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Psalm Eighty-eight
New King James Version (NKJV)
YLT
A
Song, a Psalm, by sons of Korah, to the Overseer, `Concerning the Sickness of
Afflictions.' -- An instruction, by Heman the Ezrahite.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 88
A Song cf15I or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief
Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. Of the word
"maalath", See Gill on Psalm 53:1. "Leannoth" signifies
"to answer". Perhaps this song was to be sung alternately, or by
responses. Both words are thought by some, as Aben Ezra, to be the beginning of
a song, to the tune of which this was set; and by others a musical instrument,
on which it was sung; a hollow one, as the word "maalath" seems to
signify, a wind instrument: others are of opinion that they intend the subject
matter of the psalm, and render them, "concerning the disease to
afflict", or "the afflicting disease"F1; either a
bodily one, which threatened with death, under which the psalmist now was; or a
soul disorder, being under desertions, and a sense of divine wrath, which were
very afflicting. The psalm is called "Maschil", which may be
translated "causing to understand"; it being instructive to persons
in a like case to apply to God, as he did; and if it respects Christ, it
teaches many things concerning him, his sorrows and his sufferings: the author
of it is said to be Heman the Ezrahite; the Targum calls him Heman the native,
and the Septuagint render it Heman the Israelite, and Arama says this is
Abraham. There were two of this name, one the son of Zerah, the son of Judah,
and so might be called the Zerahite, and with the addition of a letter the
Ezrahite; he is mentioned along with others as famous for wisdom, 1 Chronicles 2:6, but this man seems to be
too early to be the penman of this psalm: though Dr. LightfootF2 is
of opinion that this psalm was penned by this Heman many years before the birth
of Moses; which and the following psalm are the oldest pieces of writing the
world has to show, being written by two men who felt and groaned under the
bondage and affliction of Egypt, which Heman here deplores, and therefore
entitles his elegy "Maalath Leannoth, concerning sickness by affliction";
and accordingly he and his brethren are called the sons of Mahali, 1 Kings 4:31. There was another Heman, who
was both a singer in David's time, and the king's seer, who seems most likely
to be the person, 1 Chronicles 6:33, he was when he wrote
this psalm under sore temptations, desertions, and dejections, though not in
downright despair; there is but one comfortable clause in it, and that is the
first of it; many interpreters, both ancient and modern, think he is to be
considered throughout as a type of Christ, with whom everything in it more
exactly agrees than with anyone man else. The Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi,
interpret it of the people of Israel in captivity; and so the Syriac version
entitles it,
"concerning
the people that were in Babylon;'
but
a single person only is designed throughout. SpinosaF4 affirms, from
the testimony of Philo the Jew, that this psalm was published when King
Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon, and the following psalm when he was
released: but this is not to be found in the true Philo, but in Pseudo-PhiloF4.
Psalm 88:1 O
Lord, God of my
salvation, I have cried out day and night before You.
YLT
1O Jehovah, God of my
salvation, Daily I have cried, nightly before Thee,
O Lord God of my salvation,.... The author both of
temporal and spiritual salvation; see Psalm 18:46 from the experience the
psalmist had had of the Lord's working salvation for him in times past, he is
encouraged to hope that he would appear for him, and help him out of his
present distress; his faith was not so low, but that amidst all his darkness
and dejection he could look upon the Lord as his God, and the God of salvation
to him; so our Lord Jesus Christ, when deserted by his Father, still called him
his God, and believed that he would help him, Psalm 22:1.
I have cried day and night before thee, or "in
the day I have cried, and in the night before thee"; that is, as the
Targum paraphrases it,
"in
the night my prayer was before thee.'
prayer
being expressed by crying shows the person to be in distress, denotes the
earnestness of it, and shows it to be vocal; and it being both in the day and
in the night, that it was without ceasing. The same is said by Christ, Psalm 22:2 and is true of him, who in the
days of his flesh was frequent in prayer, and especially in the night season, Luke 6:12 and particularly his praying in
the garden the night he was betrayed may be here referred to, Matthew 26:38.
Psalm 88:2 2 Let my prayer come before
You; Incline Your ear to my cry.
