Psalms 88:7

7 Thy wrath lies heavy upon me, and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves. [Selah]

Psalms 88:7 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 88:7

The wrath lieth hard upon me
So some good men apprehend, when they are under afflictive dispensations of Providence, and are left of God, and have not his immediate presence, and the discoveries of his love; though fury is not in him, nor does any wrath in reality fall upon them, only it seems so to them; see ( Psalms 38:1 Psalms 38:2 ) ( Lamentations 3:1 ) , but the wrath of God did really lie with all the effects of it upon Christ, as the surety of his people, when he was made sin, and a curse for them; see ( Psalms 89:38 ) ,

and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves;
the afflictions of God's people are compared to waves and billows of the sea, which are many, and come one upon the back of another, and threaten to overwhelm and sink; see ( Psalms 42:7 ) and so the sufferings of Christ are signified by waters coming into him, and floods overflowing him; and hence they are called a baptism, ( Psalms 69:1 Psalms 69:2 ) ( Luke 12:50 ) , and these were brought upon him by the Lord; he spared him not; he laid the whole chastisement, all the punishment due to the sins of his people, on him; he caused every wave to come upon him, and him to endure all sorrows and sufferings the law and justice of God could require.

Selah. (See Gill on Psalms 3:2).

Psalms 88:7 In-Context

5 like one forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom thou dost remember no more, for they are cut off from thy hand.

6 Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.

7 Thy wrath lies heavy upon me, and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves. [Selah]

8 Thou hast caused my companions to shun me; thou hast made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

9 my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon thee, O LORD; I spread out my hands to thee.