , ifâf , taiffah ), time, period - time conceived of in the onward rush, the constant succession of its moments. which has been already compared by Castell. The aorist of the lxx, however, is just as erroneous in this instance as in Psa 42:5; Psa 55:3; Psa 57:5. In all these instances the cohortative denotes the inward result following from an outward compulsion, as they say in Hebrew: I lay hold of trembling (Isa 13:8; Job 18:20; Job 21:6) or joy (Isa 35:10; Isa 51:11), when the force of circumstances drive one into such states of mind. Labouring under the burden of divine dispensations of a terrifying character, he finds himself in a state of mental weakness and exhaustion, or of insensible (senseless) fright; over him as their destined goal before many others go God’s burnings of wrath (plur. only in this instance), His terrible decrees (vid., concerning בעת on Psa 18:5) have almost annihilated him. צמּתתוּני is not an impossible form (Olshausen, §251, a), but an intensive form of צמּתוּ, the last part of the already inflected verb being repeated, as in עהבוּ הבוּ, Hos 4:18 (cf. in the department of the noun, פּיפיּות, edge-edges = many edges, Psa 149:6), perhaps under the influence of the derivative.Heidenheim interprets: Thy terrors are become to me as צמתת (Lev 25:23), i.e., inalienably my own.

The corrections צמתּתני (from צמתת) or צמּתתני (from צמּת) are simple enough; but it is more prudent to let tradition judge of that which is possible in the usage of the language. In Psa 88:18 the burnings become floods; the wrath of God can be compared to every destroying and overthrowing element. The billows threaten to swallow him up, without any helping hand being stretched out to him on the part of any of his lovers and friends. In v. 19 a to be now explained according to Job 16:14, viz., My familiar friends are gloomy darkness; i.e., instead of those who were hitherto my familiars (Job 19:14), darkness is become my familiar friend? One would have thought that it ought then to have been מידּעי (Schnurrer), or, according to Pro 7:4, מודעי, and that, in connection with this sense of the noun, מחשׁך ought as subject to have the precedence, that consequently מידּעי is subject and מחשׁך predicate: my familiar friends have lost themselves in darkness, are become absolutely invisible (Hitzig at last). But the regular position of the words is kept to if it is interpreted: my familiar friends are reduced to gloomy darkness as my familiar friend, and the plural is justified by Job 19:14 : Mother and sister (do I call) the worm. With this complaint the harp falls from the poet’s hands. He is silent, and waits on God, that He may solve this riddle of affliction. From the Book of Job we might infer that He also actually appeared to him. He is more faithful than men. No soul that in the midst of wrath lays hold upon His love, whether with a firm or with a trembling hand, is suffered to be lost.

Sorrowful Complaints; Complaining to God.

1 O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: 2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; 3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. 8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. 9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord , I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

It should seem, by the titles of this and the following psalm, that Heman was the penman of the one and Ethan of the other. There were two, of these names, who were sons of Zerah the son of Judah, 1 Chron. ii. 4, 6. There were two others famed for wisdom, 1 Kings iv. 31, where, to magnify Solomon's wisdom, he is said to be wiser than Heman and Ethan. Whether the Heman and Ethan who were Levites and precentors in the songs of Zion were the same we are not sure, nor which of these, nor whether any of these, were the penmen of these psalms. There was a Heman that was one of the chief singers, who is called the king's seer, or prophet, in the words of God (1 Chron. xxv. 5); it is probable that this also was a seer, and yet could see no comfort for himself, an instructor and comforter of others, and yet himself putting comfort away from him. The very first words of the psalm are the only words of comfort and support in all the psalm. There is nothing about him but clouds and darkness; but, before he begins his complaint, he calls God the God of his salvation, which intimates both that he looked for salvation, bad as things were, and that he looked up to God for the salvation and depended upon him to be the author of it. Now here we have the psalmist,

I. A man of prayer, one that gave himself to prayer at all times, but especially now that he was in affliction; for is any afflicted? let him pray. It is his comfort that he had prayed; it is his complaint that, notwithstanding his prayer, he was still in affliction. He was, 1. Very earnest in prayer: "I have cried unto thee (v. 1), and have stretched out my hands unto thee (v. 9), as one that would take hold on thee, and even catch at the mercy, with a holy fear of coming short and missing of it." 2. He was very frequent and constant in prayer: I have called upon thee daily (v. 9), nay, day and night, v. 1. For thus men ought always to pray, and not to faint; God's own elect cry day and night to him, not only morning and evening, beginning every day and every night with prayer, but spending the day and night in prayer. This is indeed praying always; and then we shall speed in prayer, when we continue instant in prayer. 3. He directed his prayer to God, and from him expected and desired an answer (v. 2): "Let my prayer come before thee, to be accepted of thee, not before men, to be seen of them, as the Pharisees' prayers." He does not desire that men should hear them, but, "Lord, incline thy ear unto my cry, for to that I refer myself; give what answer to it thou pleasest."

II. He was a man of sorrows, and therefore some make him, in this psalm, a type of Christ, whose complaints on the cross, and sometimes before, were much to the same purport with this psalm. He cries out (v. 3): My soul is full of troubles; so Christ said, Now is my soul troubled; and, in his agony, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death, like the psalmist's here, for he says, My life draws nigh unto the grave. Heman was a very wise man, and a very good man, a man of God, and a singer too, and one may therefore suppose him to have been a man of a cheerful spirit, and yet now a man of sorrowful spirit, troubled in mind, and upon the brink of despair. Inward trouble is the sorest trouble, and that which, sometimes, the best of God's saints and servants have been severely exercised with. The spirit of man, of the greatest of men, will not always sustain his infirmity, but will droop and sink under it; who then can bear a wounded spirit?

