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繁體中文
영문 원문
This psalm is a lamentation, one of the most melancholy of all the psalms; and it does not conclude, as usually the melancholy psalms do, with the least intimation of comfort or joy, but, from first to last, it is mourning and woe. It is not upon a public account that the psalmist here complains (here is no mention of the afflictions of the church), but only upon a personal account, especially trouble of mind, and the grief impressed upon his spirits both by his outward afflictions and by the remembrance of his sins and the fear of God's wrath. It is reckoned among the penitential psalms, and it is well when our fears are thus turned into the right channel, and we take occasion from our worldly grievances to sorrow after a godly sort. In this psalm we have, I. The great pressure of spirit that the psalmist was under, Ps 88:3-6. II. The wrath of God, which was the cause of that pressure, Ps 88:7,15-17. III. The wickedness of his friends, Ps 88:8,18. IV. The application he made to God by prayer, Ps 88:1,2,9,13. V. His humble expostulations and pleadings with God, Ps 88:10,12,14. Those who are in trouble of mind may sing this psalm feelingly; those that are not ought to sing it thankfully, blessing God that it is not their case.
1-9
Sorrowful Complaints; Complaining to God
繁體中文
悲哀的訴苦；向神哀訴
可拉後裔的詩歌，交與伶長。調用麻哈拉利暗俄。以斯拉人以探的訓誨詩。
¹ 耶和華——拯救我的神啊，我晝夜在你麵前呼求。 ² 願我的禱告達到你麵前；求你側耳聽我的呼求！ ³ 因為我心裏滿了患難，我的性命臨近陰間。 ⁴ 我和下坑的人同列，如同無力的人一樣。 ⁵ 我被丟在死人中，好像被殺的人躺在墳墓裏。你不再記念他們，他們與你手隔絕了。 ⁶ 你把我放在極深的坑裏，在黑暗地方，在深處。 ⁷ 你的忿怒重壓著我；你用一切的波浪困住我。（細拉） ⁸ 你把我所認識的隔在遠處，使我為他們所憎惡；我被拘禁，不得出來。 ⁹ 我的眼睛因憂愁而乾癟。耶和華啊，我天天求告你，向你舉手。
從這篇詩和下一篇詩的標題看來，似乎是希幔寫了這一篇，以探寫了那一篇。猶大的兒子謝拉有兩個這樣名字的兒子（代上 2:4、6）。另有兩人以智慧聞名（王上 4:31），那裏為要顯大所羅門的智慧，說他*「比希幔和以探更有智慧」。至於在錫安之歌中作利未人和領唱者的希幔和以探，是否就是這兩個人，我們不能確定；也不知道這幾位中的哪一位、或是否有任何一位，是這些詩篇的作者。有一位希幔是首要的歌唱者之一，被稱為「王的先見」，在神的話語中作先知（代上 25:5）；這一位很可能也是先見，卻看不見自己的安慰——他教導人、安慰人，自己卻把安慰推開。這詩的第一句話，就是整篇詩中惟一的一句安慰和支援的話。在他周圍盡是雲霧和幽暗，毫無亮光；但在他開始訴苦之前，他稱神為「拯救他的神」*，這暗示他無論境況多麼惡劣，仍仰望拯救；並且他仰望神來施行拯救，倚靠神作拯救的源頭。如今我們在此看到詩人，
一、他是一個禱告的人，是一個無論何時都專心禱告的人，尤其是在他遭難之時；因為*「有受苦的嗎？他就該禱告。」他得了安慰，因為他已經禱告；他發出訴苦，因為雖然他禱告了，卻仍在患難之中。1. 他禱告非常懇切：「我晝夜在你麵前呼求」（詩 88:1），並「向你舉手」（詩 88:9），如同要抓住你、甚至要急切地承接那憐憫，惟恐自己達不到、錯失了它。2. 他禱告非常頻繁、恒切：「我天天求告你」（詩 88:9），不僅如此，更是「晝夜」（詩 88:1）。因為人應當常常禱告，不可灰心；神的選民晝夜呼籲他——不僅僅是早晚禱告、以禱告開始每一天和每一夜，更是整天整夜在禱告中度過。這才是真正的恒切禱告；當我們恒切禱告之時，便在禱告中得著了。3. 他將禱告指向神，並指望從他那裏、也隻願從他那裏得著回答（詩 88:2）：「願我的禱告達到你麵前，*為你所悅納——不是達到人麵前、為人所看見，像法利賽人的禱告一樣。」他不願人聽見，而是說：「耶和華啊，*求你側耳聽我的呼求，*因為我將自己交托於此；任憑你怎樣回答。」