YLT
2My prayer cometh in before
Thee, Incline Thine ear to my loud cry,
Let my prayer come before thee,.... Not before men, as hypocrites
desire, but before the Lord; let it not be shut out, but be admitted; and let
it come with acceptance, as it does when it ascends before God, out of the
hands of the angel before the throne, perfumed with the much incense of his
mediation, Revelation 8:3,
incline thine ear unto my cry; hearken to it, receive
it, and give an answer to it; Christ's prayers were attended with strong
crying, and were always received and heard, Hebrews 5:7.
Psalm 88:3 3 For my soul is full of
troubles, And my life draws near to the grave.
YLT
3For my soul hath been full
of evils, And my life hath come to Sheol.
For my soul is full of troubles,.... Or "satiated or
glutted"F5שבעה "saturata",
Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius;
"satiata", Tigurine version. with them, as a stomach full of meat
that can receive no more, to which the allusion is; having been fed with the
bread of adversity and the water of affliction, so that he had his fill of
trouble: every man is full of trouble, of one kind or another, Job 14:1 especially the saint, who besides
his outward troubles has inward ones, arising from indwelling sin, the
temptations of Satan, and divine desertions, which was now the case of the
psalmist: this may be truly applied to Christ, who himself said, when in the
garden, "my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death", Matthew 26:38, he was a man of sorrows all
his days, but especially at that time, and when upon the cross, forsaken by his
Father, and sustaining his wrath: "his soul" was then "filled
with evil things"F6ברעות "in
malis", Pagninus, Montanus; "malis", Junius & Tremellius,
&c. , as the words may be rendered:
innumerable evils compassed him about, Psalm 40:12, the sins of his people, those
evil things, were imputed to him; the iniquity of them all was laid upon him,
as was also the evil of punishment for them; and then he found trouble and
sorrow enough:
and my life draweth nigh unto the grave: a phrase
expressive of a person's being just ready to die, Job 33:22 as the psalmist now thought he
was, Psalm 88:5, it is in the plural number
"my lives"F7חיי "vitae
meae", Montanus, Michaelis. ; and so may not only denote the danger he was
in of his natural life, but of his spiritual and eternal life, which he might
fear, being in darkness and desertion, would be lost, though they could not;
yea, that he was near to "hell" itself, for so the wordF8לשאול "ad orcum", Cocceius; "inferno",
Gejerus; "ad infernum", Michaelis; so Ainsworth. may be rendered; for
when the presence of God is withdrawn, and wrath let into the conscience, a
person in his own apprehension seems to be in hell as it were, or near it; see Jonah 2:2. This was true of Christ, when he
was sorrowful unto death, and was brought to the dust of it, and under divine
dereliction, and a sense of the wrath of God, as the surety of his people.
Psalm 88:4 4 I am counted with those
who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength,
YLT
4I have been reckoned with
those going down [to] the pit, I have been as a man without strength.
I am counted with them that go down into the pit,.... With the
dead, with them that are worthy of death, with malefactors that are judicially
put to death, and are not laid in a common grave, but put into a pit together:
thus Christ was reckoned and accounted of by the Jews; the sanhedrim counted
him worthy of death; and the common people cried out Crucify him; and they did
crucify him between two malefactors; and so he was numbered or counted with
transgressors, and as one of them, Isaiah 53:3.
I am as a man that hath no strength; for his
"strength" was "dried up like a potsherd", Psalm 22:15, though he was the mighty God,
and, as man, was made strong by the Lord for himself.
Psalm 88:5 5 Adrift among the dead, Like
the slain who lie in the grave, Whom You remember no more, And who are cut off
from Your hand.
YLT
5Among the dead -- free, As
pierced ones lying in the grave, Whom Thou hast not remembered any more, Yea,
they by Thy hand have been cut off.
