Psalm 88 -- The Sorrows of Our Lord -- Verse 9

-- continued from verse 8, October 23, 2010--

NIV Psalm 88:1 A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.
2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah
11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.

9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.

Perhaps more than anything else, this verse characterizes the life of our Lord, the man of many sorrows.

 
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:10a Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,...

Psalm 22: 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

Isaiah 50:6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered

There are many, many more verses of scripture applicable to the sorrow and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, among them Psalm 69. When God the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to seeing Christ in the Old Testament, we find that there are references to Him everywhere! Isaiah is full of passages which refer to Christ, but in the Psalms themselves, a major theme is the theme of the suffering and sorrows of Messiah.

Verse 9 also characterizes the Lord Jesus in the second portion, that of constant prayer. As I think of Christ, so frequently I see Him praying. As a child, I once asked my pastor, "If Jesus is God, then who was He praying to?" Jesus the man on earth prayed heartily and often.

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Luke 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

Mark 9:28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" 29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

Matthew 14:21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. 22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night [3-6 a.m.] Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

Mark 14:32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray."

Hebrews 5:7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

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Heavenly Father, One of the weakest areas in my Christian life is prayer. Jesus our Lord gave us such a wonderful example to live by of prayer in the life of a believer. Ah Lord, help me to pray more, and to be quiet, and to listen to Your voice. Thank-You, gracious, kind, and loving Father. In Your Son's Holy Name, Amen.

--to be continued

Psalm 88 -- The Sorrows of Our Lord -- Verse 8

-- continued from verse 7, October 9, 2010

NIV Psalm 88:1 A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.
2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah
11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.

By way of review, our thesis as we proceed is that this Psalm, written by Heman the Ezrahite, has a major application that is prophetic of the lamentation of our Lord Jesus Christ during His Passion. The voice of the psalmist can be understood as being prophetically the voice of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was fully man and fully God. The voice in this Psalm is the voice of a man; I propose it is the voice of "the man".

NIV 8a You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. (1)

NAU Psalm 88:8 You have removed my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an object of loathing to them; (1)

Which of us can be content to live without friends and acquaintances? We sometimes grieve greatly over the loss of dear friends, and interacting with companions and acquaintances frequently serves to cheer us on our daily paths.

Our triune God Himself is a God of fellowship, and having been created in His image, we also were created for friendships.

[The following verses are all from the NIV.]

Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

Genesis 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

1 Samuel 18:1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.

Proverbs 27:10 Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father, and do not go to your brother's house when disaster strikes you-- better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

Ecclesiastes 4:7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: 8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. "For whom am I toiling," he asked, "and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?" This too is meaningless-- a miserable business! 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Luke 5:18 Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

John 19:26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son".

John 15:9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love...13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Acts 10:24 The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.

Acts 27:3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.

Philemon 1:1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker,

James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.

3 John 1:14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

Once again--

NIV 8a You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them.

The details of Jesus' life are well known from scripture, how His friends failed Him in His greatest hour of need.

Mark 14:33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." 35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." 37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. 41 Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Matthew 26:47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him. 50 Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for." Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.

Mark 14:49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled." 50 Then everyone deserted him and fled. 51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Mark 14:66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. "You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said. 68 But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway. 69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." 70 Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." 71 He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about." 72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept.

Psalm 88:8b I am confined and cannot escape;

From the moment of His arrest until the moment of His resurrection, Jesus' body remained confined, imprisoned, shut up, without escape. First, He was arrested by the Roman guard; He was bound when taken to Pilot, he was flogged, handed over to be crucified, mocked, struck, and spat upon, nailed to the cross, crucified, dead, his body wrapped--confined in a linen cloth with spices, and placed in a tomb that had a great stone rolled against the opening, a seal placed upon it, and a Roman guard to keep the tomb secure. (Matthew 27)
That's pretty confined.



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(1) [The New International reading of verse 8a agrees with the King James Version, but the New King James and the New American Updated (New American Standard Bible with Codes {1995}) are in agreement. Note that verse 18 directly contains both of these concepts.]

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Father, the only word that comes to my mind in response to the events described above is "Selah". Stop, pause, stay here awhile, consider all of this. Then I hear Galatians 5:1a It is for freedom that Christ has set us free...His confinement...our freedom. Thank-You, my gracious, good Heavenly Father for binding Your dear Son this way, and thank You, my dearest Lord Jesus, for Your willingness to suffer for me. In You, Christina, Amen.

