Psalm 88
A Psalm of Herman the Ezrahite (of the sons of Korah) Asking God for Relief from Suffering
The Sons of Korah, also sometimes called the Korahites, are credited with writing 11 Psalms for the Psalter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They were a group of Levites assigned by God to be gatekeepers in His Tabernacle, and to lead the chorus in worshiping God through song.
Korah himself is first made mention of in Numbers 16, where he leads a rebellion against Moses and Aaron's authority in the wilderness. By challenging Moses and Aaron's authority, he was ultimately challenging God's authority, so God put the rebellion to a violent end, causing the earth to open and swallow Korah and the rebels up. Yet as we learn in Numbers 26:11, Korah's sons did not join their father in his rebellion, and so were spared by God. Despite their father's rebellion, God still had a plan for Korah's sons to serve Him in great ways. - Psalms.org
This is one of the saddest of the psalms. One writer called it the "darkest corner of the Psalter." [Note: R. E. O. White] It is an individual lament. It relates the prayer of a person who suffered intensely over a long time yet continued to trust in the Lord.
Herman was a wise man who was a singer in David’s service and a contemporary of Asaph and Ethan (1 Kings 4:31; 1 Chronicles 15:19; 1 Chronicles 16:41-42; 1 Chronicles 25:1; 1 Chronicles 25:6). The sons of Korah arranged and or sang this psalm. - Thomas Constable
Psalms 88 is an embarrassment to conventional faith. It is the cry of a believer (who sounds like Job) whose life has gone awry, who desperately seeks contact with Yahweh, but who is unable to evoke a response from God. This is indeed ’the dark night of the soul,’ when the troubled person must be and must stay in the darkness of abandonment, utterly alone. - Brueggemann
Nothing is known of the occasion on which the psalm was composed, except, as is probably indicated in the title, that it was in a time of sickness; and, from the psalm itself, we find that it was when the mind was enveloped in impenetrable darkness, with no comfort.
In this psalm there is no relief; there is no comfort. As the Book of Psalms was designed to be useful in all ages, and to all classes of people, and as such a state of mind as that described in this psalm might occur again and often - it was proper that such a condition of utter despondency, even in a good man, should be described, in order that others might see that such feelings are not necessarily inconsistent with true religion, and do not prove that even such a sufferer is not a child of God. It is probable that this psalm was designed to illustrate what may occur when disease is such as to produce deep mental darkness and sorrow. And the Book of Psalms would have been incomplete for the use of the church, if there had not been at least one such psalm in the collection. - Albert Barnes
Hear My Prayer
Vs. 1-2 (NLT) - O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night. Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry.
Vs. 9 - Lord, I cry out to you all day long
The only evidence of faith in this psalm is Herman’s perseverance in prayer. His lyrics do not recall the might and mercy of God like so many other psalms. He did not describe a future of hope. But he did, even in his devastation, continue to pray.
To address God as the God of his salvation, to discern His hand in the infliction of sorrows, is the operation of true, though feeble, faith. - A. Maclaren
We thank God that there is one such song as this, with its revelation of what results in character when a soul, in the midst of the most appalling suffering, still maintains the activity of practiced relationship with God. - Morgan
My Life Is Full of Trouble
Vs. 3-4 (NLT) - For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left.
The word rendered as “full” means properly to satiate as with food; that is, when as much had been taken as could be. So he says here, that this trouble was as great as he could bear; he could sustain no more. He had reached the utmost point of endurance; he had no power to bear anymore. - Albert Barnes
Vs. 6-7 - You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit, in the darkest places, in the depths. Your wrath weighs heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
Vs. 15 - From my youth, I have been suffering and near death. I suffer your horrors; I am desperate.
Herman repeatedly identified God as the source of his suffering. He called it “your horrors” and “your wrath” and “your waves.” He seemed well aware that God Himself had orchestrated the opposition he faced, and it was God alone Who could relieve and rescue.
Can The Dead Praise You?
Vs. 11 (NLT) - Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love? Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
Because the psalmist was uncertain of the world beyond, he diligently asked God to answer his prayer and meet his need soon, when he knew that he could receive God’s wonders and speak of the lovingkindness and faithfulness of God. The way these verses refer to the world beyond is a good illustration of the uncertainty that the Old Testament writers often demonstrated regarding what lay beyond this life. - David Guzik
There are a remarkable number of descriptive words for death in these lyrics. In addition to common terms like “grave” (11) and “depths” (6), the psalmist also included “Sheol” (3), the “Pit” (6), and “Abaddon” (11). Commentators note that they all convey the same basic idea that the psalmist saw himself as nearing the end of his life and any opportunity to offer praise to God.
Such thoughts are in startling contrast with the hopes that sparkle in some psalms (such as Psalm 16:10, etc.), and they show that clear, permanent assurance of future blessedness was not granted to the ancient Church. Nor could there be sober certainty of it until after Christ’s resurrection. - A. Maclaren
Darkness Is My Only Friend
Vs. 8 - You have distanced my friends from me; you have made me repulsive to them.
Vs. 18 - You have distanced loved one and neighbor from me; darkness is my only friend.
Again, the psalmist clearly communicated his belief that God was the source of his suffering and solitude. He felt completely abandoned, rejected by all human companions. He faced his darkest hour alone but continued to pray through his pain.
Perhaps the whole might be translated, “Far away from me hast thou put lover and friend - my acquaintances! All is darkness!” That is, “When I think of any of them, all is darkness, sadness. My friends are not to be seen. They have vanished. I see no friends; I see only darkness and gloom. All have gone, leaving me alone in this condition of unpitied sorrow!” This completes the picture of the suffering man; a man to whom all was dark, and who could find no consolation anywhere - in God; in his friends; in the grave; in the prospect of the future. - Albert Barnes