III. He looked upon himself as a dying man, whose heart was ready to break with sorrow (v. 5): "Free among the dead (one of that ghastly corporation), like the slain that lie in the grave, whose rotting and perishing nobody takes notice of or is concerned for, nay, whom thou rememberest no more, to protect or provide for the dead bodies, but they become an easy prey to corruption and the worms; they are cut off from thy hand, which used to be employed in supporting them and reaching out to them; but, now there is no more occasion for this, they are cut off from it and cut off by it" (for God will not stretch out his hand to the grave, Job xxx. 24); "thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, as low as possible, my condition low, my spirits low, in darkness, in the deep (v. 6), sinking, and seeing no way open of escape, brought to the last extremity, and ready to give up all for gone." Thus greatly may good men be afflicted, such dismal apprehensions may they have concerning their afflictions, and such dark conclusions may they sometimes be ready to make concerning the issue of them, through the power of melancholy and the weakness of faith.

IV. He complained most of God's displeasure against him, which infused the wormwood and the gall into the affliction and the misery (v. 7): Thy wrath lies hard upon me. Could he have discerned the favour and love of God in his affliction, it would have lain light upon him; but it lay hard, very hard, upon him, so that he was ready to sink and faint under it. The impressions of this wrath upon his spirits were God's waves with which he afflicted him, which rolled upon him, one on the neck of another, so that he scarcely recovered from one dark thought before he was oppressed with another; these waves beat against him with noise and fury; not some, but all, of God's waves were made use of in afflicting him and bearing him down. Even the children of God's love may sometimes apprehend themselves children of wrath, and no outward trouble can lie so hard upon them as that apprehension.

V. It added to his affliction that his friends deserted him and made themselves strange to him. When we are in trouble it is some comfort to have those about us that love us, and sympathize with us; but this good man had none such, which gives him occasion, not to accuse them, or charge them with treachery, ingratitude, and inhumanity, but to complain to God, with an eye to his hand in this part of the affliction (v. 8): Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me. Providence had removed them, or rendered them incapable of being serviceable to him, or alienated their affections from him; for every creature is that to us (and no more) that God makes it to be. If our old acquaintance be shy of us, and those we expect kindness from prove unkind, we must bear that with the same patient submission to the divine will that we do other afflictions, Job xix. 13. Nay, his friends were not only strange to him, but even hated him, because he was poor and in distress: "Thou hast made me an abomination to them; they are not only shy of me, but sick of me, and I am looked upon by them, not only with contempt, but with abhorrence." Let none think it strange concerning such a trial as this, when Heman, who was so famed for wisdom, was yet, when the world frowned upon him, neglected, as a vessel in which is no pleasure.

VI. He looked upon his case as helpless and deplorable: "I am shut up, and I cannot come forth, a close prisoner, under the arrests of divine wrath, and no way open of escape." He therefore lies down and sinks under his troubles, because he sees not any probability of getting out of them. For thus he bemoans himself (v. 9): My eye mourneth by reason of affliction. Sometimes giving vent to grief by weeping gives some ease to a troubled spirit. Yet weeping must not hinder praying; we must sow in tears: My eye mourns, but I cry unto thee daily. Let prayers and tears go together, and they shall be accepted together. I have heard thy prayers, I have seen thy tears.

Pleading with God.

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 (v. 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 vii. 8; x. 21.

II. He resolves to continue instant in prayer, and the more so because the deliverance was deferred (v. 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 (v. 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, v. 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 vi. 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," v. 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 (v. 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.

PSAL. LXXX VIII.

A Song, a Psalme to the sonnes of Korach: to the master of the musicke, on Machalath leannoth; an instructing Psalme, of Heman the [illegible: 1 letter]zrachite.

OIehovah, God of my salvation, by day I cry out, & in the night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee; bow thine eare to my shrill cry. For my soule is filled with evils, and my life draweth neere to hell. I am counted with them that goe downe the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength. Among the dead, free like the slaine that lie in the grave, whom thou remembrest no more; and they are cut away from thine hand. Thou hast put me in the pit of the lowest places; in darknesses, in the deepe places. Thy wrathfull heat stayeth upon me; and with all thy billowes thou afflictest me Selab. My knowne acquaintance thou hast put farre away from me, hast see me for abominations to thē; I am shut up & cannot get out. Mine eye languisheth through mine affliction; I call on thee Iehovah, all the day; I spread out my hands unto thee.

Wilt thou doe a miraculous worke to the dead, or shall the deceased rise up, shall they confesse thee Selah? Shall thy mercy be told in the grave, thy faithfulnesse in perdition? Shall thy miraculous worke be knowne in the darknesse, and thy justice in the land of oblivion? But I, unto thee Iehovah doe I cry out, and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee. Wherefore Iehovah, dost thou reject my soule; doest thou hide thy face from me? Iam poore afflicted, and breathing out the ghost from my youth; I beare thine affrightings, I am doubtfully troubled. Thy wraths passe over me, thy terrours doe dismay me. They compasse me about as waters, all the day; they are gone about against me together. Thou hast put far away from me, lover & fellow friend, my knowne acquaintance are in darknesse.

