| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| 1 A Song, a Psalm for the sons of Korah. To the chief Musician. Upon Mahalath Leannoth. An instruction. Of Heman the Ezrahite. Jehovah, God of my salvation, I have cried by day and in the night before thee. |
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| 2 Let my prayer come before thee; incline thine ear unto my cry. |
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| 3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draweth nigh to Sheol. |
Is full of troubles – Rendered "evil" in "I create evil." (Isa. 45:7) A125
Nigh unto the grave – Sheol, oblivion, death, not torment. E365
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| 4 I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength: |
I am counted – By my enemies; but none will be in this class whose hearts are in the attitude of the Psalmist. R2338:2
The writer is not declaring his own opinion, but merely saying how he is regarded by others. R2338:2
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| 5 Prostrate among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave; whom thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from thy hand. |
Lie in the grave – Qebar, tomb, place of interment. E348
Rememberest no more – Disesteemed by others as one unworthy of any future life, remanded to the Second Death. R2338:2
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| 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the deeps. |
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| 7 Thy fury lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. |
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| 8 Thou hast put my familiar friends far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth. |
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| 9 Mine eye consumeth by reason of affliction. Upon thee, Jehovah, have I called every day; I have stretched out my hands unto thee. |
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| 10 Wilt thou do wonders to the dead? shall the shades arise and praise thee? Selah. |
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| 11 Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave? thy faithfulness in Destruction? |
Declared in the grave – There must be a resurrection before they can give God thanks. HG121:5
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| 12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? |
Land of forgetfulness – Not pain, suffering or remorse. R2599:2
Where we can neither help nor hinder, do good or do harm. SM28:T
A condition of extinction. CR209:1*
Thus Lazarus and others were silent about their experiences in hades. R822:6*
"There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, in the grave whither thou goest." (Eccl. 9:10) R2599:2
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| 13 But as for me, Jehovah, I cry unto thee, and in the morning my prayer cometh before thee. |
In the morning – Of the resurrection, the Millennium. A9; E359
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| 14 Why, O Jehovah, castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? |
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| 15 I am afflicted and expiring from my youth up; I suffer thy terrors, and I am distracted. |
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| 16 Thy fierce anger hath gone over me; thy terrors have brought me to nought: |
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| 17 They have surrounded me all the day like water; they have compassed me about together. |
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| 18 Lover and associate hast thou put far from me: my familiar friends are darkness. |
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