Free among the dead,.... If he was a freeman,
it was only among the dead, not among the living; if he was free of any city,
it was of the city of the dead; he looked upon himself as a dead man, as one
belonging to the state of the dead, who are free from all relations, and from all
business and labour, and removed from all company and society; he thought
himself quite neglected, of whom there was no more care and notice taken than
of a dead man:
like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no
more; in a providential way, as in life, to clothe them, and feed
them, and protect and preserve them; in which sense God is said to be mindful
of men, Psalm 8:4, who when dead have no need to be
minded, and remembered in such a manner; otherwise God does remember the dead,
and takes care of their dust, and will raise them again; and especially he
remembers his own people, those that sleep in Jesus, who will be thought of in
the resurrection morn, and will be raised first, and brought with Christ; see Job 14:13,
and they are cut off from thy hand; that is, the slain that
lie in the grave, the dead that are buried there; these are cut off from the
hand of Providence, they needing no supplies from thence as in the time of
life. The Targum is,
"and
they are separated from the face of thy majesty.'
or
"they are cut off by thine hand"F9מידך
"manu tua", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Amama. ; by the
immediate hand of God, in a judicial way; so Christ in his death was like one
of these, he was cut off in a judicial way, not for his own sins, but for the
transgressions of his people, Isaiah 53:8.
Psalm 88:6 6 You have laid me in the
lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths.
YLT
6Thou hast put me in the
lowest pit, In dark places, in depths.
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,.... The Targum
interprets it of
"captivity
which was like unto the lowest pit;'
and
so Jarchi and Kimchi. Some understand it of a prison or dungeon, into which the
psalmist was put; it may be interpreted of the pit of the grave, into which
Christ was laid; though he continued in it not so long as to see corruption;
from that prison and judgment he was quickly taken, Psalm 16:10, "in darkness"; both
corporeal and spiritual, Matthew 27:45, and it is in the Hebrew text
"in darknesses"F11במחשכים
"in loca tenebrosa", Tigurine version, Musculus; "in tenebrosissimis",
Junius & Tremellius; "in densis tenebris", Piscator; "in
caligines, vel obscuritates", Gejerus. , denoting both:
in the deeps; in the deep waters of affliction, sorrows,
and sufferings; see Psalm 69:1. The allusion is to a dark and
deep pit, under ground, such as in the eastern countries they used to put their
captives and prisoners into in the night, and take them out in the morning; and
which custom continues still among the Turks. Leo AfricanusF12Descriptio
Africae, l. 3. p. 413. says he has seen three thousand Christian captives
together, clothed in a woollen sack, and chained to one another; and in the
night put into pits or ditches under ground; see Zechariah 9:11.
Psalm 88:7 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon
me, And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah
YLT
7Upon me hath Thy fury lain,
And [with] all Thy breakers Thou hast afflicted. Selah.
The wrath lieth hard upon me,.... So some good men
apprehend, when they are under afflictive dispensations of Providence, and are
left of God, and have not his immediate presence, and the discoveries of his love;
though fury is not in him, nor does any wrath in reality fall upon them, only
it seems so to them; see Psalm 38:1, but the wrath of God did really
lie with all the effects of it upon Christ, as the surety of his people, when
he was made sin, and a curse for them; see Psalm 89:38,
and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves; the
afflictions of God's people are compared to waves and billows of the sea, which
are many, and come one upon the back of another, and threaten to overwhelm and
sink; see Psalm 42:7 and so the sufferings of Christ
are signified by waters coming into him, and floods overflowing him; and hence
they are called a baptism, Psalm 69:1, and these were brought upon him
by the Lord; he spared him not; he laid the whole chastisement, all the
punishment due to the sins of his people, on him; he caused every wave to come
upon him, and him to endure all sorrows and sufferings the law and justice of
God could require.
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 88:8 8 You have put away my
acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am
shut up, and I cannot get out;
YLT
8Thou hast put mine
acquaintance far from me, Thou hast made me an abomination to them, Shut up --
I go not forth.
Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me,.... His
familiar friends, who were well known to him, and he to them: it is a mercy and
privilege to have good acquaintance, and hearty faithful friends, to converse
and advise with, whether about things civil or religious; and it is an
affliction to be deprived of them; and oftentimes in distress and adversity
they drop and fail, which is an additional trouble: this was the ease of Job
and of David, Job 19:13 and here of Heman, who attributes
it to God, as done by him; as also Job does, in the place referred to; for as
it is the Lord that gives favour in the sight of men, he can take it away when
he pleases: this is true of Christ, and the like is said of him, Psalm 69:8, and by his
"acquaintance", familiars, and friends, may be meant his apostles,
who, upon his being apprehended, forsook him, and fled; who, though they were
not all alienated in their affections, yet stood at a distance from him; Peter,
though he followed him, it was afar off, and at last he denied him; and others
of acquaintance and intimates stood afar off, beholding was done to him on the
cross; and his familiar friend, Judas, lifted up his heel against him, and
basely betrayed him, Matthew 26:50,
thou hast made me an abomination unto them; to some of
them, as to Judas, and to many that hosanna'd him into Jerusalem, and within a
few days cried "Crucify him, crucify him", Matthew 21:9 compare with this Isaiah 53:3.
I am shut up, and I cannot come forth; the Targum
renders it,
"shut
up in the house of prison,'
in
a prison; and so some literally understand it of the author of the psalm being
in a prison, or dungeon, in the time of the captivity: but it is rather to be
understood of some bodily disease, by which he was detained a prisoner at home,
and of his being bound in fetters, and held in the cords of affliction; which
was as a prison to him, and in which when the Lord "shuts up a man, there
can be no opening", Job 36:8, or else of soul troubles, being
in great darkness and desertion; so that his soul was as in a prison, and could
not come forth in the free exercise of grace, and needed the free Spirit of God
to set him at liberty; see Psalm 142:7, this may be applied to Christ,
when in the hands of Judas, and the hand of soldiers with him, who took him,
and bound him, and led him to the high priest; and when he was encompassed with
bulls of Bashan, and enclosed by the assembly of the wicked, as he hung on the
cross, Psalm 22:12.
Psalm 88:9 9 My eye wastes away because
of affliction. Lord,
I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You.
YLT
9Mine eye hath grieved
because of affliction, I called Thee, O Jehovah, all the day, I have spread out
unto Thee my hands.
Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction,.... Or
dropped tears, as the Targum, by which grief was vented; see Psalm 6:7.
Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands
unto thee; in prayer, as the Targum adds, this being a prayer gesture:
notwithstanding his troubles continued and increased, he did not leave off
praying, though he was not immediately heard and answered, which is what is
tacitly complained of, as in Psalm 22:2. Christ, in his troubles in the
garden, and on the cross, prayed for himself, for divine support and
assistance, as man; for his friends, disciples, and apostles, and for all that
should believe in him through them; and even for his enemies.
Psalm 88:10 10 Will You work wonders for
the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah
YLT
10To the dead dost Thou do
wonders? Do Rephaim rise? do they thank Thee? Selah.
Wilt thou show wonders to the dead?.... The Lord does show
wonders to some that are spiritually dead, dead in Adam, dead in law, dead in
trespasses and sins, by quickening them; whereby the wonders of his grace and
love, and of his power, and the exceeding greatness of it, are displayed; for
the conversion and quickening of a dead sinner is a marvellous event, like that
of; raising Lazarus from the dead, and causing Ezekiel's dry bones to live:
likewise the Lord will show wonders to those that are corporeally dead, by
raising them from the dead; which work, though not incredible, yet is very
wonderful, and can only be accounted for by the attributes of Divine
Omniscience and Omnipotence: yea, he would, and he has shown wonders to Christ,
when dead, by raising him up again, and giving him glory, and that before he
saw corruption, and as the head and representative of his people; and by
raising many of the saints also, after his resurrection:
shall the dead arise and praise thee? the
spiritually dead, when they are made alive, and rise out of their graves of
sin, praise the Lord for the exertion of his grace and power upon them; which
is one end of their being formed anew, quickened, and converted; and those that
are corporeally dead, such of them as shall rise again to everlasting life,
their mouths will be filled with everlasting praise: but here the author of the
psalm suggests, that in a little time he should be among the dead, unless he
had speedy help and deliverance from his troubles; to whom wonders are not
shown, but to the living; and who ordinarily do not rise again to this mortal
state, to praise the Lord in it: or, considering them as the words of Christ,
he suggests, that none of the above things would be done, unless he was a
conqueror over death and the grave, and was raised from thence himself; and so
these expostulations carry in them the nature of a prayer, even of the prayer
of Christ, as man, to be assisted in overcoming all his enemies, and to be
raised from the dead, as Cocceius and others think: the Greek and Vulgate Latin
versions are,
"shall
physicians rise again?'
of
whom the Jews had a bad opinion; See Gill on 2 Chronicles 16:12.
