Psalms
Chapter 88
Lord My God, I Call for Help By Day
O Lord, my God, I call for help by day; before you, I cry out by night.
May my prayer come to you; incline your ear to my cry for help.
My soul is deeply troubled; my life draws near to the grave.
I am like those without strength. Counted among those going down into the pit—
I lie forsaken, among the dead, like those lying in the grave, like those you remember no more, cut off from your care.
You have plunged me into the darkest depths of the pit.
With your wrath heavy upon me, you have battered me with all your waves.
You have taken away my closest friends; you have made me repulsive to them. I cannot escape from my confinement.
My eyes have grown dim with grief; spreading out my hands to you, I call upon you every day, O Lord.
Are your wonders meant for the dead? Will ghosts rise to give you thanks?
Is your love and faithfulness remembered among those gone to the netherworld?
Are your wonders known in the dark; your salvation, in the land of oblivion?
But to you, O Lord, I cry for help; every morning I pray to you.
O Lord, why do you reject me; why do you hide your face?
Afflicted, and close to death from youth, I have suffered terrors and helplessness.
Your wrath has swept over me; your assaults have destroyed me.
Now, they surround me, like a flood; and completely engulf me.
Bereft of loved ones, and now alone, only darkness is my companion.
Commentaries
88
This psalm ends on a profoundly sad note. The psalmist appears quite sorrowful, frustrated, and helpless. People are so accustomed to hearing him complain about his ‘enemies,’ that when he does not, his silence becomes noticeable. The complaint is directed toward God, but what hope remains if God is an enemy? In this psalm, there is no glimmer of light. It is a cry in the dark. The inhuman enemy is like a sickness in lonely old age: only God, whose messenger it is, can make the message bearable.
Knowing Christ might seem to prevent us from falling into despair. However, there are days when heaven is closed to us, just as it was for Jesus in his agony.
The ‘why?’ of the psalm is heard on the cross (cf. Mt 27:46). The answer will come at dawn (cf. 1 P 3:18; 1 Cor 15:54). This plea of a dying person can be sung by all who are dying or live in God’s silence. Let us not forget that, at dawn, our plea will rise to meet God.