Chapter Eighty-Eight

In the Vulgate, Hebrew, and Greek Bibles the psalm is ascribed to Ethan the Ezrahite. Ethan or Jeduthun was a contemporary of David and leader of one of his choirs (see about him in more detail in the introductory information). The time of Ethan’s life determines the time of the psalm’s composition. In the psalm is depicted a calamity that befell one of the descendants of David, this is an attack on Judah by enemies and the plundering carried out by them in Jerusalem (Ps 88:39-46). Such an event must be considered the attack on Judah and Jerusalem by Shoshenq, the Egyptian Pharaoh, which occurred in the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign. Then he entered Jerusalem, plundered the treasures of the temple and palace, and only Rehoboam’s repentance before God saved him (1 Sam 14:25-26; 2 Chr 12:1-12). Ethan, having entered upon his service under David, could have lived to the time of Rehoboam, witnessed this event, and wrote the psalm on its account.

O Lord, I will praise You forever for the mercy granted to David in the promise that You will establish his seed forever (2–5). This promise will be praised in heaven even by the angels for its immutability, since it will certainly be fulfilled, because You, O Lord, are almighty: the seas submit to You. You have humbled Egypt, and all the earth is in Your power (6–15). Blessed is that nation which is faithful to You, for only You are its sole and faithful protection (16–19). Once You gave a promise about David, that You would make him terrible to enemies, would expand his rule over peoples and seas, would make him the firstborn among all kings. If his sons abandon You, You will punish them, but will not deprive David of the promise granted to him by You (20–33). But now You have deprived Your anointed of Your mercy: his enemies plunder him, he is humiliated and has become an object of mockery to the nations (39–46). How long, O Lord, will Your wrath continue? Remember the brevity of human life, show mercy to the people who have been outraged and to Your anointed (47–52).

Psalm 88:2. Your mercies, O Lord, I will sing forever, from generation to generation I will proclaim Your truth with my mouth. By mercy and truth, as is clear from the subsequent content of the psalm, are meant the great promises given by God to David about eternal goodwill and mercy toward him and his descendant, and the faithfulness, immutability of the fulfillment of these promises.

Psalm 88:3. For I say: Your mercy is established forever, on the heavens You have established Your truth, when You said: Truth is “established on the heavens.” The expression is figurative: heaven for man, a weak and inconstant being, is inaccessible, and therefore all that is founded on it cannot undergo any changes or fluctuations, i.e., this truth, the promise will be fulfilled.

Psalm 88:4. “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to David, My servant: Psalm 88:5. forever I will establish your seed, from generation to generation I will prepare your throne. The promise set forth here is the same as was communicated to David through the prophet Nathan (2 Sam 7:12-14).

Psalm 88:6. And the heavens will praise Your wonderful works, O Lord, and Your truth in the assembly of the saints. Psalm 88:7. For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? who among the sons of God resembles the Lord? “The heavens,” “assembly of the saints,” “sons of God” mean the angels, who revere the greatness of the promise given to David.

Psalm 88:11. You have humbled Egypt like the stricken; with Your mighty arm You have scattered Your enemies. “Egypt” – the designation of Egypt (Ps 86:4). There is mention of the miraculous deliverance from Egypt, as a manifestation of God’s omnipotence and goodwill toward the Hebrews.

Psalm 88:13. The north and south You have created; Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name. “Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.” These mountains, located in Palestine, serve as a symbol of all this mountainous country. The mountains rejoice, i.e., all the inhabitants of Palestine are full of grateful feeling toward God for His blessings abundantly poured out upon them during their dwelling in this country.

Psalm 88:16. Blessed is the nation that knows the joyful sound! They walk in the light of Your face, O Lord, Psalm 88:17. in Your name they rejoice all day, and in Your justice they are exalted, If the Lord is so merciful toward the Hebrews and almighty, then that nation which listens to the “trumpet sound” is blessed. The trumpet was used by the Hebrews to gather the people to prayer. To listen to the trumpet – to precisely fulfill God’s prescriptions about reverent relationship to Him and the fulfillment of His commandments. “To be exalted by justice” of God – to enjoy His protection and defense, and through this also glory among all nations for righteous conduct before Him.