Annotations. MAchalath] a kind of wind instrument; or, by interpretatiō, infirmitie: see Ps. 53. 1. leannoth] or, to sing by turnes, which is, when one part answereth another in singing; it may also be interpreted to afflict (or humble.) This Psalme is the most dolefull of all the Bible, full of complaints even to the end. Heman the Aezrachite] so the next Psalme is intituled of Aethan the Ezrachite: there were two of this name, Heman and Aethan, sonnes of Zerach the sonne of Iudah the Patriarch, [illegible: 1 word] Chron. 2. 4, 6. men renowned for their wisedome▪ 1. King. 4. 31. also Heman and Aethan, singers and musicians of the posteritie of Levithe Patriarch, 1 Chr. 15. 17, 19. and 16. 42. Heman being son of Ioel the son Samuel the Prophet, 1 Sam. 6. 33. himselfe being also a Seer or Prophet in King Davids daies, 1 Chron. 25. 5. And of the kingdome promised to David, doth Aethan intreat, Psal. 89. 4. &c. Christs afflictions and kingdome are in these Psalmes fore-told; he was the true David, Hos. 3. 5. Vers. 4. draweth neere] or toucheth hell, or the grave. So, to touch (or come neere to) the gates of death, Psal. 107. 18. Vers. 5. a man] Hebr. geber, that is, a strong man, but without abilitie or power to helpe my selfe; as the Greeke saith, helplesse. Vers. 6 free] that is, acquitted, or discharged from the troubles and affaires of this life; for in death, the prisoners rest together, and the servant is free from his master, Iob. 3. 18. 19. or free, that is, sequestred, apart from others; as King Azariah being leprous, dwelt in an house of freedome, that is, alone, apart from other men, 2 King. 15. 5. from thine hand] that is, from thy care, helpe, guidance, &c. as King Azariah before said, was cut off from the house of the Lord, 2 Chr. 26. 21. or by thine hand; and so understand from the land of the living, as Isa. 53. 8. Vers. 7. pit of the lowest places] the nether most pit, as the Greeke saith; wch the Chaldee paraphraseth thus; in captivitie, which is like to the nether pit. darknesses] or darke places: so Psal. 143. 3. deepe places] or gulses: see Psal. 69. 3. Vers. 8. stayeth] or, is imposed, and lieth hard. billowes] breaking waves of the sea: see Psal. 42. 8. Vers. 9. set me abominations] that is, made me most abominable (or loathsome,) to every of them. can not get out] so Lam. 3. 7. Iob 19. 8. Of this phrase see the Note on Psal. 77. 5. Vers. 10. languisheth] or pineth away; the Chaldee saith, droppeth teares. Compare herewith, Lev. 25. 16. Vers. 11. the deceased] Hebr. Rephaim; dead men are so called, as being incurable or unrecoverable to life; so Isa. 14. 9 and 26. 14, 19. Prov. 2. 18. and 9. 18. and 21. 16. See also Psal. 6. 6. The Chaldee expoundeth, shall the bodies which are delivered to the dust rise up? Vers. 12. perdition] Hebr. Abaddon, the grave where bodies perish, and seeme to be lost. So Iob 28. 22. and 26. 6. Vers. 13. darknesse] that is, the place and state of the dead, called the land of darknesse, and shadow of death, Iob 10. 21, 22. So Eccles. 6. 4. Note here the sundry titles given to the state of death. land of oblivion] where dead men are, (as is before noted;) which also are forgotten out of minde, Psal. 31. 13. Eccles. 8. 10. and 9. 5. Vers. 16. breathing out the ghost] that is, ready to dye, expiring, through continuall miseries. The Greeke saith, in labours from my youth. from the youth] or, for the shaking off, that is, the affliction. am doubtfully troubled] or distracted for feare lest evils should befall me. Vers. 17. dismay] suppresse, or cut me off. The Hebrew word is larger than usuall, to increase the signification. The Greeke turneth it trouble. Vers. 19. my knowne acquaintance are in darknesse] that is, withdraw and hide them from my sight; and (as Iob complaineth,) are strangers unto me. See Iob 19. 13, 14. Or as the Greeke referreth it to the former, and my knowne friends (to wit, thou hast put farre) from calamitie; or for the calamitie that is upon me. Or, as the Chaldee paraphraseth, and to my knowne friends, darke I am in their sight.

PSAL. LXXXVIII.

A Song or Pſalm] Pſalmus totus luctuoſus, a dolefull ditty beginning and ending with complaints; and therefore ſung in the primitive times, among other penitentiall Pſalms, at the publick confeſſion of perſons excommunicated.

Upon Mahalath Leannoth] A muſicall inſtrument ſounding heavily as a ſhaulm doth; and therefore called Infirmity, for humbling, or for Antiphonies. A fit title.

Maſchil of Heman the Ezrahite] i.e. The inſtruction of Heman, who was a very wiſe man, 1 King. 4.31. deſcended of Zerah the ſon of Judah, 1 Chron. 2.4. and thence called the Ezrahite, Brother to Ethan who penned the next Pſalm. 1 Chron. 2.6. Nobile par fratrum.

Verſ. 1. O Lord God of my ſalvation] This is the only one expreſſion of his faith found in this whole Pſalm; and it muſt be underſtood that he thus beleeved and prayed, as here, and verſe 2, when he was at worſt, and moſt deſpairingly complained.

I have cryed day and night before thee] Though in ſuch a ſtate as they were, Act. 27.20. when neither Sun nor Star appeared, yet he caſt anchor, and prayed ſtill for day.

Verſ. 2. Let my prayer come before thee] He did not caſt out brutiſh and wild complaints and moans in miſery, as 'tis naturall for people to do, but poured forth his ſoul into Gods bleſſed boſome, and now prayeth an anſwer.

Verſ. 3. For my ſoul is full of trouble] Hypotypoſis hominis luctuoſiſſimè affecti. Here we have the lively picture of a man under bitter affliction. Extraordinary wiſe he was, and extraordinary troubles he had. None out of hell ſuffer more than Gods deareſt children. This good man felt himſelf in the ſuburbs of hell, as it were.

And my life draweth nigh unto the grave] Or, Ʋnto hell; The ſame word ſignifieth both, becauſe death is hells harbinger; and would be ſo to the [illegible: 2 letters]ect, but for Chriſt.

