Psalm 88 Poetry

Back to Psalm 88.

Performed Readings

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Poetic Features

The primordial elements

Chaos in Genesis 1

In Psalm 88, the psalmist is trying to find words to express his pain, and many of the words he chooses are words that express chaos and order.

Chaos and order were well known to the ancient Israelites. The whole story of the Bible begins with a picture of chaos, the chaos before the order of creation.

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃ וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֨הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." Gen 1:1-2 (NLT).

These primordial elements had existed before God started to put order in the universe and create life: earth, darkness and (deep) waters (=ׁתְּהוֹם, which in the Hebrew Bible stands for (a) the primordial ocean (b) underground water). This is the picture of chaos - darkness and deep, wild waters.

Chaos in Psalm 88

The psalmist takes this imagery of chaos and describes his own chaos, as if he himself is sinking in the deep, wild waters of Genesis 1:

• v. 5- to the Pit (בוֹר)
• v. 7- in the lowest pit (בוֹר תַּחְתִּיּוֹת)
• v. 7- in dark places (מַחֲשַׁכִּים)
• v. 7- in the watery depths (מְצֹלוֹת)
• v. 8- afflicted by your waves (מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ)
• v. 13- in the dark region (חֹשֶׁךְ)
• v. 13- in the land of oblivion (אֶרֶץ)
• v. 18- like water (מַיִם)
• v. 19- distress (literally "darkness"; מַחְשָׁךְ)

The psalmist, throughout almost the entire psalm, is passive, either subject to YHWH's afflictions or being avoided by the society and considered dead. It is therefore not the psalmist's choice to have these elements in his vicinity, them being forced on him by God. As someone who is (in the poetic metaphorical sense) in the Underworld, he is also surrounded by these elements there.

The primordial elements represent the chaotic nature of the universe prior to creation. The poetics of the psalm portray them as the sole environment of the psalmist, symbolizing the chaos his life has become, having lost his social network, having lost control over his routine, passively being passed from the hands of one of YHWH's agents to the other.

The Message of Psalm 88

This picture of chaos reveals the ultimate question of the message of Ps 88. Many have said that this psalm is all about complete darkness, and chaos. As one scholar put it, “This Psalm stands alone in all the Psalter for the unrelieved gloom, the hopeless sorrow of its tone. Even the very saddest of the other psalms admit some variations of key, some strains of hopefulness; here, in Psalm 88, only all is darkness to the end."

But is that true? Is that the message of Ps 88? Only all is darkness to the end?

At first glance, it seems so. Line after line the psalmist laments his pain, and not just with words about dark watery chaos.

• v. 4- My life has reached Sheol.
• v. 5- [I have gone] down to the Pit.
• v. 6- [I am] among the dead.
• v. 6- [I am] just like the slain who are lying in the tomb.
• v. 6- [I am] cut off.
• v. 7- You have put me in the lowest pit.
• v. 9- You have made me shut in, so that I cannot get out.
• v. 16- I have been afflicted and close to death.
• v. 16- I... keep being torn apart.
• v. 19- You have caused all my friends and companions to shun me.

Crying out in Chaos and Reaching for Order

So the psalmist feels surrounded and overwhelmed by this chaos and darkness. But look at how he cries out to YHWH from this darkness.

• v. 2- YHWH, God of my salvation, I have been crying out day and night before you.
• v. 10b- I have been calling to you, YHWH, every day.
• v. 14- ...I have been crying out to you for help, YHWH, and my prayer will keep welcoming you in the morning.

Genesis 1 began with a picture of dark watery chaos. But the story does not end there. Remember what happened next:

"Then God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day." Gen 1:3-5 (NLT)

Order came out of the chaos. That order came in the form of light out of darkness, day and night, evening and morning.

In the same way, the psalmist is sinking in the watery chaos of Gen 1:2, but then cries out to God and reaches for the order of Gen 1:3-5:

• v. 2- YHWH, God of my salvation, I have been crying out day and night before you.
• v. 10b- I have been calling to you, YHWH, every day.
• v. 14- ...I have been crying out to you for help, YHWH, and my prayer will keep welcoming you in the morning.

This order of day and night symbolizes the psalmist's attempt to find some order and reason in his life. His only attempt to do something is in his routine prayers. As he sinks down into the dark, wild waters of suffering and chaos, all he can do is cling to the order of day and night, evening and morning, and cry out to YHWH.

From despair to submission

Commitment of v. 14

The three verses that speak of night, day, and morning reveal a the progression from "day and night" (v. 2) to the final "morning" (v. 14b). This final mention of the morning might contain a little hidden light in the darkness of Ps 88. In these three verses, all the verbs look back at something in the past:

• v. 2- I have been crying out (צָעַ֖קְתִּי)
• v. 10b- I have been calling to you (קְרָאתִ֣יךָ)
• v. 10c- I have been spreading out my hands (שִׁטַּ֖חְתִּי)
• v. 14a- I have been crying out to you (שִׁוַּ֑עְתִּי)

But suddenly, for the first time, there is a verb that looks forward!

• v. 14b- my prayer will keep welcoming you (תְקַדְּמֶֽךָּ) in the morning

In the midst of his darkness, the psalmist has somehow been able to not just look to his past and present darkness, but to look to the future, with a resolute commitment to continue to bring his prayer, morning by morning, to YHWH. He still doesn't know why he suffers or how long he will suffer, but he will rise up the next morning and his prayer will not stop welcoming YHWH.

Chiasm of vv. 7-19

Now this climactic moment of commitment is actually part of an intricate poetic progression. Close attention to the text shows a symmetrical chiastic structure all the way from vv. 7-19.

• A sections
  • v. 7, 19- dark places (בְּ֝מַחֲשַׁכִּ֗ים) and darkness(=distress; מֵחֹשֶׁךְ)
  • v. 8, 17, 18- on me, over me, and on me (עָלַי)
  • v. 9, 19- You have caused ... to shun me (הִרְחַקְתָּ)
  • v. 9, 19- my acquaintances (מְיֻדָּעַי)
• B sections
  • v. 10a, 16- misery (עֹ֥נִי) and afflicted (עָ֘נִ֤י)
  • v. 10a, 15b, 16a- repetition of the sound ni (נִי)
• C sections
  • v. 10b, 10c, 14a- I have been calling to you (קְרָאתִ֣יךָ), I have been spreading out (שִׁטַּ֖חְתִּי) and I have been crying out (שִׁוַּ֑עְתִּי)
  • v. 10b, 14a- YHWH (יְהוָה)
  • v. 10b, 14b- every day (בְּכָל־י֑וֹם) and in the morning (וּ֝בַבֹּ֗קֶר)
  • v. 10c, 14a- to you (אֵלֶיךָ)

Turning point of vv. 11-13

Altogether this creates a chiastic structure pointing to the central section of vv. 11-13, which has three parallel rhetorical questions, all beginning with the Hebrew interrogative ה, and is also enclosed by the word wonders (פלא), at the beginning and end.

Very often in Hebrew poetry, the center of a chiasm represents a key moment, a turning point of some kind… and sure enough, at least two features make these verses a turning point, preparing the way for the renewed commitment of v. 14.

Eyes off of himself

We can see the first feature by looking at how often the psalmist, in his suffering, focuses on himself. In almost every verse of the psalm the psalmist speaks about himself.

But notice that in vv. 11-13, not even once does the psalmist focus on himself. All his focus is on YHWH and his wonders, his faithful love, and his faithfulness and on the dead and the tomb but at least not on himself.

Eyes off of death

This brings us to the second feature making these verses a turning point. Up to this point, words about death and darkness have dominated the psalm. And words about YHWH, light, and goodness, are absent, at least until vv. 11-13.

Not only has the psalmist succeeded, finally, in taking his eyes off himself, he has also succeeded in speaking of YHWH and his wonders, his love, his faithfulness. This creates a crescendo of tension between YHWH, who is the source of life, and death; between bright words about faithful love and dark words about death and the tomb.

Before these verses, death and darkness were everywhere. But when the psalmist succeeds just in saying out loud “wonders, faithful love, faithfulness, righteousness”, even while he laments, it seems to shift the balance, which leads to the beautiful words "my prayer will keep welcoming you, in the morning" (v. 14).

And from this point on, his lament changes. It does continue, but it is no longer dominated by the fear of death. There are no more words about death.

קבר to בקר

The whole section of contrasting terms is concluded by בֹּקֶר (morning) in v. 14, a prominent metathesis of קֶבֶר (the tomb) in v. 12 (see image to the right).

Conclusion

So is it true that only all is darkness… to the end?

Yes. It is true. Ps 88 does tell us that truly, sometimes only all is darkness until the end. There is no healing. God does not answer. The suffering does not end. To say otherwise dishonors this psalm, with all its raw pain, from the anguished cry of the first verse all the way to the dark loneliness of the last verse.

And yet perhaps the true message of Ps 88 is not just that only all is darkness to the end, but that WHEN only all is darkness to the end, there is a choice:

I have been calling to you (v. 10a)

I have been spreading out my hands to you (v. 10b)

I have been crying out to you (v. 14a)

Even when there is no healing, even when there is no answer, even when the suffering does not end, there is always a choice. To YHWH, or away from him? And the psalmist chooses to keep coming to him, crying out to him with all his pain, clinging to the order of day and night, remembering the Lords wonders and faithful love, and choosing to keep welcoming the LORD with his prayer, every morning.

And for the one who makes that choice, yes, he continues in his darkness, but it might become a darkness no longer dominated by the fear of death.

Bibliography

Neale, J.M., and Richard Frederick Littledale. 1871. A Commentary on the Psalms: From Primitive and Mediaeval Writers; and from the Various Office-Books and Hymns of the Roman, Mazarabic, Ambrosian, Gallican, Greek, Coptic, Armenian, and Syrian Rites. Vol. 3. London: Masters.