What is Psalm 88 all about?

Question

What was the person going through in this psalm? Is it a prophetic psalm?

Also, what do you make of the similarities between these verses in Psalm 88, Psalm 42 and Jonah 2?

"You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all Your waves."
(Psalm 88:7)

"Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All your waves and billows have gone over me."
(Psalm 42:7)

"For You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
All your billows and Your waves passed over me."
(Jonah 2:3)

Answer 1

Amen. What a Psalm.

I looked a bit into this Psalm and it seems that from Psalm 85-89 form a cluster. Ps 85, 86 and 88 concern three matters: the restoration of God's people, personal salvation and release from sufferings, respectfully. These three matters have been the continual concern of God's people for centuries.



According to the human concept, these matters are positive, but God does not regard these things as we do. Psalms 87 and 89 reveal that God's concern, according to His heart's desire, is Christ with Zion, in which are many saints adn which is for the house of God and the city of God that Christ may possess the entire earth. So yes brother, it definately has a prophetic tone.



Psalm 88 was written as a Song by the sons of Korah. The Psalm concerns the seeking of Herman, a son of Korah for his release from suffering.



There are definate similarities between Ps 88 and 42.

In this psalm 42 the psalmist was panting and thirsting for God at a time when he and his people were stripped and defeated by the neighbouring nations and were in captivity. Panting and thirsting for God are different from worshipping God in a formal, religious way. God is our living water ..Hallelujah! for us to drink. ( John 4:10) WE need to pant and thirst for Him and to drink Him.



In this Psalm, like 88 there are deep places. Dark places. Where situations seem to overpower. Yet God makes a way. Causing us to still experience Him inspite of all the outward situations.





Ps 42 begins.

" As a hart pants after the streams of water

So my soul pants for You O God.

My soul thirsts for God, For the Living God ,

When will I come and appear before God?



vs 5 is so precious

Why are you cast down O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

HOPE IN GOD for I will yet praise Him

For the salvation of His countenance.



It shows that although the psalmist was in captivity and was under his adversaries' reproaching and oppression, he enjoyed God's countenance, God's presence.



Jonah 2 also speaks of deep places.

The sign of Jonah is one of the few " signs" that God gives us.

He was a type of Christ.

Jonah was swallowed by a great fish adn vomited out of it for the spreading of God's salvation to the Gentile Ninevites. Jonah as a type of Christ in His death and resurrection for the spreading of God's salvation to sinners, even to the Gentiles ( Matt 12:39-41) Jonah stayed in the great fish 3 days and 3 nights typifies that Christ staying in the heart of the earth 3 days and 3 nights. Christ died and entered into hades in the lower parts of the earth ( Acts 2:27, Eph 4:9) He came forth from there in resurrection and in resurrection became the Life Giving Spirit ( 1 Cor 15:45b) for the preaching, the spreading of the gospel to all the Gentile nations as seen in the book of Acts.



These Psalms all can speak something prophetic yet something so practical to us today as believers.



I see a few similarites regarding these psalms and Jonah. Apart from the deep places and a period of time of suffering, these all work together for the carrying out of God's purpose. On the one hand God gets closer to accomplishing His Purpose yet at the same time God's people are dealt with inwardly through all the sufferings. They come out experiencing and being constituted with more of God inwardly. They come out more weighty.



I also noticed that there is the matter of the Gentiles. On the One hand the neighbouring nations captured and oppressed the psalmist in Psalm 88 yet in Jonah its the gentile world that God is after. It truly makes you see the profound wisdom of God that goes beyond our human reasoning.



With Jonah he was a prophet who turned from Israel TO the Gentiles and was put into the belly of the great fish.

Matt 16:4 is interesting.