Verſ. 4. I am counted with them, &c.] I am looked upon as irrecoverable, given up for deſperate. Conclamatum eſt.

I am as a man that hath no ſtrength] A man no man; weak as water, [non-Latin text not transcribed].

Verſ. 5. Free among the dead] Free of that company,A mundo manumiſſus. one of the Many among the Manes, or Ghoſts; a free denizon of that ſociety, of that moiety of mankind that are dead. Yea, I am mortuorum minimus, as R. Jonah rendreth it, according to the Arabick.

Like the ſtain that lye in the grave] That are thrown on heaps into a pit, as after a field fought.R. David.

Whom thou remembrest no more] As to this preſent world, and as it way ſeem to others, with whom out fo ſight, out of mind, dead folk are ſoon forgotten. Varro thinks Lethum death, hath its name [non-Latin text not transcribed], from forgetfulneſs; becauſe they which have now forgotten all the world, ſhould ſoon be forgotten of the world.

And they are cut off from thine hand] Thy providence over them in matters belonging to life is at an end.

Verſ. 6. Thou haſt laid me in the loweſt pit] In ciſterna infimbrum, in the deepeſt dungeon, in lutoſo lacu. ſuch as Jeremy was caſt into, chap. 37.

In the deeps] In voragin[illegible: 1 letter]bus, out of which none eſcapeth, nothing can be boyed up, as they call it.

Verſ. 7. Thy wrath lyo[illegible: 1 letter]b hard upon mee] So it did upon David, Pſal. 32.3. but eſpecially upon the Son of David, the Lord Chriſt, of whoſe ſufferings theſe were but types; or as chips of his croſs.

And thou haſt afflicted mee with all thy waves] But all this while it is thy doing, and that carrieth comfort in it.

Verſ. 8. Thou haſt put away mine acquaintance, &c.] Job and David complain of the like miſery. Optimum ſolatium ſodalitium; but woe to him that is alone.

I am ſhut up] Miſerably inclaved in this forlorn comfortleſſe condition, a perpetual priſoner.

Verſ. 9. Lord, I have called daily upon thee] Which he would not have done, if he had caſt away his confidence; for how ſhall they call upon him, on whom they have not beleeved, Rom. 10? The Saints when they want the Sun, yet they have the day-ſtar in their hearts.

Verſ. 10. Wilt thou ſhew wonders to the dead?] Wilt thou delay to deliver mee till I am dead, and then raiſe mee again by a miracle, that I may praiſe thee? But he ſhould have conſidered, that God neither needeth our poor praiſes, not can his help ever come too late.

Shall the dead ariſe] Heb. The Giants, that is, thoſe that are ſwallowed up of death, as the Giants were of the deluge.

Verſ. 11. Shall thy loving kindneſs, &c.] The ſame again, and verſe 12. a third time, pro more delentium. See Pſal. 6.5. & 30.9.

Verſ. 12. In the land of forgetfulneſs] So the ſtate and place of the dead is called, and why, ſee the Note on verſe 5.

Verſ. 13. But unto thee have I cryed] O condeſcend to thy poor crying creature in extremity.

In the morning] See the Note on Pſal. 5.3.

Verſ. 14. Lord why caſteſt thou off, &c.] Luther ſaith of himſelf,Juſt. Jon. Ep. ad Melan. that after his converſion he lay three days in deſperation. And afterwards, he ſometimes ſuffered ſuch deſertions, ut nec calor, nec ſanguis, nec ſenſus, nec vox ſupereſſet, ſaith an eye-witneſſe.

Verſ. 15. I am afflicted, &c.] He was brought up in the School of temptations, and kept in this form from his youth. He was put ſoon too't, and ſo deep leſſons had he ſet him, that he had like to have loſt his wits. I am diſtracted, ſaith hee, I am held upon the wheel.

Verſ. 16. Thy foirce wrath, &c.] As rivers of brimſton.

Have cut me off] Multis exciſionibus, ideo que duplicatur Tau.

Verſ. 17. They compaſſed mee about] As the water compaſſeth the earth like a girdle.

Verſ. 18. Lover and friend, &c.] See verſe 8. and mark how mournfully he concludeth; as doth alſo the Church, Lam. [illegible: 1 letter]. ult.

O Lord God of my salvation. This is a hopeful title by which to address the Lord, and it has about it the only ray of comfortable light which shines throughout the Psalm. The writer has salvation, he is sure of that, and God is the sole author of it. While a man can see God as his Saviour, it is not altogether midnight with him. While the living God can be spoken of as the life of our salvation, our hope will not quite expire. It is one of the characteristics of true faith that she turns to Jehovah, the saving God, when all other confidences have proved liars unto her. I have cried day and night before thee. His distress had not blown out the sparks of his prayer, but thickened them into a greater ardency, till they burned perpetually like a furnace at full blast. His prayer was personal —whoever had not prayed, he had done so; it was intensely earnest, so that it was correctly described as a cry, such as children utter to move the pity of their parents; and it was unceasing, neither the business of the day nor the weariness of the night had silenced it: surely such entreaties could not be in vain. Perhaps, if Heman's pain had not been incessant his supplications might have been intermittent; it is a good thing that sickness will not let us rest if we spend our restlessness in prayer. Day and night are both suitable to prayer; it is no work of darkness, therefore let us go with Daniel and pray when men can see us, yet, since supplication needs no light, let us accompany Jacob and wrestle at Jabbok till the day breaketh. Evil is transformed to good when it drives us to prayer. One expression of the text is worthy of special note; "before thee" is a remarkable intimation that the Psalmist's cries had an aim and a direction towards the Lord, and were not the mere clamours of nature, but the groanings of a gracious heart towards Jehovah, the God of salvation. Of what use are arrows shot into the air? The archer's business is to look well at the mark he drives at. Prayers must be directed to heaven with earnest care. So thought Heman —his cries were all meant for the heart of his God. He had no eye to onlookers as Pharisees have, but all his prayers were before his God.