--to be continued

Psalm 88--The Sorrows of Our Lord--Verse 7

--continued from verses 3-6, September 18,2010

NIV Psalm 88:1 A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.
2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah
11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.

7a Your wrath lies heavily upon me; ...

Have you ever wondered how we as Christians know that it was God's wrath which Jesus Our Lord suffered on the cross? I have wondered that. The gospels tell us of the mighty compassion and awesome deeds of our Savior, His zeal for all things that belonged to His Father. But in the gospels, doesn't it appear to be the Jewish authorities and Roman soldiers who crucified Him? How do we know that God was pouring out His wrath for our sins upon the Lamb of God? Could it be we have this knowledge, at least in part, because this and other psalms tell us?

"Wrath" is not an unusual word in the Old Testament, nor in the whole Bible. It is present many times over from Genesis to Revelation. Once in a while, human wrath is spoken of in the multitude of verses containing the word "wrath", but far and away the largest number of uses of this word refer to the intense anger of God in a judgmental sense against those who have offended Him. Here the psalmist is experiencing the judgmental wrath of God against sinners.

7b you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah

The imagery of the words in this portion compare the wrath of God with strong billows of the sea breaking upon the psalmist in full force, weighing him down and keeping him low, afflicting him, repeatedly, again and again. This imagery of God's wrath being expressed as mighty billows of the sea is not unique to this psalm.

Psalm 42:7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

Why would the speaker of Psalm 88 say that the wrath of God and the waves of God were against him? Isn't the speaker a righteous man, a man who loves and worships God? He refers to God as, "O LORD, the God who saves me" in verse 1. In verse 9, he says, "O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you." Verse 13--"But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you." We know from all the psalms that the wicked do not cry out to God for help; in their pride of heart they always reject God, no matter what their circumstances. Only the righteous humble themselves in turning to God to seek His help and mercy.

Clearly, this man speaks as the righteous in the Psalms do; yet, he has an extremely clear knowledge that it is God whose wrath is being poured out upon him. Why is God's wrath against him? The psalm does not say, nor even hint at any wrongdoing on the speaker's part. Contrast this with Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is the heart-cry of a righteous man (according to the portrait of such a one in all the Psalms--see footnote), who has grievously sinned and now knows it. He repeatedly confesses and asks for God's cleansing mercies.

This, however, is not the portrait of the man in Psalm 88, which gives us no hint of sin. So why was he suffering God's wrath? The Apostle Paul gives us the answer--

NAU 2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Isaiah likens this "man of sorrows" to a sacrificial lamb--

NAU Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.

Lambs chosen for sacrifice were innocent, clean, spotless, without blemish, and without fault. Yet they are sacrificed for the wrath of God, in place of people, whose sins are placed upon them.

NAU Numbers 6:14 'He shall present his offering to the LORD: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering and one ewe-lamb a year old without defect for a sin offering and one ram without defect for a peace offering,

NAU Leviticus 9:7 Moses then said to Aaron, "Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, that you may make atonement for yourself and for the people; then make the offering for the people, that you may make atonement for them, just as the LORD has commanded."

NAU 1 Peter 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

And concerning the breakers of the sea, we find the answer in Jonah and in Christ's own commentary upon that prophecy--

Jonah 2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.' 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.

Jonah in the verses above was being punished by God for his refusal to obey Him. And Jesus Himself likens His death and burial to the time Jonah spent in the belly of the whale--

Matthew 12:39 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

But Jesus, as we just saw in Corinthians, had no sin. Therefore, as a sacrificial lamb, He was being punished for the sins of  others.

In summary, the speaker in Psalm 88:7 was being overwhelmed and beaten down by the judgmental wrath of God against sinners. He experienced God's wrath as the crushing weight of myriads of waves beating him down, drowning him.

Verse 7 ends with the word, "Selah". Let us all stop, catch our breaths, pause, and prayerfully consider what it must have been like for our Savior, Jesus Christ, to experience God's wrath as He hung upon the cross for our sins.

1 See "Psalm 32 -- Who are the Righteous?", this blog, August 3rd and 5th, 2010

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Father, my interpretation of this psalm has been the most difficult of all for me to write down. I confess my complete and total inability to represent this most precious of all pictures of the mind of Christ with any skill at all. My words seem to me to be almost a profanity in the presence of Your holiness. I pray, Lord, by Your grace, that You would allow me to continue and to complete it, according to Your will, not my own. If I am at fault, Lord, I pray that You would reveal that to me as well.