二、他是一個多經憂患的人，因此有人在本詩中將他看作基督的預表——基督在十字架上的哀訴、有時在十字架之前，與本詩的內容極其相近。他呼喊說（詩 88:3）：「我心滿了患難」；基督也如此說：「我現在心裏憂愁」；在他極其痛苦之中又說：「我心裏甚是憂傷，幾乎要死」——正如這裏詩人所說，因為他說：「我的性命臨近陰間。」希幔是一個非常有智慧、非常良善的人，是神人，也是歌唱者；因此我們可以設想他本是一個性情開朗的人，如今卻成了心靈憂傷的人，內心困擾，瀕臨絕望。內心的憂愁是最深的憂愁；這也是神的聖徒和僕人有時所嚴重經受的。「人的靈」——即使是偉人之靈——「能忍受疾病，但憂傷的靈誰能承當呢？」（箴 18:14，原文直譯）
三、他看自己如同一個將死的人，心因憂愁快要破碎（詩 88:5）：「我被丟在死人中」（如同那可怖的死亡群體中的一員），好像被殺的人躺在墳墓裏」——他們的腐爛和滅亡無人理會、無人掛念；不但如此，「你不再記念他們」去保護或供應他們的遺體，他們反倒成了腐敗和蛆蟲輕易的獵物；「他們與你手隔絕了」——那手曾扶助他們、向他們伸出；如今既不再需要這樣行，他們便與它隔絕，也被它隔絕（「因為神必不向墳墓伸手」，伯 30:24）；「你把我放在極深的坑裏」——低得不能再低，我的景況低落、我的心靈下沉——「在黑暗地方，在深處」（詩 88:6）——正在沉沒，看不見任何逃脫的出路，被帶到最後的絕境，幾乎要放棄一切。義人可能遭遇極大的患難，對自己的患難可能懷有極其可怖的想象，有時甚至對患難的結局作出黑暗的判斷——這乃是憂鬱的力量和信心的軟弱所致。
四、他最訴苦的，是神對他的不悅——這正是將苦膽和茵陳注入患難和痛苦之中的因素（詩 88:7）：「你的忿怒重壓著我。」他若能在患難中辨明神的恩寵和慈愛，患難便覺輕省；但它重重地、極重地壓在他身上，使他幾乎要下沉、昏厥。這忿怒在他心靈上的印記，就是神用以苦待他的「波浪」——這些波浪一個接一個地向他翻滾而來，他幾乎未從一個黑暗的思想中恢復，便又被另一個所壓；這些波浪帶著喧嘩和怒吼向他衝擊；不是部分的，而是神*「一切的」*波浪都被用來苦待他、使他降卑。神所愛的兒女有時也會自覺是可怒之子；沒有任何外在的患難能比這自覺更沉重地壓在他們身上。
五、他的朋友離棄他、對他疏遠，這更增加了他的痛苦。當我們落在患難中時，周圍有愛我們、與我們表同情的同伴，乃是某種安慰；但這位善人卻沒有這樣的同伴。這給了他機會——不是去控告他們、指控他們背信、忘恩、無情——而是向神訴苦，看見神在這部分患難中的手（詩 88:8）：「你把我所認識的隔在遠處。」是護理把他們移開，或是使他們不能幫助他，或是使他們的感情與他疏遠；因為每一個受造之物對我們所是的那樣（也僅僅是那樣），乃是神使它所成為的樣子。我們若從前的相識對我們冷淡，我們所指望得著恩待的人竟以不恩待相待，我們就當以同樣對屬神旨意的忍耐順服來忍受這事，如同忍受別的患難一樣（伯 19:13）。不但如此，他的朋友不僅對他生疏，甚至恨惡他，因為他貧窮困苦：「你使我為他們所憎惡」——他們不僅回避我，更厭惡我；我不僅被他們輕看，更被他們憎嫌。當希幔這樣以智慧聞名的人，在世人對他變臉之時竟被忽略、如同無人喜悅的器皿一般，便不要以為這樣的試煉奇怪。
六、他看自己的情形為無助、可悲：「我被拘禁，不得出來」——如同被嚴嚴囚禁的囚犯，在神忿怒的逮捕之下，沒有任何逃脫的出路。他因此躺臥、在自己的患難中下沉，因為他看不見有脫離的可能。他如此為自己悲哀（詩 88:9）：「我的眼睛因憂愁而乾癟。」有時借流淚發洩憂愁，能給困擾的心靈帶來某種舒緩。然而流淚不可妨礙禱告；我們必須流淚撒種：「我的眼睛因憂愁而乾癟，我卻天天求告你。」讓禱告和眼淚同行，它們也必一同蒙悅納。「我聽見了你的禱告，我看見了你的眼淚。」（賽 38:5）
영문 원문
Sorrowful Complaints; Complaining to God
A song or psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.
¹ O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
² Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;
³ For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
⁴ I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
⁵ Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
⁶ Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
⁷ Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
⁸ Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
⁹ Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
