_A.M. 2981. B.C. 1023._ This is the most melancholy of all the Psalms: it is all lamentation, and mourning, and wo. Here we have the pressure of spirit which the psalmist was under, Psalms 88:1. His humble pleading with God, Psalms 88:10. A further declaration of his affliction, Psalms 88:15. Title... [ Continue Reading ]
_O Lord God of my salvation_ Who hast so often saved me in former distresses; _I have cried day and night before thee_ Thus God's own elect are said, by Christ, to cry to him, Luke 18:7; and thus ought men always to pray and not to faint. _Let my prayer come before thee_ To be accepted of thee. _For... [ Continue Reading ]
_Free among the dead_ Well nigh discharged from the warfare of the present life, and entered, as a member, into the society of the dead; or, removed from all the affairs and conversation of men as if I were really dead. _Like the slain, whom thou rememberest no more_ Whom thou seemest wholly to negl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit_, &c. In hopeless and remediless calamities. Thus greatly may good men be afflicted, and 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... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me_ I can have no more familiarity or intercourse with my friends than if I were in another world; for thy providence hath removed, or rendered them incapable, or disinclined, to be serviceable to me. _Thou hast made me an abomination unto them_ They ar... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wilt thou show wonders to the dead?_ Namely, in raising them to life again in this world? No: I know thou wilt not. And therefore now hear and help me, or it will be too late. _Shall the dead arise and praise thee?_ Namely, among mortal men in this world? _Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in th... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the morning shall my prayer prevent thee_ That is, shall be offered to thee early, before the ordinary time of morning prayer, or before the dawning of the day, or the rising of the sun. The sense is, Though I have hitherto got no answer to my prayers, yet I will not give over praying and hoping... [ Continue Reading ]