" An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and a sign shall not be given to it except the sign of Jonah and He left them and went away"



Jonah was a type of Christ who as the Prophet sent by God to His people

" Deut 18:15 shows Christ as a Prophet

" A Prophet will Jehovah your God rise up from you from your midst, from among your brothers, like me, you shall listen to Him"

vs 18

A Prophet will I raise from them from the midst of their brothers like you and I will put My words in His mouth and He will speak to them all that I command Him"



In the function of a Prophet, Christ as typified by Jonah would turn from Israel to the gentiles. He would be buried in the heart of the earth and would then be resurrected, becoming a sign to that generation for salvation. The Lord's word here in Matt 16 implies that for the evil and adulterous jewish adn religious generation, the Lord would do nothign but die and be resurrected as a sign, teh greated sign to them that they might be saved IF they would believe.



This is such a deep topic that you raised here brother with such dimension. May we look further into it. I hope I did not jump all over too much in putting this post together.

Ty for giving the opportunity to dig into the word of God once more.



Great observation brother Jimmy.

May we be those seeking to stay in the Lord's rich presence inspite of the outward environments.



In Christ

sandy

Answer 2

Psalm 88 is a prayer for help in despondency. A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to "Mahalath Leannoth." A contemplation of Heman the Ezrahite.



No, I do not think it is a prophetic Psalm although some of the words coincide with other Scripture.



Psalm 88:7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me, And You have afflicted me with "all Your waves."



all Your waves: Like the waves rolling onto the seashore, so God has directed trouble after trouble on the psalmist (cf. v. 17)



Psalm 42:7 "Deep" calls unto deep at the noise of "Your waterfalls", All "Your waves and billows" have gone over me.



Deep ... Your waterfalls ... Your waves and billows: He alleges that God is ultimately responsible for the oceans of trial in which he seems to be drowning.



Jonah 2:3 For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.



In describing his watery experience, Jonah acknowledged that his circumstances were judgment from the Lord.



I think that all three verses correlate in that they reflect judgment upon the two psalmists and Jonah.

Answer 3

Dear Friend,



Psalm 88 we find a truly sorrowful and suffering event. The psalmist here really ransacks the vocabulary of gloom and bitterness to describe his hopeless plight. His is definitely a terminal case, he feels...as if he were on the critical list in the isolation ward of a hospital for incurables. The only thing left is the morgue, and it is only a matter of time before the sheet will be drawn over his face and he will be carted away.



The only bright spot in this Psalm is the name of GOD, with which it begins, 'O Lord, God of my salvation."



There have been many people including myself where I held tightly to the words of this Psalm. My life had hit bottom and I truly could relate to the psalmist. I am so grateful our Lord and Savior "knew" we would also need the many Biblical characters in His Word to relate to and then turn to our Heavenly Father because He...will not forsake us.



Sincerely in Christ Jesus,



lostnsavd...

My Redeemer lives!

Answer 4

This Easter Sunday, the Rev. Guy Finnie preached on Psalm 88 along with Matthew 28:1-7 at Carlisle Baptist Church, England, U.K. This is something of what he had to say:



The writer of this particular Psalm was sore troubled, perplexed, in distress, afflicted and in a very dark place indeed. We all get like that, sometimes, especially when we consider the futility and barrenness of our lives. There can be moments when we feel God-forsaken and as if we are as good as dead. "Will you work wonders for the dead?" he asks. "Shall your righteousness be known in the land of unrighteousness?" he cries out.



But there is hope. "Sit at my right hand" is the promise God holds out and this, surely, is prophetic indeed. Just as Jesus was laid low in the grave, "from the womb of the morning" he arose, victorious, and ascended to sit at the right hand of God.



From the depths of despair, he was lifted to the heavenly heights. From the last and the worst and the darkest place, he ascended into the first and the best and the brightest place. From the most shuned place to the most blessed place. From defeat, to triumph. From hell to heaven. From death to being suffused with glorious life everlasting. And this is imparted to the believer!



Yes, there are similarities between Psalm 88 and 42 and Jonah 2:3 - on each occassion the individual is overcome by the separation from God - just as our Lord and Saviour was overome by the gulf between him and God when the sin of the world was laid upon him and he cried out, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" We can never experience the depth of pain and grief felt by Jesus, but thanks to his obedience and his love, we know that God is bringing his people out of the darkness of this world which is in bondage and slavery to Satan, into the light and perfect freedom of the Kingdom of God which is our inheritance. Praise be to God!