It should seem, by the titles of this and the following psalm, that Heman was the penman of the one and Ethan of the other. There were two, of these names, who were sons of Zerah the son of Judah, 1Ch 2:4,6. There were two others famed for wisdom, 1Ki 4:31, where, to magnify Solomon's wisdom, he is said to be wiser than Heman and Ethan. Whether the Heman and Ethan who were Levites and precentors in the songs of Zion were the same we are not sure, nor which of these, nor whether any of these, were the penmen of these psalms. There was a Heman that was one of the chief singers, who is called the king's seer, or prophet, in the words of God (1Ch 25:5); it is probable that this also was a seer, and yet could see no comfort for himself, an instructor and comforter of others, and yet himself putting comfort away from him. The very first words of the psalm are the only words of comfort and support in all the psalm. There is nothing about him but clouds and darkness; but, before he begins his complaint, he calls God the God of his salvation, which intimates both that he looked for salvation, bad as things were, and that he looked up to God for the salvation and depended upon him to be the author of it. Now here we have the psalmist,
I. A man of prayer, one that gave himself to prayer at all times, but especially now that he was in affliction; for is any afflicted? let him pray. It is his comfort that he had prayed; it is his complaint that, notwithstanding his prayer, he was still in affliction. He was, 1. Very earnest in prayer: "I have cried unto thee (Ps 88:1), and have stretched out my hands unto thee (Ps 88:9), as one that would take hold on thee, and even catch at the mercy, with a holy fear of coming short and missing of it." 2. He was very frequent and constant in prayer: I have called upon thee daily (Ps 88:9), nay, day and night, Ps 88:1. For thus men ought always to pray, and not to faint; God's own elect cry day and night to him, not only morning and evening, beginning every day and every night with prayer, but spending the day and night in prayer. This is indeed praying always; and then we shall speed in prayer, when we continue instant in prayer. 3. He directed his prayer to God, and from him expected and desired an answer (Ps 88:2): "Let my prayer come before thee, to be accepted of thee, not before men, to be seen of them, as the Pharisees' prayers." He does not desire that men should hear them, but, "Lord, incline thy ear unto my cry, for to that I refer myself; give what answer to it thou pleasest."
