Psalm 88
(The sin unto death psalm)[1]
The superscription is actually a part of the text of the Psalm. “A song or Psalm for the sons of Korah.” The sons of Korah are the objects of divine grace. Here are people who lived generation after generation and yet they should have been destroyed with their father Korah. Korah was executed by God—Numbers 26:10—because he took part in the Dathan and Abiram revolt. He revolted against God and against God’s orders. The reason he did was because Korah was very jealous. He was the nephew of Moses. He was in the tribe of Levi and he was very jealous of the fact that Moses and Aaron had the priesthood when in reality he was much smarter and a greater person. He had a very high estimate of himself and therefore he joined Dathan and Abiram in the great revolt against Moses and Aaron. Korah’s sons, however, were not destroyed with Korah himself and this is a most unusual factor, in fact it is the grace of God. Their preservation is recorded in Numbers 26:11 and then later on in 1 Chronicles 6:22ff. Korah’s progeny were numbered among the Levites—Numbers 26:58. So not only did they survive but they became a very definite part of the sons of Levi. Korah’s progeny became the guards of the gates of the Tabernacle and later the temple—1 Chronicles 9:19. Later on they became a special choir—2 Chronicles 20:19. So first of all in the superscription we encounter the principle of grace. Here is a family who deserved no consideration from God, and even though there was cursing for the father because of his mental attitude sins—he died the sin unto death—they were the recipients of the grace of God.
“upon Mahalath” – the Mahalath is an ancient stringed instrument used for musical accompaniment; “Leanoth” – a piel infinitive construct meaning to sing. So we have singing accompanied by musical instruments, except when you see the word Selah, which means the singing ceases but the music goes on. This is a beautiful picture of the plan of God. God’s plan goes on even when we, as it were, stop singing. The noun is anah. It means to sing, but in the piel stem it means to sing vigorously, happily, with coordination from the soul. Coordination from the soul demands an understanding of who and what the Lord is when He is blessing and when He is spanking.
The principle behind Psalm 88: this is a passage dealing with the sin unto death, dealing with rebound as the solution to the sin unto death, and a passage which says to us there is no excuse under the grace of God for any believer dying the sin unto death.
“Maschil” – this is a doctrinal discourse. It is derived from the hiphil participle of sakal. Sakal means to learn something so well that you can apply it. In this case the participle in the hiphil stem is formed by putting an m on it. So we have Maschil which simply means a song which is designed to communicate doctrine. There are two points of doctrine to be communicated in this psalm. The first: the grace of God can turn cursing into blessing. In other words, rebound cuts off the sin unto death. The second: the sin unto death still exists as a maximum disciplinary factor and under certain conditions God will administer it to believers.
“Heman” – in David’s day there was a man who had such a great bass voice that David took him out of his own tribe and adopted him into the tribe of Judah. This man was in the tribe of Levi, the same tribe as Korah. He was the grandson of Samuel the prophet. His name, Heman, means faithful or consistent. This would indicate that Bible doctrine had a great deal to do with his life. The fact that he was David’s favourite soloist is brought out in 2 Chronicles 35:15 and 1 Chronicles 15:19 [Heb.]. The fact that he was the favourite is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25:1.
Verses 1 & 2, the principle of rebound. In verses 3-8, the first description of what it is like to be under the sin unto death. Verses 9-13, the rebound prayer is resumed. Verses 14-18, a second description of the sin unto death.
Verse 1 – “O Lord.” The word Lord is the Hebrew word Jehovah or the Tetragrammaton which is always used in connection with some person in the Godhead. The word Elohim [God] refers to the essence of God. The im suffix is plural and this means that there is more than one person who possesses this essence. There are three persons, each has identical essence, and therefore when one of these persons is being described the Hebrew word Jehovah is used and it is used for all members of the Trinity. It is used for God the Father who is the recipient of all prayer; it is used for God the Son who is the revealed member of the Godhead; and there are certain passages in the Old Testament where it is used for the Holy Spirit. There is an equivalent in the Greek—kurioj, sometimes used for the Father—2 Thessalonians 3:2,3. It is more frequently used for the Son, and is occasionally used for the Holy Spirit, as in 2 Corinthians 3.
