1.
O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
Title. Maschil = Instruction. The eleventh of thirteen so named. See note on Title, Psalms 32 , and App-65 . The title, rearranged as above, removes the difficulty of this Psalm being ascribed to two different writers.
Heman. Celebrated for wisdom (with Ethan, 89), 1 Kings 4:31 . 1Ch 6:33 , 1 Chronicles 6:44 ; 1 Chronicles 25:4 . He was a Kohathite, while Ethan was a Merarite. See App-63 and App-64 .
Ezrahite. Put for Zerahite. Probably the name of a district. Compare the case of Elkanah (1 Samuel 1:1 .
The Psalm is prophetic of Messiah's humiliation, corresponding with Psalms 86 . See the Structure, p. 789.
LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 ).
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.
soul. Hebrew. nephesh ( App-13 ), for emphasis.
the grave. Hebrew. Sheol.
4.
I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
am = have been.
I am = I am become.
man. Hebrew. geber.
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.
Free = Set free: i.e. by death, so as to be free from the Law (according to the Talmud, Shabbath, vol. 151. B).
the grave = sepulchre. Hebrew. keber. See App-35 .
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.
upon me. Same word as "over me", Psalms 88:16 , with which the member corresponds.
Selah. Connecting Psalms 88:6 with its amplification in verses: Psalms 88:8 , Psalms 88:9 .
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.
10.
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
dead. Hebrew. Rephaim, who have no resurrection. See note on Isaiah 26:14 , where it is rendered "deceased"; and 19, where it is rendered "the dead". Compare App-23 and App-25 .
Selah. Connecting Psalms 88:10 with its amplification in verses: Psalms 88:11-13 . Compare Selah, Psalms 88:7 . See App-66 .
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.
prevent = come before.
14.
LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
face. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .
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.
over me. Same word as "upon me", Psalms 88:7 .
17.
They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
daily = all the day.
18.
Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.
put far from me. Compare Psalms 88:8 , the corresponding member.