Psalm 88:5

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.

Psalm 88:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 88:5

Free among the dead
If he was a freeman, it was only among the dead, not among the living; if he was free of any city, it was of the city of the dead; he looked upon himself as a dead man, as one belonging to the state of the dead, who are free from all relations, and from all business and labour, and removed from all company and society; he thought himself quite neglected, of whom there was no more care and notice taken than of a dead man:

like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more;
in a providential way, as in life, to clothe them, and feed them, and protect and preserve them; in which sense God is said to be mindful of men, ( Psalms 8:4 ) , who when dead have no need to be minded, and remembered in such a manner; otherwise God does remember the dead, and takes care of their dust, and will raise them again; and especially he remembers his own people, those that sleep in Jesus, who will be thought of in the resurrection morn, and will be raised first, and brought with Christ; see ( Job 14:13 Job 14:14 ) ,

and they are cut off from thy hand;
that is, the slain that lie in the grave, the dead that are buried there; these are cut off from the hand of Providence, they needing no supplies from thence as in the time of life. The Targum is,

``and they are separated from the face of thy majesty.''

or "they are cut off by thine hand" ^F9; by the immediate hand of God, in a judicial way; so Christ in his death was like one of these, he was cut off in a judicial way, not for his own sins, but for the transgressions of his people, ( Isaiah 53:8 ) ( Daniel 9:26 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 (Kdym) "manu tua", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Amama.

Psalm 88:5 In-Context

3 So many troubles have fallen on me that I am close to death.

4 I am like all others who are about to die; all my strength is gone.

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.