Here in verse 1 this prayer is addressed to the Father (Jehovah Elohim) as the recipient of all prayer. Even the Lord Jesus Christ addresses prayer to God the Father, as per Hebrew 7:25. Then we have the principle of the Holy Spirit offering prayer on our behalf in Romans 8:26,27. All prayer is addressed to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. “O Lord God” – Lord refers to God the Father as a person; God refers to His perfect character.
“of my salvation” – simply a reference to the basis for rebound. 1 John 1:7 cf. 1 John 1:9. The sins that you name in rebound were already judged on the cross.[2] “O Lord God of my salvation” is a structure in the Hebrew which means that God the Father is the source, He designed the salvation. Jesus Christ is the one who actually provided the salvation.
The author of this psalm is a believer who is under the sin unto death, and he now describes how it feels to be under the sin unto death.
“I have cried” – the word here is tsaaq and it means to scream, to yell in pain. This is intensity of suffering.
“day and night before thee” – he has confessed his sins repeatedly and he doesn’t know if he is going to get off the hook or not.
Verse 2 – he is not going to give up on this. “Let my prayer” refers to the rebound prayer. Notice that Psalm 88 comes after Psalm 32, Psalm 38, Psalm 51. These three are the great rebound psalms of David in which he describes the mechanics of rebound. Obviously this writer is not going to describe the mechanics of rebound, they have already been recorded in the Psalms. The point in Psalm 88 is principle. When one is under the sin unto death, just because he confesses his sins (he knows he is forgiven) he doesn’t know if he is going to be brought out from under the sin unto death. The psalmist wants his prayer to come before the Lord so that he can get out from under the sin unto death.
“incline thine ear unto my cry” – the word in the Hebrew for incline is natah, and it means to bend right down to that one can hear. This is a Hebrew idiom for saying that he is lower than the dust but bend down and hear what he is saying. This is in the hiphil imperative—causative. The causative stem here means that is all depends on who and what God is and the psalmist is saying, “Do it because of your character Father, not because of mine.” In other words, when a person is under the sin unto death he no longer has any illusions about himself, and now he gets oriented to grace. Grace depends on the character of God.
Now begins the suffering which brought about this prayer. The prayer is interrupted; it will be resumed in verse nine. Verses 3-8 are a parenthesis. Verses 14-18 is also a parenthesis. Each parenthesis describes how miserable he is, and in between we have his prayer—verses 1,2; 9-13.
Verse 3 – the greatest suffering is in the soul. “For my soul is full of troubles” – this man does not mention the pain of his body, he mentions the torture of his soul under the principle of temporal death. A better translation here would be, “My soul is satiated with sufferings.”
“and my life draweth night to the grave” – he uses the word for drawing nigh which means to arrive. The Hebrew word is naga. It is in the hiphil stem here—causative. God is causing his life to come to an end” “you are causing me to draw near to the grave.” The grave will be the end of phase two for the this man. God’s plan is not over for him but the sin unto death is shortening the whole thing.
Verse 4 – a hopeless situation. “I am counted with them that go down to the pit.” The word for count is the Hebrew word chasab which is really a computer word. It is also in the niphal stem, and in the perfect tense. It means that God had a longer plan for his life. He wasn’t to go out into phase three for a long time but this has been shortened down so that he is dying now. In other words, God computerised his life, gave him X amount of time, he has now shortened it up by the sin unto death, and it is only rebound that is going to change the picture and bring him out from under. The niphal is the passive voice of the qal and it means that he receives this computer treatment, as it were. “I have received the accounting [or computing] of them that go down to the pit.” The words them that go down means on the way down but not there yet. He knows that he is dying because he describes himself under terms of the helplessness of dying, he has no strength.
“I am as a man that hath no strength” – he is still a human being but he has no strength. This is the hopeless situation. But there is no such thing as a hopeless situation in the plan of God. All cursing is turned to blessing by the grace of God, and the greatest manifestation of grace in phase two is the rebound technique and it is the rebound technique that changes everything for this man.
Verse 5 – notice something of the total isolation that comes to the believer under the sin unto death. “Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave” is not a correct translation. The word translated “free” is not free. If there is anything this man isn’t it is free. He is a total slave to a terrible situation. The word is an adjective which means feeble. In the previous verse he says he has no strength, now he says he is feeble. He is dying. The literal translation is, “Feeble among the dying.”