II. He was a man of sorrows, and therefore some make him, in this psalm, a type of Christ, whose complaints on the cross, and sometimes before, were much to the same purport with this psalm. He cries out (Ps 88:3): My soul is full of troubles; so Christ said, Now is my soul troubled; and, in his agony, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death, like the psalmist's here, for he says, My life draws nigh unto the grave. Heman was a very wise man, and a very good man, a man of God, and a singer too, and one may therefore suppose him to have been a man of a cheerful spirit, and yet now a man of sorrowful spirit, troubled in mind, and upon the brink of despair. Inward trouble is the sorest trouble, and that which, sometimes, the best of God's saints and servants have been severely exercised with. The spirit of man, of the greatest of men, will not always sustain his infirmity, but will droop and sink under it; who then can bear a wounded spirit?
III. He looked upon himself as a dying man, whose heart was ready to break with sorrow (Ps 88:5): "Free among the dead (one of that ghastly corporation), like the slain that lie in the grave, whose rotting and perishing nobody takes notice of or is concerned for, nay, whom thou rememberest no more, to protect or provide for the dead bodies, but they become an easy prey to corruption and the worms; they are cut off from thy hand, which used to be employed in supporting them and reaching out to them; but, now there is no more occasion for this, they are cut off from it and cut off by it" (for God will not stretch out his hand to the grave, Job 30:24); "thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, as low as possible, my condition low, my spirits low, in darkness, in the deep (Ps 88:6), sinking, and seeing no way open of escape, brought to the last extremity, and ready to give up all for gone." Thus greatly may good men be afflicted, such dismal apprehensions may they have concerning their afflictions, and such dark conclusions may they sometimes be ready to make concerning the issue of them, through the power of melancholy and the weakness of faith.
IV. He complained most of God's displeasure against him, which infused the wormwood and the gall into the affliction and the misery (Ps 88:7): Thy wrath lies hard upon me. Could he have discerned the favour and love of God in his affliction, it would have lain light upon him; but it lay hard, very hard, upon him, so that he was ready to sink and faint under it. The impressions of this wrath upon his spirits were God's waves with which he afflicted him, which rolled upon him, one on the neck of another, so that he scarcely recovered from one dark thought before he was oppressed with another; these waves beat against him with noise and fury; not some, but all, of God's waves were made use of in afflicting him and bearing him down. Even the children of God's love may sometimes apprehend themselves children of wrath, and no outward trouble can lie so hard upon them as that apprehension.
V. It added to his affliction that his friends deserted him and made themselves strange to him. When we are in trouble it is some comfort to have those about us that love us, and sympathize with us; but this good man had none such, which gives him occasion, not to accuse them, or charge them with treachery, ingratitude, and inhumanity, but to complain to God, with an eye to his hand in this part of the affliction (Ps 88:8): Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me. Providence had removed them, or rendered them incapable of being serviceable to him, or alienated their affections from him; for every creature is that to us (and no more) that God makes it to be. If our old acquaintance be shy of us, and those we expect kindness from prove unkind, we must bear that with the same patient submission to the divine will that we do other afflictions, Job 19:13. Nay, his friends were not only strange to him, but even hated him, because he was poor and in distress: "Thou hast made me an abomination to them; they are not only shy of me, but sick of me, and I am looked upon by them, not only with contempt, but with abhorrence." Let none think it strange concerning such a trial as this, when Heman, who was so famed for wisdom, was yet, when the world frowned upon him, neglected, as a vessel in which is no pleasure.
VI. He looked upon his case as helpless and deplorable: "I am shut up, and I cannot come forth, a close prisoner, under the arrests of divine wrath, and no way open of escape." He therefore lies down and sinks under his troubles, because he sees not any probability of getting out of them. For thus he bemoans himself (Ps 88:9): My eye mourneth by reason of affliction. Sometimes giving vent to grief by weeping gives some ease to a troubled spirit. Yet weeping must not hinder praying; we must sow in tears: My eye mourns, but I cry unto thee daily. Let prayers and tears go together, and they shall be accepted together. I have heard thy prayers, I have seen thy tears.
