Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?
This psalm pours forth grievous lamentations from one nearly at despair, yet even in deep darkness he calls upon God to deliver him, displaying an invincible steadfastness of faith. The occasion remains debated: some hold it the prayer of a leper isolated by the law, others the voice of captive Israel in chains, yet all agree it speaks the language of one whom God has struck down.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 88:1-18
Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Thy tender goodness—who shall testify concerning it in that cold abode where the worm and corruption hold their riot? The living may indite "meditations among the Tombs", but the dead know nothing, and therefore can declare nothing. Or thy faithfulness in destruction?
He pleads with God: shall the dead praise You? They cannot; the grave is the land of forgetfulness. But hear me now, Lord, for You are good, faithful, and righteous. These attributes must be known in my deliverance, yet if relief is delayed, I shall be dead and past comfort. Hasten, or Your mercy comes too late.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 88:10-18