Lord, as I was asking You the other day about this Psalm, I heard on the radio the song that has this line in it, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" None of us today, Lord, were there. Yet, You've given us such a picture in this psalm, that by contemplating it in the light of Your Holy Spirit upon our hearts, it's almost as though we were there.

Thank-You for scripture, Lord, all of it, both the Old and the New Testaments. Surely, Lord, You have not left us as orphans.

Thank-You for Your love,
In Jesus' name,
Amen

--to be continued

Psalm 88 -- The Sorrows of Our Lord Jesus Christ -- Interlude before Verse 7

--continued from previous post

NIV Psalm 88:1 A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you.
2 May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength.
5 I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah
8 You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah
11 Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.

7 Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah

Verse 7 above gives the reason for the psalmist's unmitigated sorrow, suffering, and sense of death.

[Please bear in mind as we go through this psalm that we are making an application of the first person voice of the psalmist to a prophetic rendering of the voice of Jesus Christ Himself. My reasons for feeling that it is scriptural to do so are written below.

First, this is the precedent established by many of the New Testament writers. For example, In Acts 2:25-35, the Apostle Peter explains in great detail the prophetic role of David in Psalm 16.

NAU Acts 2:25 "For David says of Him, 'I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. 
26 'THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; 
27 BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. 
28 'YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.' 
29 "Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 
30 "And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, 
31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. 
32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 
33 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. 
34 "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 
35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."'
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified."

All of the capital letters above are quotations from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. (This was a very common Greek version at the time the apostles lived. Our own versions sound very similar, just not word for word.)

Verses 25 through 28 are a quotation from Psalm 16:8-11b. Then in verse 29 above, the Apostle Peter begins to explain why the quotation from Psalm 16, even though written in first person, does not refer to David, the immediate author of the psalm. He gives the very simple reason that the prophecy in it did not come true with regard to David. Therefore, since biblical prophecy always comes true, this prophecy cannot be about David. This is how he proves it.

First, the verses prophesy that the soul, or life, of the speaker will not be left in Hades, the place of death, the grave, nor will the body of the first person speaker rot, or see decay. Next, Peter continues his argument with confidence by saying that very clearly David, the immediate author of the psalm, died (that's well-attested in scripture); furthermore, he was buried, and, if anyone wants to check up on the condition of his body--whether rotted or not--the answer would not be hard to find, because David's tomb was still with them in a well-known location. Therefore--this conclusion is implied rather than directly stated--the prophecy, being the word of God, which never fails--was not about David.

In verse 30, Peter tells his audience that David was in fact a prophet. As a prophet, he knew that God was speaking of one of David's descendants, whom God had sworn to seat on David's throne. Peter, in verse 30 of Acts 2 above, is drawing from a combination of Psalm 132:11, 2 Samuel 7:12f, and Psalm 89:3f. (Note: "f" means "forward"; that is, just keep on reading starting with and continuing from the verse preceding the "f".)

In Acts 2:31 above, Peter reveals that the prophet David, even though using his own first person voice, was in fact looking ahead to one of his descendants, who is Jesus Christ. David had been speaking of Christ's resurrection from the dead, not his own. Peter in this verse from Acts, repeats Psalm 16:10, which he had quoted previously in Acts 2:27, at the same time proclaiming the fact of Christ's spiritual and physical resurrection. That is, Christ in His entire being had been resurrected from the grave.

Peter's great and tremendously wonderful point is that David had never been talking about himself, not even in his own historical context. As a prophet he had always been speaking in these verses from Psalm 16 about one of his own descendants in the flesh. This prophecy, Peter declares, has now been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, who died, was buried, and resurrected. He says in verse 32, "we are all witnesses" of this.

Verse 33 continues the narrative of Jesus Christ in His exaltation and subsequent fulfilling of the promise of God to send forth the Holy Spirit. The phenomena which accompanied the sending of the Holy Spirit, described in Acts 2:1-13, forms the context of Peter's gospel declaration.

But Peter is not yet finished. He continues in verses 34-35 of Acts 2 above, with a quotation from Psalm 110:1--

NAU Psalm 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."

Peter declares in verse 34 that it was not David who ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father, but that the verse from Psalm 110 refers to Jesus Christ.