10-18
Pleading with God
繁體中文
向神懇求
¹⁰ 你豈要行奇事給死人看嗎？死人豈能起來讚美你嗎？細拉。 ¹¹ 豈能在墳墓裏述說你的慈愛嗎？豈能在滅亡中述說你的誠實嗎？ ¹² 你的奇事豈能在幽暗中被知道嗎？你的公義豈能在被遺忘之地被知道嗎？ ¹³ 耶和華啊，我呼求你；我早晨的禱告要達到你面前。 ¹⁴ 耶和華啊，你為何丟棄我的靈魂？為何掩面不顧我？ ¹⁵ 我自幼受苦，幾乎死亡；我受你的驚恐，慌張不安。 ¹⁶ 你的烈怒漫過我身；你的驚惶把我剪除。 ¹⁷ 這些終日如水環繞我，一齊把我圍住。 ¹⁸ 你把我的良朋密友隔在遠處，把我所認識的人放在黑暗之中。
在這些經文中：
一、詩人就自己當前可悲的處境與神理論（詩 88:10-12）：「你要為死人施行奇事嗎」，使他們從死裏復活嗎？「那些已死已葬的人，豈能起來讚美你嗎？」 不能；他們把這事留給兒女，讓他們在自己的位置上起來讚美神；沒有人指望死人自己如此行；他們若起來，若活着，除了為讚美神之外，還為甚麼呢？我們初次所得的生命，以及我們末了盼望得以復起所得的生命，都必須如此使用。但是*「你對百姓的慈愛豈能在墳墓裏被述說」——無論是藉着那些葬在那裏的，還是向他們述說？你對應許的信實，豈能在滅亡中被傳揚？「你的奇事豈能在幽暗中施行」，或在那裏被認識，「你的公義豈能在」墳墓——「那被遺忘之地」*——人既不記念甚麼、自己也不被記念之地被認識？離世的靈魂誠然可以認識神的奇事，並述說祂的信實、公義、慈愛；但已死的身體卻不能；它既不能在安慰中領受神的恩惠，也不能在讚美中回報。我們不要把這些責問設想為絕望的話，彷彿他以為神不能或不肯幫助他；更不能說這話意味着對末日死人復活的不信；他乃是如此向神求速速的救助：「主啊，你是良善的，你是信實的，你是公義的；你的這些屬性要在我的拯救中顯明，但若不快快成就，便要太遲了；因為不久我便要死亡，過了救助的時候，死亡並不能領受任何安慰。」約伯常常如此懇求，伯 7:8,10:21。
二、他決心繼續恆切禱告，並且更為恆切，因為拯救遲延了（詩 88:13）：「我向你呼求」——已經許多次了，並在其中得着安慰，所以我仍要繼續如此行；「我早晨的禱告要達到你面前。」 須知，我們的禱告縱然未立即蒙允，也不可因此放棄禱告；因為這異象是為定期之事，到了末後必然應驗，並不虛謊。 神遲延回答，為要試驗我們的忍耐和禱告中的堅忍。他決心清早尋求神——在早晨，那時他的靈活潑，並且在當日的事務湧入之前；在早晨，在他經過了夜間的安靜孤獨中被憂慮和憂愁的思想翻騰之後；但他怎能說*「我的禱告要達到你面前」呢？這不是說他能比神更早起來禱告，使神聽允回答；因為神既不打盹，也不睡覺；這話乃表示他要比平日更早起來禱告，要趕過*（即提前於）他通常禱告的時辰。我們的苦難越大，我們在禱告中便當越發懇切認真。「我的禱告要呈現在你面前，並及早與你相會，並不等候憐憫起頭的鼓勵，甚至在黎明之前便以信心和期望向它伸手。」神常以祂的憐憫在我們以先，趕過我們的禱告和期望；願我們也以我們的禱告和期望趕上祂的憐憫。
三、他記下自己要在禱告中對神說的話。1。 他要謙卑地就自己如今卑賤受苦的處境與神理論（詩 88:14）：「主啊，你為何丟棄我的靈魂？」 是甚麼惹動你，使你如對待一個被棄絕的人那樣待我？「求你向我指明你為何與我爭論。」 他以驚奇的心說這話——神竟會丟棄一個老僕人，竟會丟棄一個決心不丟棄祂的人：「人丟棄我，不足為奇；但主啊，你為何如此——你的恩賜和選召是沒有後悔的？「你為何掩面」——如同一個向我發怒的人，要麼對我沒有恩寵，要麼不讓我知道你有？」沒有甚麼比神向他掩面更叫神的兒女憂傷；也沒有甚麼比神丟棄他的靈魂更叫他懼怕。日頭被雲遮蔽，便使地黑暗；但日頭若離棄這地，全然丟棄它，這地將是何等的牢獄！2。 他要謙卑地重複先前的那些抱怨，直到神憐憫他。他向神陳明兩件事作為他的苦情：（1）神對他成了可畏：我受你的驚惶，詩 88:15。