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Selected Verse: Psalms 88:1 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Ps 88:1 |
Strong Concordance |
A Song [07892] or Psalm [04210] for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141], to the chief Musician [05329] upon Mahalath [04257] Leannoth [06031], Maschil [04905] of Heman [01968] the Ezrahite [0250]. O LORD [03068] God [0430] of my salvation [03444], I have cried [06817] day [03117] and night [03915] before thee: |
|
King James |
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Upon Mahalath--either an instrument, as a lute, to be used as an accompaniment (Leannoth, "for singing") or, as others think, an enigmatic title (see on Psa 5:1, Psa 22:1, and Psa 45:1, titles), denoting the subject--that is, "sickness or disease, for humbling," the idea of spiritual maladies being often represented by disease (compare Psa 6:5-6; Psa 22:14-15, &c.). On the other terms, see on Psa 42:1 and Psa 32:1. Heman and Ethan (see on Psa 89:1, title) were David's singers (Ch1 6:18, Ch1 6:33; Ch1 15:17), of the family of Kohath. If the persons alluded to (Kg1 4:31; Ch1 2:6), they were probably adopted into the tribe of Judah. Though called a song, which usually implies joy (Psa 83:1), both the style and matter of the Psalm are very despondent; yet the appeals to God evince faith, and we may suppose that the word "song" might be extended to such compositions. (Psa. 88:1-18)
Compare on the terms used, Psa 22:2; Psa 31:2. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
O Lord God of my salvation - On whom I depend for salvation; who alone canst save me. Luther renders this, "O God, my Saviour."
I have cried day and night before thee - literally, "By day I cried; by night before thee;" that is, my prayer is constantly before thee. The meaning is, that there was no intermission to his prayers; he prayed all the while. This does not refer to the general habit of his life, but to the time of his sickness. He had prayed most earnestly and constantly that he might be delivered from sickness and from the dangers of death. He had, as yet, obtained no answer, and he now pours out, and records, a more earnest petition to God. |
The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
Mahalath
Or, M'holoth, meaning dancing with glad noises. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The poet finds himself in the midst of circumstances gloomy in the extreme, but he does not despair; he still turns towards Jahve with his complaints, and calls Him the God of his salvation. This actus directus of fleeing in prayer to the God of salvation, which urges its way through all that is dark and gloomy, is the fundamental characteristic of all true faith. Psa 88:2 is not to be rendered, as a clause of itself: "by day I cry unto Thee, in the night before Thee" (lxx and Targum), which ought to have been יומם, but (as it is also pointed, especially in Baer's text): by day, i.e., in the time (Psa 56:4; Psa 78:42, cf. Psa 18:1), when I cry before Thee in the night, let my prayer come... (Hitzig). In Psa 88:3 he calls his piercing lamentation, his wailing supplication, רנּתי, as in Psa 17:1; Psa 61:2. הטּה as in Psa 86:1, for which we find הט in Psa 17:6. The Beth of בּרעות, as in Psa 65:5; Lam 3:15, Lam 3:30, denotes that of which his soul has already had abundantly sufficient. On Psa 88:4, cf. as to the syntax Psa 31:11. איל (ἅπαξ λεγομ. like אילוּת, Psa 22:20) signifies succinctness, compactness, vigorousness (ἁδρότης): he is like a man from whom all vital freshness and vigour is gone, therefore now only like the shadow of a man, in fact like one already dead. חפשׁי, in Psa 88:6, the lxx renders ἐν νεκροῖς ἐλεύθερος (Symmachus, ἀφεὶς ἐλεύθερος); and in like manner the Targum, and the Talmud which follows it in formulating the proposition that a deceased person is חפשׁי מן חמצוות, free from the fulfilling of the precepts of the Law (cf. Rom 6:7). Hitzig, Ewald, Kster, and Bttcher, on the contrary, explain it according to Eze 27:20 (where חפשׁ signifies stragulum): among the dead is my couch (חפשׁי = יצועי, Job 17:13). But in respect of Job 3:19 the adjectival rendering is the more probable; "one set free among the dead" (lxx) is equivalent to one released from the bond of life (Job 39:5), somewhat as in Latin a dead person is called defunctus. God does not remember the dead, i.e., practically, inasmuch as, devoid of any progressive history, their condition remains always the same; they are in fact cut away (נגזר as in Psa 31:23; Lam 3:54; Isa 53:8) from the hand, viz., from the guiding and helping hand, of God. Their dwelling-place is the pit of the places lying deep beneath (cf. on תּחתּיּות, Psa 63:10; Psa 86:13; Eze 26:20, and more particularly Lam 3:55), the dark regions (מחשׁכּים as in Psa 143:3, Lam 3:6), the submarine depths (בּמצלות; lxx, Symmachus, the Syriac, etc.: ἐν σκιᾷ θανάτου = בצלמות, according to Job 10:21 and frequently, but contrary to Lam 3:54), whose open abyss is the grave for each one. On Psa 88:8 cf. Psa 42:8. The Mugrash by כל־משׁבריך stamps it as an adverbial accusative (Targum), or more correctly, since the expression is not עניתני, as the object placed in advance. Only those who are not conversant with the subject (as Hupfeld in this instance) imagine that the accentuation marks ענּית as a relative clause (cf. on the contrary Psa 8:7, Psa 21:3, etc.). ענּה, to bow down, press down; here used of the turning or directing downwards (lxx ἐπήγαγες) of the waves, which burst like a cataract over the afflicted one. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
O Lord God of my salvation - This is only the continuation of prayers and supplications already often sent up to the throne of grace. |
2 Bow down [05186] thine ear [0241] to me; deliver [05337] me speedily [04120]: be thou my strong [04581] rock [06697], for an house [01004] of defence [04686] to save [03467] me.