Answer 5

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.



Sounds like Heman is really depressed. Know what it's like when it seems everything's going wrong and the world is against you, and sometimes you feel like God's not there? In those times God is using the circumstances to help you grow. Problem is when we're in those tough times we often fight God.



Sounds like Heman is old, depressed, and worn out from his many troubles. He's feeling abandoned by God but keeps calling out to and trusting God. The people in the Bible who felt alone and abandoned by God aren't much different from those of us who have those feelings today.

Answer 6

Psalm 88 was the basis for our Easter Sunday sermon! It was used in conjunction with Matthew 28:1-7 to show how God turns despair into triumph. Heman felt as if he was buried alive with grief and trouble, especially due to the Lord's displeasure. How applicable to Christ on the cross. But then God ripped the dungeon door off its hinges; he blasted the iron furnace lid to smithereens in order to release the prisoners, to set them free from despair. He entered in with resurrection power. So Christians are to enter into the joy of living in resurrection power. Hallelujah! The Lord is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Answer 7

What follows is some general info on Psalms and with info on Ps 88 from my studies.



Pslams is a collection of the works of at least six authors.



David is credited with writing 73 psalms (and 2 others are assigned to him in the New Testament); Asaph authored 12; <<<>>>; Solomon wrote 2; Ethan one; and Moses psalm 90 and possibly ps 91.



The Book of Psalms was originally 5 separate books #1-41; #42-72, #73-89; 90-106; 107-150. The 5 books of Psalms correspond to the 5 books of the Pentateuch.



They are often classified according to their content: giving instruction (Didactic); prophecy relating to the Messiah (Messianic); pleas to God for the punishment of the wicked (Imprecatory); expressions of a repentant heart and appeals for divine cleansing (Penitential); others are classified by their titles; psalms of degrees or ascent were sung at the beginning of the worship services at the temple and by those who were traveling up to Jerusalem; 'miktam' pslams deal with atonement or the covering over of sin.



>>>Psalm 88 is a prayer for deliverance from death<<<

>>>Written by the sons of Korah <<<

>>>A song/prayer to the chief musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrabite<<<<

<<>>>





The Psalms powerfully express the feeling common to believers of all ages throughout time. The nature of Hebrew poetry lends itself especially well to expressing strong feelings. The pslalms are very intimate and personal in that they explore the whole realm of human emotion; from deep despair to ecstatic delight; from a desire for vengeance to a spirit of humility and forgiveness; from earnest pleading with God for protection to songs of praise for deliverance. The general principle that is seen in all of them is that the writers have confidence in God's power, guidance and provision.



This is about the separation feeling of what a life of regret can bring near the end of the body's span on earth, and it is a beseeching prayer/song for God to deliver from the depths of despair into the love of God.



I think the similarities to the other verses are valid.

Thanks for the Q :)

Answer 8

Psalms were written by King David. He had sent Bathsheba's husband to the front lines and he was killed in battle. He did this out of lust, he saw her bathing and wanted her.



His words are his story, but they are also the emotions that all people feel, and yes that Christ went through.



Christ experienced humanity so that he could overcome it through his perfection and sacrifice.

Answer 9

An impassioned plea for dliverance from Israel's long, almost unbearable, exile.

Answer 10

These ALL speak of what Jesus went through



He suffered for us because HE took Our sin and punishment upon Himself



He descended into the pit ( hell ) where there is utter darkness..........and the wrath if God was upon Him which is punishment of sin......



THANK You Jesus...YOU took our place...and made a way possibale so we didnt have to go that route...and ALL it takes is Accepting Jesus as Your Lord and Saviour





As Jonah was in the belly of the fish......SO was Christ in the pit ( hell )( death) ( grave ).......in the earth...as it is written ( Matthew 12:40)



ALL for You and Me..........ALL of us !!!

Answer 11

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