Let my prayer come before thee. Admit it to an audience; let it speak with thee. Though it be my prayer, and therefore very imperfect, yet deny it not thy gracious consideration. Incline thine ear unto my cry. It is not music save to the ear of mercy, yet be not vexed with its discord, though it be but a cry, for it is the most natural expression of my soul's anguish. When my heart speaks, let thine ear hear. There may be obstacles which impede the upward flight of our prayers —let us entreat the Lord to remove them; and as there may also be offences which prevent the Lord from giving favourable regard to our requests —let us implore him to put these out of the way. He who has prayed day and night cannot bear to lose all his labour. Only those who are indifferent in prayer will be indifferent about the issue of prayer.

For my soul is full of troubles. I am satiated and nauseated with them. Like a vessel full to the brim with vinegar, my heart is filled up with adversity till it can hold no more. He had his house full and his hands full of sorrow; but, worse than that, he had his heart full of it. Trouble in the soul is the soul of trouble. A little soul trouble is pitiful; what must it be to be sated with it? And how much worse still to have your prayers return empty when your soul remains full of grief. And my life draweth nigh unto the grave. He felt as if he must die, indeed he thought himself half dead already. All his life was going, his spiritual life declined, his mental life decayed, his bodily life flickered; he was nearer dead than alive. Some of us can enter into this experience, for many a time have we traversed this valley of death shade, aye and dwelt in it by the month together. Really to die and be with Christ will be a gala day's enjoyment compared with our misery when a worse than physical death has cast its dreadful shadow over us. Death would be welcomed as a relief by those whose depressed spirits make their existence a living death. Are good men ever permitted to suffer thus? Indeed they are; and some of them are even all their life time subject to bondage. O Lord, Be pleased to set free thy prisoners of hope! Let, none of thy mourners imagine that a strange thing has happened unto him, but rather rejoice as he sees the footprints of brethren who have trodden this desert before.

I am counted with them that go down into the pit. My weakness is so great that both by myself and others I am considered as good as dead. If those about me have not ordered my coffin they have at least conversed about my sepulchre, discussed my estate, and reckoned their share of it. Many a man has been buried before he was dead, and the only mourning over him has been because he refused to fulfil the greedy expectations of his hypocritical relatives by going down to the pit at once. It has come to this with some afflicted believers, that their hungry heirs think they have lived too long. I am as a mat, that hath no strength. I have but the name to live; my constitution is broken up; I can scarce crawl about my sick room, my mind is even weaker than my body, and my faith weakest of all. The sons and daughters of sorrow will need but little explanation of these sentences, they are to such tried ones as household words.

Free among the dead. Unbound from all that links a man with life, familiar with death's door, a freeman of the city of the sepulchre, I seem no more one of earth's drudges, but begin to anticipate the rest of the tomb. It is a sad case when our only hope lies in the direction of death, our only liberty of spirit amid the congenial horrors of corruption. Like the slain that lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. He felt as if he were as utterly forgotten as those whose carcasses are left to rot on the battle field. As when a soldier, mortally wounded, bleeds unheeded amid the heaps of slain, and remains to his last expiring groan unpitied and unsuccoured, so did Heman sigh out his soul in loneliest sorrow, feeling as if even God himself had quite forgotten him. How low the spirits of good and brave men will sometimes sink. Under the influence of certain disorders everything will wear a sombre aspect, and the heart will dive into the profoundest deeps of misery. It is all very well for those who are in robust health and full of spirits to blame those whose lives are sicklied over with the pale cast of melancholy, but the evil is as real as a gaping wound, and all the more hard to bear because it lies so much in the region of the soul that to the inexperienced it appears to be a mere matter of fancy and diseased imagination. Reader, never ridicule the nervous and hypochondriacal, their pain is real; though much of the evil lies in the imagination, it is not imaginary. And they are cut off from thy hand. Poor Heman felt as if God himself had put him away, smitten him and laid him among the corpses of those executed by divine justice. He mourned that the hand of the Lord had gone out against him, and that lie was divided from the great author of his life. This is the essence of wormwood. Man's blows are trifles, but God's smitings are terrible to a gracious heart. To feel utterly forsaken of the Lord and cast away as though hopelessly corrupt is the very climax of heart desolation.

Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. What a collection of forcible metaphors, each one expressive of the utmost grief. Heman compared his forlorn condition to an imprisonment in a subterranean dungeon, to confinement in the realms of the dead, and to a plunge into the abyss. None of the similes are strained. The mind can descend far lower than the body, for it there are bottomless pits. The flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more, but the soul can bleed in ten thousand ways, and die over and over again each hour. It is grievous to the good man to see the Lord whom he loves laying him in the sepulchre of despondency; piling nightshade upon him, putting out all his candles, and heaping over him solid masses of sorrow; evil from so good a hand seems evil indeed, and yet if faith could but be allowed to speak she would remind the depressed spirit that it is better to fall into the hand of the Lord than into the hands of man, and moreover she would tell the despondent heart that God never placed a Joseph in a pit without drawing him up again to fill a throne; that he never caused a horror of great darkness to fall upon an Abraham without revealing his covenant to him; and never cast even a Jonah into the deeps without preparing the means to land him safely on dry land. Alas, when under deep depression the mind forgets all this, and is only conscious of its unutterable misery; the man sees the lion but not the honey in its carcass, he feels the thorns but he cannot smell the roses which adorn them. He who now feebly expounds these words knows within himself more than he would care or dare to tell of the abysses of inward anguish. He has sailed round the Cape of Storms, and has drifted along by the dreary headlands of despair. He has groaned out with one of old —"My bones are pierced in me in the night season; and my sinews take no rest. I go morning without the sun. Terrors are turned upon me, they pursue my soul as the wind." Those who know this bitterness by experience will sympathise, but from others it would be idle to expect pity, nor would their pity be worth the having if it could be obtained. It is an unspeakable consolation that our Lord Jesus knows this experience, right well, having, with the exception of the sin of it, felt it all and more than all in Gethsemane when he was exceeding sorrowful even unto death.