Psalm 88:18. for You are the beauty of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted. Psalm 88:19. From the Lord is our shield, and from the Holy One of Israel is our king. “By Your favor our horn is exalted,” “from the Lord is our shield” – expressions that are synonymous. The might (“horn”) of the Hebrew nation, its protection (“shield”) is not in military force, not in the courage of troops and the experience of commanders, but in God’s goodwill toward it. “The Holy One of Israel” – the Lord.

Psalm 88:20. Once You spoke in a vision to Your saint, and said: “I have given help to a mighty one, I have exalted a chosen one from the people. By the saint, that is, by a man, is here understood the prophet Nathan, through whom the Lord gave the promise to David. This is the same promise, only in a more detailed exposition, as also the one found in 2 Chr 7:12-16, which is further cited.

Psalm 88:26. And I will place His hand on the sea, and His right hand on the rivers. “The sea” – the Mediterranean, which was to the west, “the rivers” – the Tigris and Euphrates, to the east of Palestine. Two parts of the world are taken here to denote the whole world, i.e., the spread of David’s dominion over the entire universe is foretold to him. Since the eternity of God’s covenant with David concerns His “seed,” the latter, i.e., the seed, possesses such worldwide power. By this seed is understood the Messiah.

Psalm 88:27. He will call Me: You are My father, My God, and the rock of My salvation. Psalm 88:28. And I will make Him the firstborn, exceeding the kings of the earth, The relationship between God and man was not one of slave to master, based on slavish and blind obedience, but were full of love, like the relationship of a father to children. The “firstborn,” the first son enjoyed special love from his parents and special rights connected with this firstborn status. David is such a firstborn among pagan kings, whom the Lord especially loves and whom He prefers before all other rulers of the nations.

Psalm 88:37. His seed shall endure forever, and His throne, like the sun, before Me, Psalm 88:38. will be established forever, like the moon, and a faithful witness in the heavens. The sun and moon appeared to the ancients as eternal and unchanging, and so the promise given by God to David is eternal and unchanging. – “A faithful witness in the heavens” – i.e., God the Lord swears by Himself, for there is for Him no other higher object of oath.

Psalm 88:40. You have rejected the covenant with Your servant, You have cast his crown to the ground; “Cast his crown to the ground” – knocked the crown off the head of David’s descendant. The image of Rehoboam, who was to humble himself before Pharaoh Shoshenq.

Psalm 88:45. You have taken away the splendor and cast his throne to the ground; Psalm 88:46. You have shortened the days of his youth and covered him with shame. “You have taken away the splendor” – the splendor of independent, sovereign reign. – “You have shortened the days of his youth” – reduced, annihilated the days of carefree and careless life. We have noted that Rehoboam was saved by his repentance before God, i.e., sincere and strict condemnation of his former inconsiderate, careless, and impious conduct. The time of carefree youth was shortened.

Psalm 88:48. Remember, what my lifetime is like: for what vanity have You created all the sons of men? Psalm 88:49. Who among men lived and did not see death, who delivered his soul from the hand of the underworld? With insufficient clarity in the teaching about the afterlife, the chief attention of the ancient Hebrew was concentrated on the improvement of earthly life. The misfortunes and trials experienced by man on earth intensify the weight of his brief existence, therefore the writer implores the Lord to deliver from the present misfortunes of the invasion of Shoshenq, not to crush their life with the infliction of suffering and premature violent death: each of the living cannot in any case escape Sheol.

Psalm 88:51. Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, which I bear in my bosom from all the mighty nations; “To bear reproach in one’s bosom from nations” – to grieve deeply for the loss of prestige, the significance of one’s homeland, one’s kingdom in the eyes of neighboring pagan kingdoms and nations. This sorrow of the writer is the sorrow of a true patriot, who suffers both for each of his compatriots (see verses 48–49) and for the entire nation.

Psalm 88:53. Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen, amen. A liturgical addition concluding the third collection of the Psalter.