2 O my God [0430], I cry [07121] in the daytime [03119], but thou hearest [06030] not; and in the night season [03915], and am not silent [01747].
1 A Song [07892] or Psalm [04210] of Asaph [0623]. Keep not thou silence [01824], O God [0430]: hold not thy peace [02790], and be not still [08252], O God [0410].
6 And the sons [01121] of Zerah [02226]; Zimri [02174], and Ethan [0387], and Heman [01968], and Calcol [03633], and Dara [01873]: five [02568] of them in all.
31 For he was wiser [02449] than all men [0120]; than Ethan [0387] the Ezrahite [0250], and Heman [01968], and Chalcol [03633], and Darda [01862], the sons [01121] of Mahol [04235]: and his fame [08034] was in all nations [01471] round about [05439].
17 So the Levites [03881] appointed [05975] Heman [01968] the son [01121] of Joel [03100]; and of his brethren [0251], Asaph [0623] the son [01121] of Berechiah [01296]; and of the sons [01121] of Merari [04847] their brethren [0251], Ethan [0387] the son [01121] of Kushaiah [06984];
33 And these are they that waited [05975] with their children [01121]. Of the sons [01121] of the Kohathites [06956]: Heman [01968] a singer [07891], the son [01121] of Joel [03100], the son [01121] of Shemuel [08050],
18 And the sons [01121] of Kohath [06955] were, Amram [06019], and Izhar [03324], and Hebron [02275], and Uzziel [05816].
1 Maschil [04905] of Ethan [0387] the Ezrahite [0250]. I will sing [07891] of the mercies [02617] of the LORD [03068] for ever [05769]: with my mouth [06310] will I make known [03045] thy faithfulness [0530] to all [01755] generations [01755].
1 A Psalm of David [01732], Maschil [04905]. Blessed [0835] is he whose transgression [06588] is forgiven [05375], whose sin [02401] is covered [03680].
1 To the chief Musician [05329], Maschil [04905], for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141]. As the hart [0354] panteth [06165] after the water [04325] brooks [0650], so panteth [06165] my soul [05315] after thee, O God [0430].
14 I am poured out [08210] like water [04325], and all my bones [06106] are out of joint [06504]: my heart [03820] is like wax [01749]; it is melted [04549] in the midst [08432] of my bowels [04578].
15 My strength [03581] is dried up [03001] like a potsherd [02789]; and my tongue [03956] cleaveth [01692] to my jaws [04455]; and thou hast brought [08239] me into the dust [06083] of death [04194].
5 For in death [04194] there is no remembrance [02143] of thee: in the grave [07585] who shall give thee thanks [03034]?
6 I am weary [03021] with my groaning [0585]; all the night [03915] make I my bed [04296] to swim [07811]; I water [04529] my couch [06210] with my tears [01832].
1 To the chief Musician [05329] upon Shoshannim [07799], for the sons [01121] of Korah [07141], Maschil [04905], A Song [07892] of loves [03039]. My heart [03820] is inditing [07370] a good [02896] matter [01697]: I speak [0559] of the things which I have made [04639] touching the king [04428]: my tongue [03956] is the pen [05842] of a ready [04106] writer [05608].
1 To the chief Musician [05329] upon Aijeleth [0365] Shahar [07837], A Psalm [04210] of David [01732]. My God [0410], my God [0410], why hast thou forsaken [05800] me? why art thou so far [07350] from helping [03444] me, and from the words [01697] of my roaring [07581]?
1 To the chief Musician [05329] upon Nehiloth [05155], A Psalm [04210] of David [01732]. Give ear [0238] to my words [0561], O LORD [03068], consider [0995] my meditation [01901].
3 For thou preventest [06923] him with the blessings [01293] of goodness [02896]: thou settest [07896] a crown [05850] of pure gold [06337] on his head [07218].
7 All sheep [06792] and oxen [0504], yea, and the beasts [0929] of the field [07704];
8 Yet the LORD [03068] will command [06680] his lovingkindness [02617] in the daytime [03119], and in the night [03915] his song [07892] shall be with me, and my prayer [08605] unto the God [0410] of my life [02416].
8 Thou hast put away [07368] mine acquaintance [03045] far [07368] from me; thou hast made [07896] me an abomination [08441] unto them: I am shut up [03607], and I cannot come forth [03318].