Thy wrath lieth hard upon me. Dreadful plight this, the worst in which a man can be found. Wrath is heavy in itself; God's wrath is crushing beyond conception, and when that presses hard the soul is oppressed indeed. The wrath of God is the very hell of hell, and when it weighs upon the conscience a man feels a torment such as only that of damned spirits can exceed. Joy or peace, or even numbness of indifference, there can be none to one who is loaded with this most tremendous of burdens. And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves, or all thy breakers. He pictures God's wrath as breaking over him like those waves of the sea which swell, and rage, and dash with fury upon the shore. How could his frail barque hope to survive those cruel breakers, white like the hungry teeth of death. Seas of affliction seemed to rush in upon him with all the force of omnipotence; he felt himself to be oppressed and afflicted like Israel in Egypt, when they cried by reason of their afflictions. It appeared impossible for him to suffer more, he had exhausted the methods of adversity and endured all its waves. So have we imagined, and yet it is not really quite so bad. The worst case might be worse, there are alleviations to every woe; God has other and more terrible waves which, if he chose to let them forth, would sweep us into the infernal abyss, whence hope has long since been banished. Selah. There was need to rest. Above the breakers the swimmer lifts his head and looks around him, breathing for a moment, until the next wave comes. Even lamentation must have its pauses. Nights are broken up into watches, and even so mourning has its intervals. Such sorrowful music is a great strain both on voices and instruments, and it is well to give the singers the relief of silence for a while.

Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me. If ever we need friends it is in the dreary hour of despondency and the weary time of bodily sickness; therefore does the sufferer complain because divine providence had removed his friends. Perhaps his disease was infectious or defiling, so that he was legally separated from his fellow men, perhaps their fears kept them away from his plague stricken house, or else his good name had become so injured that they naturally avoided him. Lost friends require but small excuse for turning their backs on the afflicted. The swallows offer no apology for leaving us to winter by ourselves. Yet it is a piercing pain which arises from the desertion of dear associates; it is a wound which festers and refuses to be healed. Thou hast made me an abomination unto them. They turned from him as though he had become loathsome and contaminating, and this because of something which the Lord had done to him; therefore, he brings his complaint to the prime mover in his trouble. He who is still flattered by the companions of his pleasure can little guess the wretchedness which will be his portion should he become poor, or slanderously accused, for then one by one the parasites of his prosperity will go their way and leave him to his fate, not without cutting remarks on their part to increase his misery. Men have not so much power to bless by friendship as to curse by treachery. Earth's poisons are more deadly than her medicines are healing. The mass of men who gather around a man and flatter him are like tame leopards; when they lick his hand it is well for him to remember that with equal gusto they would drink his blood. "Cursed is he that trusteth in man." I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. He was a prisoner in his room, and felt like a leper in the lazaretto, or a condemned criminal in his cell. His mind, too, was bound as with fetters of iron; he felt no liberty of hope, he could take no flights of joy. When God shuts friends out, and shuts us in to pine away alone, it is no wonder if we water our couch with tears.

Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction. He wept his eyes out. He exhausted the lachrymal glands, he wore away the sight itself. Tears in showers are a blessing, and work our good; but in floods they become destructive and injurious. Lord, I have called daily upon thee. His tears wetted his prayers, but did not damp then fervour. He prayed still, though no answer came to dry his eyes. Nothing can make a true believer cease praying; it is a part of his nature, and pray he must. I have stretched out my hands unto thee. He used the appropriate posture of a supplicant, of his own accord; men need no posture maker, or master of the ceremonies, when they are eagerly pleading for mercy, nature suggests to them attitudes both natural and correct. As a little child stretches out its hands to its mother while it cries, so did this afflicted child of God. He prayed all over, his eyes wept, his voice cried, his hands were outstretched, and his heart broke. This was prayer indeed.

Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? Wherefore then suffer me to die? While I live thou canst in me display the glories of thy grace, but when I have passed into the unknown land, how canst thou illustrate in me thy love? If I perish thou wilt lose a worshipper who both reverenced, and in his own experience illustrated, the wonders of thy character and acts. This is good pleading, and therefore he repeats it. Shall the dead arise and praise thee? He is thinking only of the present, and not of the last great day, and he urges that the Lord would have one the less to praise him among the sons of men. Shades take no part in the quires of the Sabbath, ghosts sing no joyous Psalms, sepulchres and vaults send forth no notes of thanksgiving. True the souls of departed saints render glory to God, but the dejected Psalmist's thoughts do not mount to heaven but survey the gloomy grave: he stays on this side of eternity, where in the grave he sees no wonders and hears no songs. Selah. At the mouth of the tomb he sits down to meditate, and then returns to his theme.

Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Thy tender goodness —who shall testify concerning it in that cold abode where the worm and corruption hold their riot? The living may indite "meditations among the Tombs", but the dead know nothing, and therefore can declare nothing. Or thy faithfulness in destruction? If the Lord suffered his servant to die before the divine promise was fulfilled, it would be quite impossible for his faithfulness to be proclaimed. The poet is dealing with this life only, and looking at the matter from the point of view afforded by time and the present race of men; if a believer were deserted and permitted to die in despair, there could come no voice from his grave to inform mankind that the Lord had rectified his wrongs and relieved him of his trials, no songs would leap up from the cold sod to hymn the truth and goodness of the Lord; but as far as men are concerned, a voice which loved to magnify the grace of God would be silenced, and a loving witness for the Lord removed from the sphere of testimony.

Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? If not here permitted to prove their goodness of Jehovah, how could the singer do so in the land of darkness and death shade? Could his tongue, when turned into a clod, alarm the dull cold ear of death? Is not a living dog better than a dead lion, and a living believer of more value to the cause of God on earth than all the departed put together? And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? What shall be told concerning thee in the regions of oblivion? Where memory and love are lost, and men are alike unknowing and unknown, forgetful and forgotten, what witness to the divine holiness can be borne? The whole argument amounts to this —if the believer dies unblessed, how will God's honour be preserved? Who will bear witness to his truth and righteousness?

But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; I have continued to pray for help to thee, O Jehovah, the living God, even though thou hast so long delayed to answer. A true born child of God may be known by his continuing to cry; a hypocrite is great at a spurt, but the genuine believer holds on till he wins his suit. And in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. He meant to plead on yet, and to increase his earnestness. He intended to be up betimes, to anticipate the day light, and begin to pray before the sun was up. If the Lord is pleased to delay, he has a right to do as he wills, but we must not therefore become tardy in supplication. If we count the Lord slack concerning his promise we must only be the more eager to outrun him, lest sinful sloth on our part should hinder the blessing.

"Let prayer and holy hymn

Perfume the morning air;Before the world with smoke is dim

Bestir thy soul to prayer."

"While flowers are wet with dew

Lament thy sins with tears,

And ere the sun shines forth anew

Tell to thy Lord thy fears."

LORD, why castest thou oft my soul? Hast thou not aforetime chosen me, wilt thou now reject me? Shall thine elect ones become thy reprobates? Dost thou, like changeable men, give a writing of divorcement to those whom thy love has espoused? Can thy beloveds become thy cast offs? Why hidest thou thy face from me? Wilt thou not so much as look upon me? Canst thou not afford me a solitary smile? Why this severity to one who has in brighter days basked in the light of thy favour? We may put these questions to the Lord, nay, we ought to do so. It is not undue familiarity, but holy boldness. It may help us to remove the evil which provokes the Lord to jealousy, if we seriously beg him to shew us wherefore he contends with us. He cannot act towards us in other than a right and gracious manner, therefore for every stroke of his rod there is a sufficient reason in the judgment of his loving heart; let us try to learn that reason and profit by it.

I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. His affliction had now lasted so long that he could hardly remember when it commenced; it seemed to him as if he had been at death's door ever since he was a child. This was no doubt an exaggeration of a depressed spirit, and yet perhaps Heman may have been born under the cypress, and have been all his days afflicted with some chronic disease or bodily infirmity; there are holy men and women whose lives are a long apprenticeship to patience, and these deserve both our sympathy and our reverence, —our reverence we have ventured to say, for since the Saviour became the acquaintance of grief, sorrow has become honourable in believers' eyes. A life long sickness may by divine grace prove to be a life long blessing. Better suffer from childhood to old age than to be let alone to find pleasure in sin. While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. Long use had not blunted the edge of sorrow, God's terrors had not lost their terror; rather had they become more overwhelming and had driven the man to despair. He was unable to collect his thoughts, he was so tossed about that he could not judge and weigh his own condition in a calm and rational manner. Sickness alone will thus distract the mind; and when a sense of divine anger is added thereto, it is not to be wondered at if reason finds it hard to hold the reins. How near akin to madness soul depression sometimes may be, it is not our province to decide; but we speak what we do know when we say that a feather weight might be sufficient to turn the scale at times. Thank God O ye tempted ones who yet retain your reason! Thank him that the devil himself cannot add that feather while the Lord stands by to adjust all things. Even though we have grazed upon the rock of utter distraction, we bless the infinitely gracious Steersman that the vessel is seaworthy yet, and answers to her helm: tempest tossed from the hour of her launch even to this hour, yet she mounts the waves and defies the hurricane.

Thy fierce wrath goeth over me. What an expression, "fierce wrath", and it is a man of God who feels it! Do we seek an explanation? It seemed so to him, but "tidings are not what they seem." No punitive anger ever falls upon the saved one, for Jesus shields him from it all; but a father's anger may fall upon his dearest child, none the less but all the more, because he loves it. Since Jesus bore my guilt as my substitute, my Judge cannot punish me, but my Father can and will correct me. In this sense the Father may even manifest "fierce wrath" to his erring child, and under a sense of it that dear broken down one may be laid in the dust and covered with wretchedness, and yet for all that he may be accepted and beloved of the Lord all the while. Heman represents God's wrath as breaking over him as waves over a wreck. Thy terrors have cut me off. They have made me a marked man, they have made me feel like a leper separated from the congregation of thy people, and they have caused others to look upon me as no better than dead. Blessed be God this is the sufferer's idea and not the very truth, for the Lord will neither cast off nor cut off his people, but will visit his mourners with choice refreshments.

They came round about me daily like water. My troubles, and thy chastisement poured in upon me, penetrating everywhere, and drowning all. Such is the permeating and pervading power of spiritual distress, there is no shutting it out; it soaks into the soul like the dew into Gideon's fleece; it sucks the spirit down as the quicksand swallows the ship; it overwhelms it as the deluge submerged the green earth. They compassed me about together. Griefs hemmed him in. He was like the deer in the hunt, when the dogs are all around and at his throat. Poor soul! and yet he was a man greatly beloved of heaven!