他持續不斷地可怕地預感神因他的罪向他發怒，以及那怒氣的後果。一想到神——想到落在祂手中、想到站在祂面前受祂判決——他便驚恐。他因預感神的不悅和祂威嚴的可畏而流汗戰兢。須知，甚至那些定意要得神恩寵的人，有時也會暫時受祂的驚恐。兒子的靈之前，先是奴僕敬畏的靈。可憐的約伯曾抱怨神設隊伍攻擊他的驚惶，伯 6:4。詩人此處自解其意，告訴我們所謂神的驚惶是甚麼意思——就是祂的烈怒。讓我們看看這些驚惶在他身上留下了何等可怕的印象，傷他何等深：[1] 它們幾乎奪去他的性命：「我受這些苦，幾乎要死」——並且（如原文所暗示）要斷氣。你的驚惶把我剪除」，詩 88:16。地獄是甚麼——那永遠的剪除，使被定罪的罪人永遠與神和一切福樂隔絕——豈不就是神的驚惶抓住並啃噬他們有罪的良心嗎？[2] 它們幾乎奪去他運用理智的能力：我受你的驚惶，便慌張不安。 主的驚惶在許多人身上、甚至在一些敬虔人身上曾產生這樣可悲的效果——他們因此完全失去了對自己靈魂的掌管；這是一個極其可憐的境況，當以極大的同情看待。[3] 這事已經持續很久：我自幼受你的驚惶。 他從童年便受憂鬱之苦，在憂愁的學校裏受教養。我們若從苦難開始我們的日子，並且我們哀悼的日子延長了許久，不要以為奇怪，卻要讓患難生忍耐。值得注意的是，希幔——後來成為著名智慧良善的人——自幼受苦、幾乎要死，並受神的驚惶。許多人正是如此發現：在年幼時負軛是好的，憂愁對他們遠比歡笑更好；他們在年輕時多受苦難、常常幾乎要死，便藉着神的恩典得着了習慣性的嚴肅和對世界的超脫，這對他們一生都有極大的用處。有時神為要使用的人預備他們擔任顯要事工，正是藉着這類操練。[4] 他的苦難如今達到極點，比以往更甚。神的驚惶如今從四面環繞他，以致他從各方面都受到各種禍患的攻擊，從羅盤的任何方位都得不到舒適的氣息。它們如洪水般一齊湧入；而且是每日如此，整天如此；以致他無安息、無喘息、連最小的呼吸時間也沒有，沒有清醒的間歇，也沒有一線希望。一個極其智慧良善之人的境況便是如此悲慘；他如此被驚惶四面包圍，以致找不到一個避難之所，沒有一處可以避風。（2）他在世上的朋友中沒有一個能安慰他（詩 88:18）：你把我的良朋密友隔在遠處——有些已死，有些遠在他方，也許許多待他無情。宗教的安慰之外，其次便是友誼和社交的安慰；所以無朋友（就今生而論）幾乎等於無安慰；而那些曾有過朋友卻失去的人，這苦難更為慘痛。詩人便以此結束他的怨言，彷彿這事使他的災禍達到完滿，給這幅憂鬱的圖畫作了最後一筆。我們的朋友若因分散的護理而被隔在遠處，甚至我們的相識若因死亡而被遷入黑暗，我們當看這是沉重的苦難，卻必須承認並順服神在其中之手。
영문 원문
Pleading with God
¹⁰ Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
¹¹ Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
¹² Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
¹³ But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
¹⁴ LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
¹⁵ I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
¹⁶ Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
¹⁷ They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
¹⁸ Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.