54 Waters [04325] flowed over [06687] mine head [07218]; then I said [0559], I am cut off [01504].
21 Before I go [03212] whence I shall not return [07725], even to the land [0776] of darkness [02822] and the shadow of death [06757];
6 He hath set [03427] me in dark places [04285], as they that be dead [04191] of old [05769].
3 For the enemy [0341] hath persecuted [07291] my soul [05315]; he hath smitten [01792] my life [02416] down [01792] to the ground [0776]; he hath made me to dwell [03427] in darkness [04285], as those that have been long [05769] dead [04191].
55 I called [07121] upon thy name [08034], O LORD [03068], out of the low [08482] dungeon [0953].
20 When I shall bring thee down [03381] with them that descend [03381] into the pit [0953], with the people [05971] of old time [05769], and shall set [03427] thee in the low parts [08482] of the earth [0776], in places desolate [02723] of old [05769], with them that go down [03381] to the pit [0953], that thou be not inhabited [03427]; and I shall set [05414] glory [06643] in the land [0776] of the living [02416];
13 For great [01419] is thy mercy [02617] toward me: and thou hast delivered [05337] my soul [05315] from the lowest [08482] hell [07585].
10 They shall fall [05064] by the sword [03027] [02719]: they shall be a portion [04521] for foxes [07776].
8 He was taken [03947] from prison [06115] and from judgment [04941]: and who shall declare [07878] his generation [01755]? for he was cut off [01504] out of the land [0776] of the living [02416]: for the transgression [06588] of my people [05971] was he stricken [05061].
54 Waters [04325] flowed over [06687] mine head [07218]; then I said [0559], I am cut off [01504].
23 O love [0157] the LORD [03068], all ye his saints [02623]: for the LORD [03068] preserveth [05341] the faithful [0539], and plentifully [03499] rewardeth [07999] the proud [01346] doer [06213].
5 Who hath sent out [07971] the wild ass [06501] free [02670]? or who hath loosed [06605] the bands [04147] of the wild ass [06171]?
19 The small [06996] and great [01419] are there; and the servant [05650] is free [02670] from his master [0113].
13 If I wait [06960], the grave [07585] is mine house [01004]: I have made [07502] my bed [03326] in the darkness [02822].
20 Dedan [01719] was thy merchant [07402] in precious [02667] clothes [0899] for chariots [07396].
7 For [1063] he that is dead [599] is freed [1344] from [575] sin [266].
6 Thou hast laid [07896] me in the lowest [08482] pit [0953], in darkness [04285], in the deeps [04688].
20 Deliver [05337] my soul [05315] from the sword [02719]; my darling [03173] from the power [03027] of the dog [03611].
11 I was a reproach [02781] among all mine enemies [06887], but especially [03966] among my neighbours [07934], and a fear [06343] to mine acquaintance [03045]: they that did see [07200] me without [02351] fled [05074] from me.
4 I am counted [02803] with them that go down [03381] into the pit [0953]: I am as a man [01397] that hath no strength [0353]:
30 He giveth [05414] his cheek [03895] to him that smiteth [05221] him: he is filled full [07646] with reproach [02781].
15 He hath filled [07646] me with bitterness [04844], he hath made me drunken [07301] with wormwood [03939].
5 By terrible things [03372] in righteousness [06664] wilt thou answer [06030] us, O God [0430] of our salvation [03468]; who art the confidence [04009] of all the ends [07099] of the earth [0776], and of them that are afar off [07350] upon the sea [03220]:
6 I have called [07121] upon thee, for thou wilt hear [06030] me, O God [0410]: incline [05186] thine ear [0241] unto me, and hear [08085] my speech [0565].
1 A Prayer [08605] of David [01732]. Bow down [05186] thine ear [0241], O LORD [03068], hear [06030] me: for I am poor [06041] and needy [034].
2 From the end [07097] of the earth [0776] will I cry [07121] unto thee, when my heart [03820] is overwhelmed [05848]: lead [05148] me to the rock [06697] that is higher [07311] than I.
1 A Prayer [08605] of David [01732]. Hear [08085] the right [06664], O LORD [03068], attend [07181] unto my cry [07440], give ear [0238] unto my prayer [08605], that goeth not [03808] out of feigned [04820] lips [08193].
3 For my soul [05315] is full [07646] of troubles [07451]: and my life [02416] draweth nigh [05060] unto the grave [07585].
1 To the chief Musician [05329], A Psalm of David [01732], the servant [05650] of the LORD [03068], who spake [01696] unto the LORD [03068] the words [01697] of this song [07892] in the day [03117] that the LORD [03068] delivered [05337] him from the hand [03709] of all his enemies [0341], and from the hand [03027] of Saul [07586]: And he said [0559], I will love [07355] thee, O LORD [03068], my strength [02391].
42 They remembered [02142] not his hand [03027], nor the day [03117] when he delivered [06299] them from the enemy [06862].
4 In God [0430] I will praise [01984] his word [01697], in God [0430] I have put my trust [0982]; I will not fear [03372] what flesh [01320] can do [06213] unto me.
2 Let my prayer [08605] come [0935] before [06440] thee: incline [05186] thine ear [0241] unto my cry [07440];