The Depths of Despair
July 25, 2019
Commentary
This Psalm is acknowledged by many as one of the saddest of all the psalms and some have declared it as “a cry of hopeless despair.” It is a prayer for when you can’t seem to find the way. The key to under-standing it is to picture the writer as a leper who is suffering from a loathsome, disfiguring, and dreadful disease which has afflicted him from childhood. It could be described as life in the pits. It is the poetic groan of a man in extreme agony. There is scarcely a glimmer of hope anywhere; it is filled with dejection, despair and death. The psalmist lamented the terrible and fierce affliction that had brought him to the point of death. Yet he prayed steadfastly to the Lord day and night, basing his appeal on the fact that he would be useless to the Lord in the grave. The situation of the psalmist can be divided into four parts:
1. No future left (vv. 88:1-7) – The circumstances of life are closing in on the psalmist.
A. A despondent cry (v. 1) – When prayer seems hopeless because nothing is changed.
B. A despairing cry (v. 2) – It is a time of intense emotion.
C. A desperate cry (vv. 3-7) – He was weak, wretched and full of wrongfulness.
2. No friends left (v. 8) He was separated from his friends and only had the Lord to go to.
3. No foundation left (vv. 9-12) He was like a man being swallowed up in quick sand.
A. He demonstrates a hopeless attitude (v. 9).
B. He has a hopeless appeal (vv. 10-12).
4. No faith left (vv. 13-18)
A. He feels forsaken (vv. 13-14)
B. He is fearful (vv. 15-17)
C. His is friendless (v. 18)
When it seemed that God had not done anything to rescue the psalmist from his terrible situation his faith rested in God’s coming salvation. This came as he prayed each morning to the Lord.
Application
When was the last time you experienced life in the pits? Did you think about the fact that God was right there with you? Suffering sours some souls; it sweetens others. Lord, help me to think of someone I know that is especially lonely and could use some encouragement today?
Psalms 88:1– 18 (NET)
1 O Lord God who delivers me, by day I cry out and at night I pray before you.
2 Listen to my prayer. Pay attention to my cry for help.
3 For my life is filled with troubles, and I am ready to enter Sheol.
4 They treat me like those who descend into the grave. I am like a helpless man,
5 adrift among the dead, like corpses lying in the grave, whom you remember no more, and who are cut off from your power.
6 You place me in the lowest regions of the Pit, in the dark places, in the watery depths.
7 Your anger bears down on me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)
8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance; you make me an appalling sight to them. I am trapped and cannot get free.
9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression. I call out to you, O Lord, all day long; I spread out my hands in prayer to you.
10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)
11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave, or your faithfulness in the place of the dead?
12 Are your amazing deeds experienced in the dark region, or your deliverance in the land of oblivion?
13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord; in the morning my prayer confronts you.
14 O Lord, why do you reject me, and pay no attention to me?
15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.
16 Your anger overwhelms me; your terrors destroy me.
17 They surround me like water all day long; they join forces and encircle me.
18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; those who know me leave me alone in the darkness.