Then in Acts 2:36, Peter sums up the whole point of his argument--it's all about Christ! The entire point of Peter's talking to the crowd was to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet he used the Old Testament to do so. "...God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified."

Jesus Himself applied Psalm 110:1 to Himself well before Peter understood the argument.

NAU Matthew 22:41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 
42 "What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David." 
43 He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying, 
44 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET "'? 
45 "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?"

Jesus' reasoning runs like this: David is the author of Psalm 110, and the first verse is written in first person. The first LORD is Yahweh, the God of Israel. The second Lord, Adonai, refers to David's personal Lord--his Adonai. Adonai, however, is another word for God Almighty. One God, two different words for Him. Clearly, however, there are two beings referred to. The first one is readily understood as being Israel's national God--Yahweh. But who is the second?

This is the wonderful mystery of Old Testament prophecy that Peter speaks of in 1Peter 1:9-12 and Paul in Colossians 1:26-27. If the second "Lord" of whom David spoke was merely his son according to the flesh, then why would David be calling him Adonai--God? Clearly, he is so much more than David's genealogical son. In other words, Jesus is saying that David's prophecy goes way beyond both David and his "son", if, as the Pharisees apparently had been thinking, this son were thought of as a mere man. In other words, the point of David's prophecy is Christ, not humanity.

Paul gives another example of how the New Testament writers extended the strictly literal interpretation of Old Testament prophecy.

NAU 1 Corinthians 9:9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING." God is not concerned about oxen, is He? 
10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops.

Although the example I just gave is not about Christ, it illustrates the general principle we are discussing--it is entirely scriptural , when considering Old Testament prophecy, to take the highest ground conceivable.

Why am I hammering this point? To answer that, I will give my second reason for giving an application of Psalm 88 as the first person voice of its author, Heman the Ezrahite, speaking prophetically about Jesus Christ. By way of summary, reason one, which has consumed all the writing in this particular blog post so far, is that it is in keeping with scripture to do so. Reason two is that the spiritual benefits are so much greater than a merely literal, historically bound application, as we saw with Paul's example about oxen above.

I am also seeking to hammer the point, because my daily study Bible which I use at home makes not one single reference to the Christ, my Lord, in all the notes it contains on Psalm 88. Not one. The study notes in this Bible of mine were written by a very famous, well-respected preacher and pastor. I am saying that many of us are taught to be too tight in how we allow the Holy Spirit to minister to our hearts as we read certain passages of scripture.

Yes, there is value in considering the trials of the psalmist from the point of view of his enduring faith in God. Yes, there is value in applying some of the psalms to the nation of Israel and to the church today. Yes, there is value in applying many of the psalms to our own lives. But for me, the greatest blessings of all have come as the Holy Spirit has been pleased to open to my heart an application of a psalm such as Psalm 88 to the very person of God's own beloved Son Himself.

Peter and Paul in the verses cited above (Peter speaks of in 1Peter 1:9-12 and Paul in Colossians 1:26-27), express their own wonder and amazement at the revealed mystery of the identity of the person of whom so many prophecies they cite were speaking!

NAU 1 Peter 1:10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 
11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 
12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-- things into which angels long to look.

They were excited to meet this person of whom the prophets had spoken! Do you think God, the author of communication Himself, wants to keep from us this same excitement of first hand discovery?

We today have available to us the learning and wisdom of so many wise and intelligent scholars. By a long shot, I most definitely am not saying that we should ignore these gifts of God to His church. But, I do fear that by relying upon them as extensively as we so often seem to do, that we may be robbing ourselves of the joy of fellowship that is available to us by our spending quiet time alone with just the word of God and His Holy Spirit to apply that word Himself directly to our hearts, that is, without the immediate help/interference of study aids. Study aids are great! But most especially, after the Holy Spirit has had opportunity to fellowship alone with our hearts.

Put it this way, if given the opportunity, would you rather have a conversation with Jesus Christ? Or, would you rather have a conversation with a gifted scholar telling you all about Jesus Christ?

Briefly, there is yet a third reason why I have the personal freedom to apply Psalm 88 as a prophecy of Jesus Christ. Here it is.

My Bible study notes have a chart by Thomas Nelson, Inc., which lists 20 messianic prophecies in the psalms. Neither the chart nor my Bible study notes' author claim that this list is exhaustive, so why should I?