“whom thou rememberest no more” – in other words, when one is under the sin unto death he is no longer remembered as far as God is concerned. The word remember simply describes the daily supply of grace to keep you operative. God divides phase two into days and it is to be lived under the principle of one day at a time. Each day when the believer wakes up he can be sure of one thing: God has given him a daily ration supply of grace to live out that day to the glory of God. What he is saying now is that his grace ration is cut off, by this particular phrase: “feeble among the dying. . . you remember me no more.”
“they [the dying] are cut off by thy hand” – he recognises that he is in a total isolation situation.
When this occurs there is a minimum of dying grace. Dying grace is for all believers but it is minimal when it comes to a believer under the sin unto death.
Verse 6 – “Thou has laid me” is the word shith in the Hebrew and it means to appoint. “You have appointed me to the lowest pit,” which means he is under the sin unto death and he has been appointed. This is an act of God which indicates the neglect of rebound.
This pit is described in two ways: “in darkness and in the deeps.” In darkness is isolation from the details of life and in the deeps is maximum pressure prior to death.
Verse 7 – “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me.” Thy wrath means divine pressures which occur at the sin unto death. The lie hard means to lean heavily or to rest heavily.
“thou hast afflicted” – afflict means to depress, to oppress. It is a piel stem which means that he is under intense suffering.
“with all thy waves” – the waves refer to the water, as it were. It is getting higher and higher and he is about to go under.
“Selah” – this means that the singers stop but the music goes on. In other words, God is not going to stop the sin unto death just because the believer is suffering. The only thing that will stop the sin unto death is the appeal to grace, and the only grace appeal is the rebound technique. Selah always depicts in the Psalms as the resting in the works of God.
Verse 8 – one of the great pressures of life is social isolation. “Thou hast put away mine acquaintances.” The word for acquaintance is the pual participle from the word to know, jada—those who know me. The pual means they are very good friends. People who love you can be very sustaining at times in life but under the sin unto death those who love you are separated from you.
“thou hast put away [removed]” – the word for remove is rachaq which means they are not only taken out of your geographical location but they are put in someone else’s. The hiphil stem means God caused this to happen.
“far from me” – this means that under the sin unto death it is “Dear John” technique.
“thou hast made” is literally, thou hast appointed. Again, it is the word shith—“thou hast appointed me an abomination.” The word abomination is something which causes loathing. This is the principle of complete ostracism as a part of the sin unto death. Under the sin unto death your friends despise you.
“I am shut up, and I cannot come forth” – this does not mean verbal silence, it means he is confined. This is a qal passive participle. God has closed down his social life. He cannot go out. If he goes to a party everyone moves away.
Verse 9 – pressure from the sin unto death stimulates rebound. Whoever wrote this particular psalm had neglected rebound since his youth and as a result he was now in the process of dying, and it was a very painful type of experience. This leads him back to the principle of rebound which he understood.
“Mine eye mourneth” – he is referring to the fact that he is suffering in the soul and that this soul suffering manifests itself through the eye gate. This is simply an idiom in the Hebrew for the intense suffering that occurs in the soul. The word for mourn is the Hebrew daab, it is in the qal perfect, and it means to have a tremendous distress. It sometimes is used for fear. It is always used for the concept of anxiety. It is an intense anxiety, an intense and frustrated longing. It is often used of unrequited love or frustrated love.
“by reason of my affliction” – the word for affliction is the word for soul suffering.
“I have called daily”—the rebound principle.
Verses 10-12, God still has a purpose for the believer under the sin unto death. This is manifest by the fact that when one is under the sin unto death he is still alive. When you are even dying and still alive God has a purpose for you even in dying and He can often, and often does, remand the sentence. This was true in the case of Hezekiah, as with the man in 1 Corinthians chapter five.
Verse 10 – he starts to ask God questions. These questions indicate that for the first time in a long time he is oriented to grace.
“Wilt thou shew wonders” – this is his first orientation to grace because the word for wonders is the word miracles, or it is the maximum use of grace under maximum difficult conditions.
“to the dead” – should be to the dying. The Hebrew word is muth, and it is a qal active participle. It means he is dying. In other words, his first question is, ‘Will you take a person who is dying, who deserves to die, who is under the sin unto death, show miracles?’ It means, Will you perform something which that person did not deserve under any stretch of the imagination? This is a rhetorical prayer which follows rebound. Does he have the right to expect a miracle? The answer is yes.