In these verses,
I. The psalmist expostulates with God concerning the present deplorable condition he was in (Ps 88:10-12): "Wilt thou do a miraculous work to the dead, and raise them to life again? Shall those that are dead and buried rise up to praise thee? No; they leave it to their children to rise up in their room to praise God; none expects that they should do it; and wherefore should they rise, wherefore should they live, but to praise God? The life we are born to at first, and the life we hope to rise to at last, must thus be spent. But shall thy lovingkindness to thy people be declared in the grave, either by those or to those that lie buried there? And thy faithfulness to thy promise, shall that be told in destruction? shall thy wonders be wrought in the dark, or known there, and thy righteousness in the grave, which is the land of forgetfulness, where men remember nothing, nor are themselves remembered? Departed souls may indeed know God's wonders and declare his faithfulness, justice, and lovingkindness; but deceased bodies cannot; they can neither receive God's favours in comfort nor return them in praise." Now we will not suppose these expostulations to be the language of despair, as if he thought God could not help him or would not, much less do they imply any disbelief of the resurrection of the dead at the last day; but he thus pleads with God for speedy relief: "Lord, thou art good, thou art faithful, thou art righteous; these attributes of thine will be made known in my deliverance, but, if it be not hastened, it will come too late; for I shall be dead and past relief, dead and not capable of receiving any comfort, very shortly." Job often pleaded thus, Job 7:8,10:21.
II. He resolves to continue instant in prayer, and the more so because the deliverance was deferred (Ps 88:13): "Unto thee have I cried many a time, and found comfort in so doing, and therefore I will continue to do so; in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee." Note, Though our prayers be not answered immediately, yet we must not therefore give over praying, because the vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak and not lie. God delays the answer in order that he may try our patience and perseverance in prayer. He resolves to seek God early, in the morning, when his spirits were lively, and before the business of the day began to crowd in—in the morning, after he had been tossed with cares, and sorrowful thoughts in the silence and solitude of the night; but how could he say, My prayer shall prevent thee? Not as if he could wake sooner to pray than God to hear and answer; for he neither slumbers nor sleeps; but it intimates that he would be up earlier than ordinary to pray, would prevent (that is, go before) his usual hour of prayer. The greater our afflictions are the more solicitous and serious we should be in prayer. "My prayer shall present itself before thee, and be betimes with thee, and shall not stay for the encouragement of the beginning of mercy, but reach towards it with faith and expectation even before the day dawns." God often prevents our prayers and expectations with his mercies; let us prevent his mercies with our prayers and expectations.
