In Today's Email:
Psalm 86 Notes
This psalm is written by David and described as a prayer. 5 psalms are described as such in their superscriptions. It is a both a call for, and praise for, God’s mercy and grace.
vs. 1-7 – A call for God to hear David’s prayer and be merciful to him in times of distress.
vs. 8-13 – God’s greatness is described.
vs. 14-17 – A call for God to deliver.
Psalm 87 Notes
This psalm has no author given. The heading is clear: it is both psalm and a song for the sons of Korah to use in the Temple. It is a song of praise for God’s blessings on Zion (Jerusalem).
vs. 1 – A reference to the hills of Zion and Moriah upon which Jerusalem and its Temple were built.
vs. 2 – God had specially chosen Jerusalem to be the place of worship, honoring it above all other places in Israel.
vs. 3 – So much can be said about Jerusalem. We could talk about its history and its kings. We could talk about our Lord’s ministry there. We could talk about the prophecies that center there. It is not that the city itself is the greatest or largest, but that it is the place that God chose to work specially with mankind.
vs. 4 – The surrounding nations will know the glory of God in Jerusalem. Rahab here is not the woman from Jericho in Joshua 2. Here it is to be understood as meaning “pride” and is a reference to Egypt.
vs. 5 – The place and its people are blessed.
vs. 6 – The place and its people are blessed.
vs. 7 – The springs of joy and sounds of praise echo through Jerusalem.
Psalm 88 Notes
This psalm was written by Heman the Ezrahite, a grandson of Samuel (I Chronicles 6:33). It is described as a song or psalm for the sons of Korah for use in the Temple. It has the curious description of “upon Mahalath Leannoth”, which most translate as something similar to “sung concerning sickness”. It is a rare psalm that is negative in outlook with little to no positivity in it.
vs. 1-2 – Begging for God to hear the constant cries of the suffering.
vs. 3-4 – The singer believes himself to be a hopeless case and that death surely is near.
vs. 5-6 – The singer describes himself as already buried in the grave, pit, or depths. All these are common poetical descriptions of death.
vs. 7-8 – The onslaught of suffered has caused separation from God, friends, and hope.
vs. 9-10 – A call for God to hear and answer the cries of the sufferer before death robs Him of the praise that would be returned.
vs. 11-12 – Rhetorical questions pressing for God to act soon.
vs. 13-14 – The sufferer awakes and prays first thing for God to aid him that day.
vs. 15-16 – The singer again describes himself as being on the brink of death if God did not intervene.
vs. 17-18 – The loneliness of the sufferer as all seems to press in on him.
Psalm 89 Notes
This psalm was a Maschil, or song of instruction, by Ethan the Ezrahite. This is thought be the wise man mentioned in I Kings 4:31, who is possibly also on of the musicians mentioned in I Chronicles 15:19. The theme of the song is the faithfulness of God. This psalm is the final psalm of Book III.
vs. 1-4 – The faithfulness of God is seen in His covenant with the house of David.
vs. 5-16 – God’s power and mercy are praised. Rahab in vs. 10 is not the woman from Jericho in Joshua 2. Here it is to be understood as meaning “pride” and is a reference to Egypt.
vs. 17-37 – The faithfulness of God is seen in His covenant with the house of David.
vs. 38-48 – Though God had made covenant promises to David, unfaithful Israel had stirred Him to judge them.
vs. 49-52 – A call for God to remember His covenant with David and restore the nation to its place of honor and blessing. It is pointed out that the enemies of God had been incited in their wickedness when seeing Israel judged.
Closing Thoughts
I believe that there are psalms that relate to every aspect of life. Sometimes we rejoice, and there are many psalms for that. Sometimes we suffer, and there are also many psalms for that. I feel that one area that modern Christian music shies away from is that of suffering or times of affliction. Most songs today are happy and encouraging, but life is not always that way. Sometimes we need a song, not to cheer or distract us from suffering, but to allow us to lament and grieve properly. God has given us psalms like Psalm 88 to aid us in our expressions of hopelessness and despair. He know that we will at times walk through the dark valleys of life and He has given us songs in minor keys to guide our hearts through them.
Hymn for Today
Our hymn today is a metrical rendition of Psalm 88 by Joel Barlow. It first appeared in an America psalter that he produced in which he edited Watt’s “Psalms of David” or produced new texts for passages Watts had not covered.
O God of my salvation, hear
My nightly groan, my daily pray'r,
That still employ my wasting breath;
My soul, declining to the grave,
Implores thy sov'reign Pow'r to save
From dark despair and lasting death.
Thy wrath lies heavy on my soul,
And waves of sorrows o'er me roll,
While dust and silence spread the gloom:
My friends, belov'd in happier days,
The dear companions of my ways,
Descend around me to the tomb.
As, lost in lonely grief, I tread
The mournful mansions of the dead,
Or to some throng'd assembly go;
Thro' all alike I rove alone,
While, here forgot and there unknown,
The change renews my piercing woe.
And why will God neglect my call?
Or who shall profit by my fall,
When life departs and love expires?
Can dust and darkness praise the Lord?
Or wake, or brighten at his word,
And tune the harp with heav'nly quires?
Yet, thro' each melancholy day,
I've pray'd to thee, and still will pray,
Imploring still thy kind return—
But oh! my friends, my comfort's fled,
And all my kindred of the dead
Recall my wand'ring thoughts to mourn.