The darkness of Psalm 88
Why a psalm of the faithful ends in darkness without a turn to praise.
Psalm 88:1-18
1Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.
2Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry.
3For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.
4I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help,
5set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand.
6You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
7Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves.
8You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can’t escape.
9My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you.
10Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and praise you?
11Is your loving kindness declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in Destruction?
12Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13But to you, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you.
14Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?
15I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
16Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.
17They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me.
18You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
Rashi reads “on Mahalath Leannoth” as concerning one sick with love and afflicted. She is afflicted with the pains of exile.
Rashi (R. Solomon ben Isaac), Rashi on Psalms 88 - The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg (served by Sefaria) — Rashi on Psalm 88:1 (the title, 'on Mahalath Leannoth')
Patristic
Augustine calls us to hear the voice of Christ singing before us in prophecy. He says Christ’s own choir should respond to that voice either in imitation or in thanksgiving.
Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Book of Psalms (trans. J. E. Tweed), in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ser. 1, vol. 8 — Exposition on Psalm 88 (LXX 87), section 2
Catholic
Haydock’s comment gives “misery” as the sense of the verse, noting the Hebrew reads “darkness.” It presents the speaker as saying God permitted his friends to abandon him and exposed him to disgrace.
George Leo Haydock, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary (1859), on Psalm 88:19 (bibliaplus.org edition) — Comment on Ps 88:19 (Vulgate Ps 87:19)
Orthodox
No sourced position found. Searched the CCEL ANF/NPNF texts already fetched for a PD English exposition of Psalm 88 from the Eastern fathers - none (Theodoret and Cassiodorus in English are modern, copyrighted); pravoslavieto.com Philaret Longer Catechism has no exposition of the psalm; archive.org PD English scans - none found.
Reformed / Protestant
Matthew Henry describes Psalm 88 as a lamentation, one of the most melancholy psalms. It does not conclude, as melancholy psalms usually do, with even a hint of comfort or joy; from first to last, it is mourning and woe.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) (CCEL) — Introduction to Psalm 88
Evangelical
John Wesley calls Psalm 88 the most melancholy of all the psalms, all lamentation, mourning, and woe. He identifies the psalmist’s pressure of spirit in verses 1–9, humble pleadings with God in verses 10–14, and a further declaration of affliction in verses 15–18.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament - Notes on the Book of Psalms (Wesley Center Online text) — Introduction to Psalm 88