This psalm is altogether of a mournful and desponding character. The author is a sufferer; he is expecting to die; he fears to die; he longs to live; his mind is overwhelmed with gloom which does not seem to be irradiated by one ray of hope or consolation. It is, in this respect, unlike most of the psalms which relate to sickness, to sorrow, to suffering, for in those psalms generally there springs up, in answer to prayer, a gleam of hope - some cheerful view - some sustaining prospect; so that, though a psalm begins in despondency and gloom, it ends with joy and triumph. Compare, among others, Psalm 6:9-10; Psalm 7:17; Psalm 13:6; Psalm 42:8, Psalm 42:11; Psalm 56:11-13; Psalm 59:16; Psalm 69:34, Psalm 69:36. But in this psalm there is no relief; there is no comfort. As the Book of Psalm was designed to be useful in all ages, and to all classes of people, and as such a state of mind as that described in this psalm might occur again and often - it was proper that such a condition of utter despondency, even in a good man, should be described, in order that others might see that such feelings are not necessarily inconsistent with true religion, and do not prove that even such a sufferer is not a child of God. It is probable that this psalm was designed to illustrate what may occur when disease is such as to produce deep mental darkness and sorrow. And the Book of Psalm would have been incomplete for the use of the church, if there had not been at least one such psalm in the collection.
The psalm is said, in the title, to be "A Psalm or Song for (margin, of) the sons of Korah" - combining, in some way unknown to us, as several of the other psalms do, the properties of both a psalm and a song. The phrase, "for the sons of Korah," means here, probably, that it was composed for their use, and not by them, unless "Heman the Ezrahite" was one of their number. On the phrase, "To the chief Musician," see the notes at the title to Psalm 4:1-8. The words, "upon Mahalath Leannoth," are of very uncertain signification. They are rendered by the Septuagint and the Vulgate "for Maeleth, to answer;" by Luther, "to sing, of the weakness of the miserable;" by Prof. Alexander, "concerning afflictive sickness." The word "Mahalath" seems here to be a form of מחלה machăleh, which means properly, "sickness, disease." It is rendered, with a slight variation in the pointing, "disease" in 2-Chronicles 21:15; Exodus 15:26; "infirmity," in Proverbs 18:14; and "sickness" in Exodus 23:25; 1-Kings 8:37; 2-Chronicles 6:28. It does not occur elsewhere, and would be properly rendered here, therefore, "disease, sickness, or infirmity." The Hebrew which is rendered "Leannoth," לענית le‛anoyth, is made up of a preposition (ל l) and a verb. The verb - ענה ‛ânâh - means:
(1) to chant or sing;
(2) to lift up the voice in any way - to begin to speak;
(3) to answer;
(4) to mean to say, to imply.
The verb also has another class of significations;
(a) to bestow labor upon,
(b) to suffer, to be afflicted, and might here refer to such affliction or trouble.
According to the former signification, which is probably the true one here, the allusion would be to something which was said or sung in respect to the sickness referred to; as, for example, a mournful melody composed for the occasion; and the purpose would be to express the feelings experienced in sickness. According to the other signification it would refer to affliction, and would be little more than a repetition of the idea implied in the word Mahalath. It seems to me, therefore, that there is a reference in the word "Leannoth" to something which was said or sung on that occasion; or to something which might be properly said or sung in reference to sickness. It is difficult to translate the phrase, but it might be somewhat literally rendered, "concerning sickness - to be said or sung;" that is, in reference to it. The word Maschil (see the notes at the title to Psalm 32:1-11) conveys the idea that it is a didactic or instructive psalm - suggesting appropriate thoughts for such a season. The psalm is ascribed to "Heman the Ezrahite." The name Heman occurs in 1-Kings 4:31; 1-Chronicles 2:6; 1-Chronicles 6:33; 1-Chronicles 15:17, 1-Chronicles 15:19; 1-Chronicles 16:42; 1-Chronicles 25:1, 1-Chronicles 25:4-6; 2-Chronicles 5:12; 2-Chronicles 29:14; 2-Chronicles 35:15 - usually in connection with Ethan, as among those whom David placed over the music in the services of the sanctuary.
Nothing is known of the occasion on which the psalm was composed, except, as is probably indicated in the title, that it was in a time of sickness; and from the psalm itself we find that it was when the mind was enveloped in impenetrable darkness, with no comfort.
The psalm consists of two parts:
I. A description of the sick man's suffering, Psalm 88:1-9. His soul was full of troubles, and he drew near to the grave, Psalm 88:3; he was, as it were, already dead, and like those laid in the deep grave, whom God had forgotten, Psalm 88:4-6; the wrath of God lay heavily on him, and all his waves went over him, Psalm 88:7; God had put away all his friends from him, and had left him to suffer alone, Psalm 88:8; his eye mourned by reason of his affliction, and he cried daily to God, Psalm 88:9.