Lover and friend: hast thou put far from me. Even when they are near me bodily, they are so unable to swim with me in such deep waters, that they stand like men far away on the shore while I am buffeted with the billows; but, alas, they shun me, the dearest lover of all is afraid of such a distracted one, and those who took counsel with me avoid me now! The Lord Jesus knew the meaning of this in all its wormwood and gall when in his passion. In dreadful loneliness he trod the wine press, and all his garments were distained with the red blood of those sour grapes. Lonely sorrow falls to the lot of not a few; let them not repine, but enter herein into close communion with that dearest lover and friend who is never far from his tried ones. And mine acquaintance into darkness, or better still, my acquaintance is darkness. I am familiar only with sadness, all else has vanished. I am a child crying alone in the dark. Will the heavenly Father leave his child there? Here he breaks off, and anything more from us would only spoil the abruptness of the unexpected FINIS.  (We have not attempted to interpret this Psalm concerning our Lord, but we fully believe that where the members are, the Head is to be seen preeminently. To have given a double exposition under each verse would have been difficult and confusing; we have therefore left the Messianic references to be pointed out in the Notes, where, if God the Holy Ghost be pleased to illustrate the page, we have gathered up more than enough to lead each devout reader to behold Jesus, the man of sorrows and the acquaintance of grief.)

1. Confidence in prayer, —"God of my salvation."

2. Earnestness in prayer, —"I have cried."

3. Perseverance in prayer, —"Day and night." —G.R.

—Prayer as an ambassador.

1. An audience sought, or the benefit of access.

2. Attention entreated, or the blessing of success.

3. The Process explained, or prayer comes and God inclines.

1. A good man is exposed to inward troubles.

(a) To soul troubles.

(b) To the soul full of troubles.

2. To outward troubles. "My life", etc.

(a) From outward persecutions.

(b) From inward griefs.

3. To both inward and outward troubles at the same time. "Soul full", etc., "and my life", etc. —G.R.

(last clause). —Conscious weakness, painfully felt, at certain times, in various duties. Intended to keep us humble, to drive us to our knees, and to bring greater glory to God.

Verses 4-5.

1. The resemblance of the righteous man to the wicked.

(a) In natural death.

(b) In bodily infirmities.

2. His difference from them. He is "counted with them" but is not of them.

(a) He experiences natural death only.

(b) His strength is perfected in weakness.

(c) For him to die is gain. —G.R.

Verses 6-7.

1. What the afflictions of the people of God appear to be to themselves.

(a) Extreme, —"laid me in the lowest pit."

(b) Inexplicable, —"in darkness."

(c) Humiliating, —"in the deeps."

(d) Severe, —"thy wrath lieth hard."

(e) Exhaustive, —"afflicted with all thy waves."

2. What they are in reality.

(a) Not extreme but light.

(b) Not inexplicable, but according to the will of God.

(c) Not humiliating, but elevating. "Humble yourselves under", etc.

(d) Not severe but gentle. Not in anger but in love.

(e) Not exhaustive but partial. Not all thy waves, but a few ripples only. The slight motion in the harbour when there is a boisterous ocean beyond. —G.R.

(last clause). —This may describe us when despondency is chronic, when trouble is overwhelming, when sickness detains us at home, when we feel restrained in Christian labour, or hampered in prayer.

1. Sorrow before God, —"Mine eye", etc.

2. Prayer to God, —"have called", etc.

3. Waiting for God, —"called daily".

4. Dependence on God, —"I have stretched", etc. These hands can do nothing without thee. —G.R.

Verses 10-12.

1. The supposition.

(a) That a child of God should be wholly dead.

(b) That he should remain forever in the grave.

(c) That he should be destroyed.

(d) That he should always remain in darkness.

(e) That he should be entirely forgotten, as though he had never existed.

2. The consequences involved in this supposition.

(a) God's wonders to them would cease.

(b) His praise from them would be lost.

(c) His lovingkindness to them would be unknown.

(d) His faithfulness destroyed.

(e) His wonders to them would be lost to others.

(f) His former righteousness to them would be forgotten.

3. The plea founded upon these consequences, —"Wilt thou", etc. It cannot be that thy praise for grace shown to thy people can be lost, and none can render it but themselves. "Then what wilt thou do unto thy great name?" —G.R.

1. Blessings delayed to prayer, —"Unto thee", etc.

2. Blessings anticipated by prayer, —"in the morning", etc. Daily mercies anticipated by morning prayers. —G.R.

(last clause). —The advantages of early morning prayer meetings.

1. Afflictions are mysterious though just.

2. Just though mysterious. —G.R.

Solemn enquiries, to be followed by searching examinations, by sorrowful confessions, stern self denials, and sweet restorations.

1. The afflictions of the righteous may be long continued though severe. "I am afflicted, etc., from my youth up."

2. Severe though long continued.

(a) Painful, —"afflicted."

(b) Threatening, —"ready to die."

(c) Terrific, —"suffer thy terrors."

(d) Distracting, —"I am", etc. —G.R.

The personal sufferings of Christ for the salvation of his people. —Sermon by Robert Hawker. Works, Vol. 4. pg 91.

1. Good men are often tried men.

2. Tried men frequently misjudge the Lord's dealings.

3. The Lord does not take them at their word, he is better than their fears. —G.R.

The loss of friends intended to remind us of our own mortality, to wean us from earth, to lead us to more complete trust in the Lord, to chasten us for sin, and to draw us away to the great meeting place.

The words of our text will lead us to remark that,

1. The happiness of life greatly depends on intimate friendships.

2. The trial of parting with intimate friends is exceedingly painful.

3. In this, as indeed in every affliction, the best consolation is drawn from a belief in, and meditation upon, God's governing providence. —Joseph Lathrop, 1845.