III. He sets down what he will say to God in prayer. 1. He will humbly reason with God concerning the abject afflicted condition he was now in (Ps 88:14): "Lord, why castest thou off my soul? What is it that provokes thee to treat me as one abandoned? Show me wherefore thou contendest with me." He speaks it with wonder that God should cast off an old servant, should cast off one that was resolved not to cast him off: "No wonder men cast me off; but, Lord, why dost thou, whose gifts and callings are without repentance? Why hidest thou thy face, as one angry at me, that either hast no favour for me or wilt not let me know that thou hast?" Nothing grieves a child of God so much as God's hiding his face from him, nor is there any thing he so much dreads as God's casting off his soul. If the sun be clouded, that darkens the earth; but if the sun should abandon the earth, and quite cast it off, what a dungeon would it be! 2. He will humbly repeat the same complaints he had before made, until God have mercy on him. Two things he represents to God as his grievances:—(1.) That God was a terror to him: I suffer thy terrors, Ps 88:15. He had continual frightful apprehensions of the wrath of God against him for his sins and the consequences of that wrath. It terrified him to think of God, of falling into his hands and appearing before him to receive his doom from him. He perspired and trembled at the apprehension of God's displeasure against him, and the terror of his majesty. Note, Even those that are designed for God's favours may yet, for a time, suffer his terrors. The spirit of adoption is first a spirit of bondage to fear. Poor Job complained of the terrors of God setting themselves in array against him, Job 6:4. The psalmist here explains himself, and tells us what he means by God's terrors, even his fierce wrath. Let us see what dreadful impressions those terrors made upon him, and how deeply they wounded him. [1.] They had almost taken away his life: "I am so afflicted with them that I am ready to die, and" (as the word is) "to give up the ghost. Thy terrors have cut me off," Ps 88:16. What is hell, that eternal excision, by which damned sinners are for ever cut off from God and all happiness, but God's terrors fastening and preying upon their guilty consciences? [2.] They had almost taken away the use of his reason: When I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. This sad effect the terrors of the Lord have had upon many, and upon some good men, who have thereby been put quite out of the possession of their own souls, a most piteous case, and which ought to be looked upon with great compassion. [3.] This had continued long: From my youth up I suffer thy terrors. He had been from his childhood afflicted with melancholy, and trained up in sorrow under the discipline of that school. If we begin our days with trouble, and the days of our mourning have been prolonged a great while, let us not think it strange, but let tribulation work patience. It is observable the Heman, who became eminently wise and good, was afflicted and ready to die, and suffered God's terrors, from his youth up. Thus many have found it was good for them to bear the yoke in their youth, that sorrow has been much better for them than laughter would have been, and that being much afflicted, and often ready to die, when they were young, they have, by the grace of God, got such an habitual seriousness and weanedness from the world as have been of great use to them all their days. Sometimes those whom God designs for eminent services are prepared for them by exercises of this kind. [4.] His affliction was now extreme, and worse than ever. God's terrors now came round about him, so that from all sides he was assaulted with variety of troubles, and he had no comfortable gale from any point of the compass. They broke in upon him together like an inundation of water; and this daily, and all the day; so that he had no rest, no respite, not the lest breathing-time, no lucid intervals, nor any gleam of hope. Such was the calamitous state of a very wise and good man; he was so surrounded with terrors that he could find no place of shelter, nor lie any where under the wind. (2.) That no friend he had in the world was a comfort to him (Ps 88:18): Lover and friend hast thou put far from me; some are dead, others at a distance, and perhaps many unkind. Next to the comforts of religion are those of friendship and society; therefore to be friendless is (as to this life) almost to be comfortless; and to those who have had friends, but have lost them, the calamity is the more grievous. With this the psalmist here closes his complaint, as if this were that which completed his woe and gave the finishing stroke to the melancholy piece. If our friends are put far from us by scattering providences, nay, if by death our acquaintance are removed into darkness, we have reason to look upon it as a sore affliction, but must acknowledge and submit to the hand of God in it.
本詩是一首哀歌，是所有詩篇中最為悲淒的之一；它並不像一般悲傷的詩那樣，在結尾給予絲毫安慰或喜樂的暗示，而是從頭到尾盡是哀悼與禍患。詩人在此並非為公眾的緣故哀嘆（這裡沒有提到教會的苦難），而是為個人的緣故，尤其是心靈的困擾，以及因外在患難、並因記念自己的罪與懼怕神怒而在他心靈中所壓下的憂傷。本詩被列為悔罪詩之一；當我們的恐懼如此被引到正確的方向，並因世上的苦情而引起依著神的意思憂愁，這是好的。
在本詩中我們看到：一、詩人所受心靈極大的重壓（詩八八3-6）。二、神的忿怒——這重壓的緣由（詩八八7,15-17）。三、朋友的惡待（詩八八8,18）。四、他藉禱告向神所發的呼求（詩八八1,2,9,13）。五、他向神謙卑的辯白與懇求（詩八八10,12,14）。
心靈困擾的人能深切地唱這詩；沒有這樣困擾的人當存感恩的心唱它，為自己不是這樣的光景而稱頌神。