Psalms 88:7

7 Your anger lies heavy on me, and I am crushed beneath its waves.

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 I am abandoned among the dead; I am like the slain lying in their graves, those you have forgotten completely, who are beyond your help.
6 You have thrown me into the depths of the tomb, into the darkest and deepest pit.
7 Your anger lies heavy on me, and I am crushed beneath its waves.
8 You have caused my friends to abandon me; you have made me repulsive to them. I am closed in and cannot escape;
9 my eyes are weak from suffering. Lord, every day I call to you and lift my hands to you in prayer.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.