In last week’s post, I discussed the introductory verses and background of my favorite psalm, Psalm 88. A quick recap of that post—the author is in a dire state of suffering. The psalmist, identified as Heiman in the superscription, is near to death, whether that death is physical, mental, or spiritual. In this post, I would like to address what the author is leading up to in his argumentation: that God is the source of his suffering.
“Left by myself among the dead,
Psalm 88:6, CJB
like the slain who lie in the grave —
you no longer remember them;
they are cut off from your care.”
In verse 6, the psalmist upholds the Jewish belief that the dead are simply cut off. They are outside of God’s presence, and he no longer cares for them, as Heiman states. More important to the context of the psalm, however, the author is comparing his suffering to death. Beginning in verse 6, the “rhetoric shifts so that this is no longer description but accusation addressed to ‘you,’ to YHWH, who has caused the precarious situation of the speaker.”1
To reiterate what I described in the previous post, Psalm 88 touches on the topic of death and Sheol, the holding place of the dead. In this verse, we learn something remarkable about the ancient Judaic views on Sheol. The author vents that those who rest in Sheol are alienated from the presence of God. God, he writes, no longer remembers them and has cut them off from his care.
The psalmist denies one of the three tenants of the problem of suffering: that God is omnipotent. The author suggests that God does not retain any control or concern for those in Sheol. This is a rarity in Scripture, that the writer contests God’s power. We should expect to find some sort of theodicy, as we do in other biblical laments. However, this psalmist does not. Why? Because theodicy consists of justifications and answers, but the author of Psalm 88 refuses to justify God’s actions.2 We can most certainly assume that the psalmist cannot find any rational way to justify the actions of God. His suffering is just that overwhelming.
Psalm 88:7-10a
You plunged me into the bottom of the pit,
Psalm 88:7-10a
into dark places, into the depths.
Your wrath lies heavily on me;
your waves crashing over me keep me down. (Selah)
You separated me from my close friends,
made me repulsive to them;
I am caged in, with no escape;
my eyes grow dim from suffering.
Now that the psalmist has described his unpleasant circumstances, he moves to understand their source. The conclusion he comes to is that God is behind his suffering. I have added italics to “you” and “your” in the preceding verses to emphasize what fierce accusations the author makes. He has described what suffering he is experiencing in the verses leading up to 7, now he unleashes his anger on God.
Now, let’s take a look at what accusations he levies against God:
- God has led the psalmist near to death
- God has filled his life with trouble and overwhelmed him with wrathful waves
- God has alienated him from friends and loved ones
- His eyes go dim because of the suffering God has sentenced him to
These accusations are not to be taken lightly. If a Christian were to stand up in the middle of a Sunday sermon and levy these offenses against God, they would be excommunicated in a heartbeat. Blasphemy. Heresy. Profanity. Desecration. The author commits each of these, yet the psalm is included in the biblical canon. But I must ask… is the psalmist wrong? No! Whatever wrongs he has committed in life, surely he does not deserve this excruciating pain.
Led Near to Death
As we can notice thus far, the psalmist is not merely complaining for no reason. Analysis of the text shows that “YHWH is unmistakably accused as the sole and incomprehensible author of the destructive situation of the petitioner, who is medically still alive, but ‘really’ already dead.”3 The psalmist is staring straight into the eyes of death and rather than a happily ever after, he lives knowing that he will die in agony.
Overwhelming Waves
God has filled his life with trouble and crushes him in his waves. The CJB renders this verse “your waves crashing over me keep me down;” the Hebrew word translated “keep me down” here also translates “to overwhelm” or “to answer.”4 If we take the latter interpretation, we see that the only sign God gives him is more, consecutive suffering. The metaphor of waves is common in the psalter; it emphasizes the chaotic nature of God’s fierce anger. Katherine Southwood says of this metaphor, “It evokes a sense of chaos, being overpowered, gasping for breath, while also depicting a recurring action.”5
Social Separation
By far the most extreme of these accusations, the author accuses God of cutting him off from his community. As we all know, we rely on our loved ones the most during times of suffering. When we experience loss, or sickness, we reach out to our friends and vice-versa. Not only is he not present in the man’s suffering, but Yahweh has made it so that his friends are not there for him. The speaker suffers from acute social isolation, the final nail in his coffin.6 He has been abandoned by both God and friend.
Eyes Grow Dim with Suffering
What exactly does the psalmist mean when he says “my eyes grow dim from suffering?” What I think we can detract from this statement is that the author has conclusively determined he is hopeless. He has just laid out struggles that, quite frankly, are hard to imagine. He is dying. He is drowning. He is crushed. He is isolated. As these struggles culminate, the light that he clings to slowly fades away. As the light in his eyes dim, so does the hope in his soul.
