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Psalm 88: A Song of Affliction
This Psalm is one of the darkest in the entire Psalter and it portrays a man of sorrows.Many have seen it as a Messianic Psalm, speaking strongly of the sufferings of Christ.There are two parts here: a complaint and a prayer – but with no hint of relief.
(1)
 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 havecried day and night before You; (2) Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry; (3) For my soul is full of troubles: and my life drawsnear to the grave.
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 Another teaching Psalm from Heman; the title is obscure but may meansomething like “concerning afflictive sickness.”
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The Psalmist has been crying out to the Lord day and night without seeing changein his condition. He senses that death is about to seize him.
(4) I am counted with those who go down into the pit; I am as a man whohas no strength; (5) Feeble among the dead, like the slain who lie in thegrave, whom You remember no more; and they are cut off from Your hand.(6) You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. (7) Your wrath lies hard upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves.Selah.
 
Psalms Bible Study Psalms 88 & 90
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He views himself as being virtually dead already because of the wrath of God. The waves are literally the “breakers” – a picture of continual blows.
(8) You have put away my acquaintance far from me; You have made me anabomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. (9) My eyemourns by reason of affliction; LORD, I have called daily upon You, I havestretched out my hands to You. (10) Will You show wonders to the dead?Shall the dead arise and praise You? Selah.
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Here he begins to make intercession by telling God that He will receive no praisefrom him if he dies. There is a picture here of Jesus in His loneliness and His being viewed as a disgrace. In Isaiah 53 we see the suffering Messiah as “smitten,stricken by God and afflicted” and an object of loathing.
(11) Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Yourfaithfulness in destruction? (12) Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? (13) But to You have Icried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer come before You.
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 Again, more petitions based on the belief that there would be no praise in thegrave. Despite this he does not give up – he had been praying day and night andhe asserts that his prayer will come to God again in the morning.
(14) LORD, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face fromme? (15) I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up; while I suffer Your terrors I am distracted. (16) Your fierce wrath goes over me; Yourterrors have cut me off. (17) They came round about me daily like water;
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Psalms Bible Study Psalms 88 & 90
they surrounded me together. (18) Lover and friend You have put far fromme, and my acquaintance into darkness.
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Here again we see the loneliness of Christ - rejected almost entirely by friendsand family. His brothers were not at the cross, nor His disciples save John.
Psalm 90: Before The Mountains
Here is the first Psalm of Moses; it is one of the most famous Psalms and it deals withthe eternity of God, repentance, and seeking God’s blessing upon His people.
(1)
 A Prayer of Moses the man of God.
Lord, You have been our dwelling placein all generations. (2) Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting toeverlasting, thou art God.
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This is seen as a “prayer,” and indeed we have several examples of Moses’ poeticpraying in the Law.
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Moses is called the “Man of God” and this is a title rarely given. Certainly Moseshad an intimacy with God which is virtually unmatched in the Old Testament.
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 A common theme in many Psalms is the idea that God is a covering or a dwellingplace for us. Perhaps this originated with Moses. He sees that God is the shelterof the people across time.
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God is God eternally – He remains the same across time and so, as Mosesindicates here it is not even proper to speak of Him in the past tense. We see anecho of this in the Gospels when Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
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