“shall the dead arise and praise thee?” The word dead here is a different one—ratha, which means to be all torn up, to die horribly. It refers to the dead or the departed. Literally, this is: “are the dead caused to praise thee?” This is a hiphil imperfect of the verb yadah which meant originally to give thanks. Then it meant to give thanks in an intensive way as to celebrate, to praise. He says in effect, “How can a believer who has died the sin unto death be caused to celebrate [thank, or praise]?” The answer to that is no. As a dead person [sin unto death] he cannot glorify God. The only way he can glorify God is to live long enough to do so, and then dies at the right time.
Verse 11 – “Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?” The word lovingkindness is graciousness, the word chasid. It means grace in action. Is it possible for his grace to be declared or celebrated in the grave? No. This man doesn’t recommend himself at all. He doesn’t say that he is going to do any system of penance. He is not a cry-baby, he is a grace man all the way even though he hasn’t always been that way. The word chasid is used for God’s grace provision in time, not God’s provision in eternity. The verb to be declared is a pual imperfect—the passive of the piel, the intensive stem. This is an intense declaration which is used for a celebration.
“or thy faithfulness in destruction?” – His faithfulness continues even when we have failed and His graciousness depends upon His character.
Verse 12 – “Shall thy miracles be known in the dark?” He is comparing death now to the dark. No, as long as he is alive that’s daylight. Daylight is phase two; darkness is dying under the sin unto death. The sin unto death doesn’t glorify God, it is better for the person to stay alive. The word known is in the niphal: do they receive knowledge in the dark?
“and thy righteousness”—why mention the righteousness of God? Because God’s righteousness is satisfied by the cross. Jesus Christ was perfect righteousness and God’s justice was satisfied by Christ bearing our sins.
“[can it be known] in the land of forgetfulness?” In other words, God’s grace is going to be more obvious to that generation in which he lives by this man’s life being extended than it is by taking it.
Verse 13 – therefore rebound can deliver from the sin unto death.
“But unto thee have I cried” – the word for cry is simply a call for help, piel stem, which means an intensification based upon the fact that he is dying.
“in the morning my prayer shall prevent you” – from killing me. The prayer is the rebound prayer. The word for prevent is piel [intensive] imperfect, which means this will continue: I will finish out phase two, I will finish my course. This is not self-confidence, it is confidence in the character of God—grace confidence.
What is said in verses 14-18 is simply a description of what has happened. Chronologically the psalm ends here. Now he is going to review what he went through in order to come to the place of orientation to the grace of God.
Verse 14 – “Lord” is God the Father here; “why casteth thou off my soul?” In the sin unto death the soul is said to be cast off. The Hebrew word is zanach which means to become rancid. There is a stench of the soul that accompanies the sin unto death. The soul of the believer becomes rancid. In other words, soul kinks reach a maximum.
“why hidest thou thy face from me?” This is an idiom for displeasure.
Verse 15 – “I am afflicted.” For the sin unto death the word afflicted is pitiful. It should be miserable or wretched.
“and ready to die” is “am in the process of dying.”
“from my youth” – teenager, when things start to go bad in the Christian life. It is one of the greatest testing periods in the Christian life. He began neglecting rebound in his teens.
“I suffer [carried] thy terrors [horrors], I am distracted” – the word for distracted means to be disoriented.
Verses 16 & 17 is the summary of the sin unto death.
Verse 16 – “They fierce wrath goeth over me.” It doesn’t really say go over, it means “Over me has passed thy fierce wrath.”
“thy terrors have cut me off” – terrors is a way of describing whatever God uses to make the sin unto death painful to him.
Verse 17 – “They came round about me daily like water.” He goes through the process of using drowning as an illustration. It gets higher and higher every day but he doesn’t quite drown on any day.
“they compassed me about all at once” – he finds himself floundering in life.
Verse 18 – “Lover and friend hast thou put far from me.” The word for lover is a qal active participle and it refers to the most intimate type of love, the Hebrew word ahab. The word translated friend really means an acquaintance. This is just a casual person. Sometimes you make the best impression on those who only know you causally, but under the sin unto death you can’t even impress them. You are a pain in the neck to everyone!
“mine acquaintance” – this is not an acquaintance at all, it is an intimate friend. This is a pual participle of jada which means to know. Those whom I know intimately or intensely. It is used for a very close relationship. Again, under the sin unto death there is social isolation.