Psalm 88:10b-12
I call on you, Adonai, every day;
Psalm 88:10b-12
I spread out my hands to you.
Will you perform wonders for the dead?
Can the ghosts of the dead rise up and praise you? (Selah)
Will your grace be declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Will your wonders be known in the dark,
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
The following section begins with the poet recognizing that despite his troubles, he still calls upon God. Although he seemingly knows that God refuses to answer him, he remains in prayer. It is the smallest morsel of hope that he has left, and he does what we should all do when we are suffering: cling to that hope, no matter how miniscule it may appear. He is at his end and God refuses to acknowledge him; yet, he proceeds to stand before God.
Now that the author has laid out his struggles and accused God of betraying him, he turns to interrogation. The rhetorical questions he poses in this section are likely meant sarcastically. Can God perform wonders to the amusement of the dead? Will the dead rise and praise him? Can the dead declare his grace? Will his wonders and righteousness be known in the darkness or oblivion? Although the author does not answer, we can be right to imagine his response is a resounding, “No!”
The psalmist recognizes God has caused his suffering and continues to pray to him. This gives us an idea of the purpose of the series of questions. Tremper Longman III argues, “The series of questions in verses 10-12 almost taunt God to provoke him to action.”7 The author is so desperate in his suffering that he is attempting to elicit a response from God, similar to Job. The questions serve the purpose of establishing that “the suffering and death of the speaker have direct and devastating consequences for YHWH.”8
At this point, the psalmist has nothing left to lose. The psalmist is so terminal and hopeless that he can shock God into answering.9 There is a pattern to be noted here: in each question, the psalmist compares terms of life/divinity with those of death (e.g., dead/grave/Sheol/dark and wonders/praise/faithfulness/righteousness).10 As Leonard P. Mare writes in his analysis, praise can only be given if the donor is alive; therefore, “When those who are alive cease to praise God, they are in fact already dead.”11 Heiman recognizes the incongruity between God’s wonders and the emptiness of death, where he shall soon enter.
Conclusion
There is much to unpack in Psalm 88; this blog entry serves as a thorough overview, but I, of course, cannot touch on everything. What I have presented is that, like Amos and Job, God is the direct cause of suffering in Psalm 88. The psalmist uses his terminal position to taunt and provoke God. When faced with such daunting suffering, it is only rational to demand a sign from God.
And yet, as many of us can relate, the unfortunate author never received his sign. However, he makes it crystal clear that sufferers are not the only ones with consequences; God faces consequences as well. While modern Christianity frowns upon people who question God, this is truly something admirable. The psalmist demonstrates his courage, as he faces the ultimate punishment, in literally standing up to a divine bully. Even in the face of such tumultuous suffering, the author refuses to give in.
The speaker’s reproach is something that should inspire us. Instead, church leaders prefer to sweep this psalm under the rug. They do not want us to question God, even when we are on the brink of death. But what is often forgotten as the result of religious ignorance is that we have every right to question God. The Bible, particularly Psalm 88, makes this quite clear.
1. Brueggemann, Walter, and Jr Bellinger. Psalms. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 379.
2. Mandolfo, Carleen. “Psalm 88 and the Holocaust: Lament in Search of a Divine Response.” Biblical Interpretation 15, no. 2 (2007): 157. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=b7025e72-5146-4847-8b0e-b1559c8ed8ef%40redis
3. Baltzer, Klaus, Linda M. Maloney, Erich Zenger, and Frank-Lothar Hossfeld. Psalms 2: A Commentary on Psalms 51-100. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2005.
4. deClaisse-Walford, Nancy L., Jacobson, Rolf A., and Tanner, Beth LaNeel. The Book of Psalms. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014. 512.
5. Southwood, Katherine. “Metaphor, Illness, and Identity in Psalms 88 and 102.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 43, no. 2 (2018): 241. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/0309089217704549
6. Brueggemann, Walter, and Jr Bellinger. Psalms /. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 379.
7. Longman, Tremper, III. Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary. Westmont: InterVarsity Press, 2014. 417.
8. Brueggemann, Walter, and Jr Bellinger. Psalms. 379.
9. deClaisse-Walford, Nancy L., Jacobson, Rolf A., and Tanner, Beth LaNeel. The Book of Psalms. 512.
10. Thornhill, A. Chadwick. “A Theology of Psalm 88.” Evangelical Quarterly 87, no. 1 (2015): 52.
11. Mare, Leonard P. “Facing the Deepest Darkness of Despair and Abandonment: Psalm 88 and the Life of Faith.” Old Testament Essays 27, no. 1 (2014): 241. https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.10520/EJC152826