Further, New Testament scripture does not explicitly state that its writers have exhaustively cited all Old Testament passages that may refer to Jesus Christ. However, the New Testament does give indications that its citations may not be exhaustive. 

NAU Luke 24:25 And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

NAU Luke 24:44 Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

The two passages above contain the words of Jesus. The context of both are after His resurrection--the first, on the road to Emmaus, and the second, His appearance to the disciples when they had gathered together and were hiding out in the upper room. From Jesus' words in both passages, we can gather that both these conversations took some time, especially since eating a meal followed the conversation in the first passage and preceded the conversation in the second passage. Yet, neither passage tells us a single detail as to the content of the specific Old Testament passages Jesus used in opening His followers' understanding.

Then, there is the following statement by Jesus to His disciples before His death.

NAU John 16:12 "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 
13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

Was the Holy Spirit poured out just upon the disciples and apostles? No. Was He poured out just upon the theologians? No.

NAU 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

I strongly feel that in centuries past, pilgrims of the Way, such as the famous pilgrim Christian, created by John Bunyan in The Pilgrim's Progress--that Christians generally received more of their discipling and teaching straight from the hand of God by means of the Holy Spirit using the written word of God, the Bible, than by intermediaries claiming authoritarian dictatorship over accurate interpretation and application of God's word. The Roman Catholic Church claimed authority over scripture, and along came Luther to restore biblical freedom to us.

I know my words are very strong, so please take them with a healthy dose of salt. I am exaggerating somewhat for emphasis. However, in some circles of the church and in some scholarly circles, often overlapping, there is such a fear today of Christians misusing the word of God, of Christians falsely claiming to have received a word from God by the Spirit of God, that I fear the proverbial baby is being thrown out with the bath water.

If Jesus had shared this current fear of the misuse of His Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father upon all believers, upon all children of God in Christ, then why would He have given this gift to the church in the first place? Further, I cannot believe that God intended the many blessings of spiritual fellowship with Himself through the Spirit and the word to be applicable to only highly educated scholars and apostles.

I am NOT saying that God gives new scripture today to anyone. That would indeed be heresy. But I am saying that God by His Spirit does reveal afresh, over and over again, the heart of His marvelous Son Jesus Christ, by means of His Spirit directly applying the written word of God, today, to the hearts potentially of all believers.

So, if my heart tells me, prayerfully, gratefully, humbly, that Psalm 88 refers to my most precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the time of His death upon the cross and burial in the tomb, and if that application is in keeping with all of scripture, not violating any specific passage of scripture anywhere, nor adding to it, then I will most gladly believe and trust what my heart is telling me. An alternative belief would be that the absence of any mention of Jesus Christ in my Bible study notes under Psalm 88, does in fact mean that a correlation between Psalm 88 and Jesus Christ would be incorrect. Blessedly, there is at least one saint, now deceased, Robert Hawker, who left writings to show me that the Holy Spirit shed light in his heart concerning Psalm 88 the same way He is shedding light in mine. So, I prefer the Christ-centered application of Psalm 88, rather than any which might leave Him completely out.

Summary of my reasons for being confident in the Lord that Psalm 88 can be understood as a prophecy in first person voice of Jesus Christ:

1. This reading is entirely in keeping with many New Testament examples which apply certain passages of Psalms to Christ.
2. Jesus claims in Luke 24:44 that He is written about in the Psalms.
3. Reading Psalm 88 as the words of Christ leads us to the highest ground of contemplation.
4. Nowhere in the New Testament is it claimed that the Old Testament citations in it, those which are prophetically speaking of Christ, are exhaustive.
5. God said the He would pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh.

NAU Acts 2:17 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;

The Holy Spirit has freedom to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ in scripture to the least of all His saints as well as to the greatest.]

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Heavenly Father, Please forgive me for making things so difficult for myself, for not trusting You more simply, more as a child. I trust You, Lord, that You do what Your word says You do. Forgive me, Lord, for any spirit of contentiousness that may be in me, and I pray that if there be any in me, that You would reveal that to me also. I am so grateful, Lord, for Your gifts to us of Your word, Your Son, and Your Holy Spirit in our hearts, who teaches us all things. Thank You also, Lord, for all preachers and teachers of Your word, especially the one who wrote my Bible's study notes, these men who labor so faithfully to represent You accurately to us, Your flock. They are a great blessing to us.
In Jesus' name,
Christina,
Amen.

--Psalm 88:7f to be continued--