Selah. See Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 88:11 11 Shall Your lovingkindness
be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of
destruction?
YLT
11Is Thy kindness recounted
in the grave? Thy faithfulness in destruction?
Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?.... Where he
saw himself now going, and where should he be detained, and not raised out of
it, the lovingkindness of God to him, as his Son, and as man and Mediator, and
to his people in the gift and mission of him to be their Saviour and Redeemer,
how would that be declared and made known? now it is, Christ being raised, and
his ministers having a commission from him to preach the Gospel, in which the
lovingkindness of God is abundantly manifested:
or thy faithfulness in destruction? the grave, so called
from dead bodies being cast into it, and wasted, consumed, and destroyed in it:
the meaning may be, that should he be laid in the grave, and there putrefy and
rot, and not be raised again, where would be the faithfulness of God to his
purposes, to his covenant and promises, to him his Son, and to his people?
Psalm 88:12 12 Shall Your wonders be
known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
YLT
12Are Thy wonders known in
the darkness? And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
Shall thy wonders be known in the dark?.... A
description of the grave again; see Job 10:21, The sense may be, should he
continue in the dark and silent grave, how would the wonders of the grace of
God, of electing, redeeming, justifying, pardoning, and adopting grace, be made
known; the wonders of Christ's person and offices, and the wondrous things, and
doctrines of the Gospel, relating thereunto? as the glory of these would be
eclipsed, there would be none to publish them:
and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? the grave,
where the dead lie, who, having lost all sense of things, forget what were done
in this world, and they themselves are quickly forgotten by the living; and had
Christ continued in this state, and had not risen again to our justification,
how would his justifying righteousness have been revealed, as it is from faith
to faith in the Gospel, which is therefore called the word and ministration of
righteousness?
Psalm 88:13 13 But to You I have cried
out, O Lord,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
YLT
13And I, unto Thee, O
Jehovah, I have cried, And in the morning doth my prayer come before Thee.
But unto thee have I cried, O Lord,.... Formerly, and had
been heard, answered, and relieved, and which was an encouragement to cry again
to him in his distress; Christ was always heard, John 11:42, or, now, in his present case,
yet was not heard, at least not immediately answered; which was the case of the
Messiah, when forsaken by his God and Father, Psalm 22:1, yet still determines to
continue praying, as follows:
and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee; not before
the Lord is awake, and can hear; for he neither slumbers nor sleeps, and he
always hears: but the meaning is, that he would pray before he entered upon
another business; this should be the first thing in the morning he would do,
and this he would do before others did, or he himself used to do; before the
usual time of morning prayer; signifying, he would pray to him very early, which
is expressive of his vehemency, fervency, and importunity and earnestness, and
what a sense he had of his case, and of his need of divine help: so Christ rose
early in the morning, a great while before day, to pray, Mark 1:35. See Gill on Psalm 5:4.
Psalm 88:14 14 Lord,
why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?
YLT
14Why, O Jehovah, castest
Thou off my soul? Thou hidest Thy face from me.
Lord, why castest thou off my soul?.... Here begins his
prayer, which he determined to present early in the morning, and consists of
expostulations, and a representation of his distressed case: this shows that he
was under soul desertion, and which was what so greatly afflicted him;
imagining that his soul was cast off by the Lord, and had no more share in his
affection, and was no more under his care, and in his sight: such
expostulations of the saints, the church, and people of God, in a like case,
are elsewhere met with, Psalm 43:3 and may be applied to Christ,
when his soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death, and was made an offering for
sin; and particularly when he was forsaken by his Father: the Targum is,
"why
hast thou forsaken my soul?'
and
rises the word "sabachtha", which Christ did when on the cross, Matthew 27:46, the Septuagint version is,
"wherefore,
O Lord, dost thou reject my prayers?'
