Psalms 88 and 89

Psalm 88

O Lord, God of my salvation,

   when, at night, I cry out in your presence,

let my prayer come before you;

   incline your ear to my cry.

 

For my soul is full of troubles,

   and my life draws near to Sheol.

I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;

   I am like those who have no help,

like those forsaken among the dead,

   like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom you remember no more,

   for they are cut off from your hand.

You have put me in the depths of the Pit,

   in the regions dark and deep.

Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

   and you overwhelm me with all your waves.

          Selah

 

You have caused my companions to shun me;

   you have made me a thing of horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

   my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call on you, O Lord;

   I spread out my hands to you.

Do you work wonders for the dead?

   Do the shades rise up to praise you?

          Selah

Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

   or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

Are your wonders known in the darkness,

   or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

But I, O Lord, cry out to you;

   in the morning my prayer comes before you.

O Lord, why do you cast me off?

   Why do you hide your face from me?

Wretched and close to death from my youth up,

   I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.

Your wrath has swept over me;

   your dread assaults destroy me.

They surround me like a flood all day long;

   from all sides they close in on me.

You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;

   my companions are in darkness.

 

Psalm 89

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever;

   with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.

I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;

   your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

 

You said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

   I have sworn to my servant David:

“I will establish your descendants forever,

   and build your throne for all generations.”’

          Selah

 

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,

   your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.

For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?

   Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,

a God feared in the council of the holy ones,

   great and awesome above all that are around him?

O Lord God of hosts,

   who is as mighty as you, O Lord?

   Your faithfulness surrounds you.

You rule the raging of the sea;

   when its waves rise, you still them.

You crushed Rahab like a carcass;

   you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours;

   the world and all that is in it—you have founded them.

The north and the south—you created them;

   Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.

You have a mighty arm;

   strong is your hand, high your right hand.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

   steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

Happy are the people who know the festal shout,

   who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;

they exult in your name all day long,

   and extol your righteousness.

For you are the glory of their strength;

   by your favor our horn is exalted.

For our shield belongs to the Lord,

   our king to the Holy One of Israel.

 

Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said:

   ‘I have set the crown on one who is mighty,

   I have exalted one chosen from the people.

I have found my servant David;

   with my holy oil I have anointed him;

my hand shall always remain with him;

   my arm also shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall not outwit him,

   the wicked shall not humble him.

I will crush his foes before him

   and strike down those who hate him.

My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him;

   and in my name his horn shall be exalted.

I will set his hand on the sea

   and his right hand on the rivers.

He shall cry to me, “You are my Father,

   my God, and the Rock of my salvation!”

I will make him the firstborn,

   the highest of the kings of the earth.

Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him,

   and my covenant with him will stand firm.

I will establish his line forever,

   and his throne as long as the heavens endure.

If his children forsake my law

   and do not walk according to my ordinances,

if they violate my statutes

   and do not keep my commandments,

then I will punish their transgression with the rod

   and their iniquity with scourges;

but I will not remove from him my steadfast love,

   or be false to my faithfulness.

I will not violate my covenant,

   or alter the word that went forth from my lips.

Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness;

   I will not lie to David.

His line shall continue forever,

   and his throne endure before me like the sun.

It shall be established forever like the moon,

   an enduring witness in the skies.’

          Selah

 

But now you have spurned and rejected him;

   you are full of wrath against your anointed.

You have renounced the covenant with your servant;

   you have defiled his crown in the dust.

You have broken through all his walls;

   you have laid his strongholds in ruins.

All who pass by plunder him;

   he has become the scorn of his neighbors.

You have exalted the right hand of his foes;

   you have made all his enemies rejoice.

Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword,

   and you have not supported him in battle.

You have removed the scepter from his hand,

   and hurled his throne to the ground.

You have cut short the days of his youth;

   you have covered him with shame.

          Selah

 

How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?

   How long will your wrath burn like fire?

Remember how short my time is—

   for what vanity you have created all mortals!

Who can live and never see death?

   Who can escape the power of Sheol?

          Selah

 

Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,

   which by your faithfulness you swore to David?

Remember, O Lord, how your servant is taunted;

   how I bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples,

with which your enemies taunt, O Lord,

   with which they taunted the footsteps of your anointed.

 Blessed be the Lord forever. Amen and Amen.

Comment:

Psalm 88: This is, I think, one of the darkest of all the Psalms. It is the complaint of one who is very sick. We know from our own experience (at least I do!) that when our bodies are in pain or discomfort, our mortal minds become highly dramatic, convinced that we are near death and destined for hell. That's the case here. Nothing seems possible, self-pity runs rampant. The psalm serves the very useful purpose of allowing us to recognize the feelings, and to know that they never represent our spiritual truth. How often have we felt that all was lost—and yet here we are! Our darkest fears never come to pass, so we do not choose to give them any strength through our belief.

Psalm 89: In Psalm 89, a king is seeking victory over his enemies. He begins by affirming the power and "steadfast love" of the Divine. He then recalls the Davidic covenant, promising that he and his descendants "shall endure forever" so long as they honor their commitment to the Divine. The suggestion is that the Lord has broken the agreement; but the implicitly recognized truth is that it is the people who have broken the covenant by wandering from their spiritual commitment. The very significant metaphysical point, I think, is that a God of infinite Love can, indeed, seem to express harshly, but only according to our own beliefs and choices. "I will not remove from him my steadfast love," the Lord says at verse 33, but nonetheless, negative choices will have negative consequences. We may sometimes feel that God has abandoned us; but in spiritual Truth, it is we who have abandoned our spiritual priorities, making fear-based choices that are the real source of our troubles.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed