Psalms 88:8 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Bible Comments

Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me. So Job 19:13; Psalms 27:10; Psalms 31:11; Psalms 38:11; Psalms 69:8. Prophetical of Messiah disbelieved by His own brethren, and in His betrayal and crucifixion forsaken by all his disciples (John 1:11; John 7:5; John 16:32).

Thou hast made me an abomination unto them - literally, 'abominations,' as if I were one great mass of abominations (Genesis 46:34; Genesis 43:32). As Israel was an abomination to the Egyptians, so Messiah, the antitypical Israel, was to the world.

I am shut up, and I cannot come forth - (Lamentations 3:7.) Also cf. the words of Jeremiah, the type, "I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord." Messiah was God the Father's prisoner for man's imputed sins. He could not come forth, because for our sakes He would not. Hengstenberg makes it, I am shut up by public reproach, which keeps me in the house like a prisoner; I stir not from the door; as Job 31:34. I prefer understanding the reference more generally. Christ was so shut up to suffering, abandonment, and death that there was no escape for Him consistent with man's salvation.

Psalms 88:8

8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.