"why
hidest thou thy face from me?" which is a denial of sensible communion, a
withdrawing the influences and communications of divine grace for a time; and
which sometimes is the case of the best of men, as Job, David, and others; and
is very grieving and distressing to them; and, for the most part, is on account
of sin; it is sin which separates between God and his people, and causes him to
hide his face from them, or not grant them his gracious presence: this was the
case of Christ, who knew no sin, while he was suffering for the sins of his
people; see Psalm 69:17 compared with Matthew 27:46.
Psalm 88:15 15 I have been
afflicted and ready to die from my youth; I suffer Your terrors; I am
distraught.
YLT
15I [am] afflicted, and
expiring from youth, I have borne Thy terrors -- I pine away.
I am afflicted,.... In body and mind, from within and from
without, by Satan, by the men of the world, and by the Lord himself; which is
the common lot of God's people, Psalm 34:19 and was the case of the
Messiah, who was afflicted both with the tongues and hands of men, by words, by
blows, and by the temptations of Satan; and was smitten and afflicted of God,
by divine justice, as the sinner's surety: see Psalm 22:24 or
I am poorF1עני
"pauper", V. L. Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius; "inops",
Cocceius, Michaelis. ; which as it is a character, which, for the most part,
agrees with the saints, who are the poor of this world God has chosen, to whom
the Gospel is sent, and by whom it is received, and who are effectually called
by it, so likewise belongs to Christ, Zechariah 9:9,
and ready to die, from my youth up; a sickly unhealthful
person from his infancy, and often in danger of death; which last was certainly
the case of Christ in his infancy, through the malice of Herod; and many times
afterwards, when grown up, through the attempts of the Jews to take away his
life: some render it, "I am ready to die through concussion", or
"shaking"F2מנער "a
concussione", Luther, Schmidt, Junius & Tremellius; "propter
concussionem", Piscator; "prae concussione", Gejerus. ; meaning
some very rough and severe dispensation of Providence, such an one as Job
expresses by shaking him to pieces, Job 16:12 and was literally true of Christ,
when his body was so shaken by the jog of the cross, that all his bones were
put out of joint, Psalm 22:14.
while I suffer thy terrors; or "bear"F3נשאתי "portavi", Pagninus, Montanus;
"fero", Tigurine version, Piscator; "tuli", Musculus,
Cocceius; "pertuli portavi", Michaelis. them, or "carry",
even terrible afflictions, in which he had terrible apprehensions of the wrath
of God in them, of death they would issue in, and of an awful judgment that
should follow that; all which are called the terrors of the Lord, Job 6:4, and which the saints, when left to
God, have some dreadful apprehensions of: such were the terrors of the Lord the
Messiah endured, when in a view of the sins of his people being laid upon him,
and of the wrath of God coming on him for them, his sweat was, as it were,
great drops of blood falling to the ground, Luke 22:44. Compare with this Psalm 18:4.
I am distracted: not out of his mind, deprived of his
senses, and without the use of reason; but his thoughts were distracted and
confused, and his mind discomposed with the terrors of God upon him: the Hebrew
word "aphunah" is only used in this place, and is difficult of
interpretation, and is variously derived and rendered: some take it to be of
the same root with "pen", which signifies "lest, perhaps"F4אפונה a פן "ne forte",
Amama, Gejerus; "anxius timeo vel metno, ne hoc vel illud fiat",
Michaelis. ; seeing persons in a panic are apt to use such expressions;
perhaps, or it may be, such and such things will befall me; forming and framing
in their minds ten thousand dreadful things, which they fear are coming upon
them; so Aben Ezra and Kimchi; and is applied by CocceiusF5Lex. Heb.
p. 663. to the solicitous care and fear of Christ concerning his body, the
church, Hebrews 5:7 others derive it from
"ophen", which signifies a wheel, and so may be rendered, "I am
wheeled about"F6Heb. "rotor, seu instar rotae
circumagor", Piscator. ; always in motion, and have no rest day nor night;
as Christ was after his apprehension, being carried from place to place, and
from bar to bar: others derive it from the Arabic word "aphan"F7"consilii
inops fuit", Castel. Lex. col. 199. , which signifies to be in want of
counsel and advice: Christ though, as God, needed no counsel, nor did he take
counsel with any; and, as Mediator, is the wonderful Counsellor; yet, as man,
he needed it, and had it from his Father, for which he blesses him, Psalm 16:7, others from the Hebrew root
"phanah", which signifies to look unto, as persons in a panic look
here and there; and as Christ did when suffering, who looked, and there was
none to help, Isaiah 63:5. The Syriac and Arabic versions
render it "amazed", or "astonished", which is said of
Christ, Mark 14:33, the Vulgate Latin version is
"troubled", which also agrees with Christ, John 12:27 as he must needs be, when his
enemies surrounded him, the sins of his people were upon him, the sword of
justice awaked against him, and the wrath of God on him, as follows.
Psalm 88:16 16 Your fierce wrath has gone
over me; Your terrors have cut me off.
YLT
16Over me hath Thy wrath
passed, Thy terrors have cut me off,
Thy fierce wrath goeth over me,.... Or
"wraths"F8חרוניך "irae
tuae", Pagninus, Montanus; "furores tui", Musculus, Tigurine
version. , burning wrath; the whole of divine wrath, in all its fierceness, due
to the sins of his people: these, like the mighty waves of the sea, passed over
him, threatening to overwhelm him, Psalm 89:38,
thy terrors have cut me off; from the presence of
God, and out of his sight; as sometimes the Lord's people are ready to imagine,
when forsaken by him, Psalm 31:22 or from the land of the living,
as the Messiah was, and in a judicial way, though not for any sin of his own, Isaiah 53:8.
Psalm 88:17 17 They came around me all
day long like water; They engulfed me altogether.
YLT
17They have surrounded me as
waters all the day, They have gone round against me together,
They came round about me daily like water,.... That is,
the terrors of the Lord, the sorrows of death and hell, Psalm 18:4, this was the Messiah's case,
when it was with him as is expressed Psalm 69:1,
they compassed me about together; as waters coming from
many places, from all quarters, meet together, and together surround a person
or place in such circumstances was Christ, when the bulls of Bashan beset him
around, and the assembly of the wicked enclosed him, and innumerable evils
encompassed him about, Psalm 22:12.
Psalm 88:18 18 Loved one and friend You
have put far from me, And my acquaintances into darkness.
YLT
18Thou hast put far from me
lover and friend, Mine acquaintance [is] the place of darkness!
Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,.... This is
mentioned in Psalm 88:8, and is here repeated; and the
account is closed with it, to show that this was a most aggravating circumstance
of his affliction, and which bore exceeding hard upon him; and this must be a
very uncomfortable case, to be in distress, whether of body or mind, and to
have no kind friend near to yield the least help, relief, and comfort; so
Christ's lovers and friends, his disciples, who loved him and he loved them,
and reckoned them as his friends, and was a friend to them, when he was taken
by his enemies, they all forsook him, and fled, Matthew 26:56,
and mine acquaintance into darkness; either by death into the
dark grave, which Job calls the land of darkness and shadow of death, Job 10:21, or being removed from him, so
that he could not see them, it was all one to him as if they had been put into
darkness, into some dark dungeon, or into the grave itself: or the words may be
rendered, mine acquaintance are darknessF9מידעי
מחשך "noti mei sunt tenebrae", Cocceius,
Schmidt, Michaelis; "amici mei sunt caligo", Gejerus. : this was the
case of Christ, when on the cross; he had none near him, no acquaintance about
him, but darkness; and darkness was over all the land for the space of three
hours; and a darkness was on his soul, being forsaken by his Father; and the
prince of darkness, with all the fiends of hell, were throwing their fiery
darts at him, Matthew 27:45. Thus ends this sorrowful and
mournful song; a joyful one follows.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)