II. His prayer for mercy and deliverance, Psalm 88:10-18. The reasons for the earnestness of the prayer, or the grounds of petition are,
(a) that the dead could not praise God, or see the wonders of his hand, Psalm 88:10-12;
(b) that the faithfulness and loving-kindness of God could not be shown in the grave, Psalm 88:11;
(c) that his troubles were deep and overwhelming, for God had cast off his soul, and had hid his face from him; he had been long afflicted; he was distracted with the terrors of God; the fierce wrath of God went over him; lover and friend and acquaintance had been put far from him, Psalm 88:13-18.

The earnest prayer of a person in deep distress, abandoned by his friends and neighbors, and apparently forsaken of God, vv. 1-18.
Perhaps the title of this Psalm, which is difficult enough, might be thus translated: "A Poem to be sung to the conqueror, by the sons of Korah, responsively, in behalf of a distressed person; to give instruction to Heman the Ezrahite." Kennicott says this Psalm has three titles, but the last only belongs to it; and supposes it to be the prayer of a person shut up in a separate house, because of the leprosy, who seems to have been in the last stages of that distemper; this disease, under the Mosaic dispensation, being supposed to come from the immediate stroke of God. Calmet supposes it to refer to the captivity; the Israelitish nation being represented here under the figure of a person greatly afflicted through the whole course of his life. By some Heman is supposed to have been the author; but who he was is not easy to be determined. Heman and Ethan whose names are separately prefixed to this and the following Psalm, are mentioned as the grandsons of Judah by his daughter-in-law Tamar, 1-Chronicles 2:6, for they were the sons of Zerah, his immediate son by the above. "And Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bare him Pharez and Zerah," 1-Chronicles 2:4. "And the sons of Zerah Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara, (or Darda)," 1-Chronicles 2:6. If these were the same persons mentioned 1-Kings 4:31, they were eminent in wisdom; for it is there said that Solomon's wisdom "excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol," 1-Kings 4:30, 1-Kings 4:31. Probably Zerah was also called Mahol. If the Psalm in question were written by these men, they are the oldest poetical compositions extant; and the most ancient part of Divine revelation, as these persons lived at least one hundred and seventy years before Moses. This may be true of the seventy-eighth Psalm; but certainly not of the following, as it speaks of transactions that took place long afterwards, at least as late as the days of David, who is particularly mentioned in it. Were we sure of Heman as the author, there would be no difficulty in applying the whole of the Psalm to the state of the Hebrews in Egypt, persecuted and oppressed by Pharaoh. But to seek or labor to reconcile matters contained in the titles to the Psalm, is treating them with too much respect, as many of them are wrongly placed, and none of them Divinely inspired.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 88
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. Of the word "maalath", See Gill on Psalm 53:1. "Leannoth" signifies "to answer". Perhaps this song was to be sung alternately, or by responses. Both words are thought by some, as Aben Ezra, to be the beginning of a song, to the tune of which this was set; and by others a musical instrument, on which it was sung; a hollow one, as the word "maalath" seems to signify, a wind instrument: others are of opinion that they intend the subject matter of the psalm, and render them, "concerning the disease to afflict", or "the afflicting disease" (a); either a bodily one, which threatened with death, under which the psalmist now was; or a soul disorder, being under desertions, and a sense of divine wrath, which were very afflicting. The psalm is called "Maschil", which may be translated "causing to understand"; it being instructive to persons in a like case to apply to God, as he did; and if it respects Christ, it teaches many things concerning him, his sorrows and his sufferings: the author of it is said to be Heman the Ezrahite; the Targum calls him Heman the native, and the Septuagint render it Heman the Israelite, and Arama says this is Abraham. There were two of this name, one the son of Zerah, the son of Judah, and so might be called the Zerahite, and with the addition of a letter the Ezrahite; he is mentioned along with others as famous for wisdom, 1-Chronicles 2:6, but this man seems to be too early to be the penman of this psalm: though Dr. Lightfoot (b) is of opinion that this psalm was penned by this Heman many years before the birth of Moses; which and the following psalm are the oldest pieces of writing the world has to show, being written by two men who felt and groaned under the bondage and affliction of Egypt, which Heman here deplores, and therefore entitles his elegy "Maalath Leannoth, concerning sickness by affliction"; and accordingly he and his brethren are called the sons of Mahali, 1-Kings 4:31. There was another Heman, who was both a singer in David's time, and the king's seer, who seems most likely to be the person, 1-Chronicles 6:33, he was when he wrote this psalm under sore temptations, desertions, and dejections, though not in downright despair; there is but one comfortable clause in it, and that is the first of it; many interpreters, both ancient and modern, think he is to be considered throughout as a type of Christ, with whom everything in it more exactly agrees than with anyone man else. The Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it of the people of Israel in captivity; and so the Syriac version entitles it,
"concerning the people that were in Babylon;''
but a single person only is designed throughout. Spinosa (d) affirms, from the testimony of Philo the Jew, that this psalm was published when King Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon, and the following psalm when he was released: but this is not to be found in the true Philo, but in Pseudo-Philo (d).

(Psalm 88:1-9) The psalmist pours out his soul to God in lamentation.
(Psalm 88:10-18) He wrestles by faith, in his prayer to God for comfort.

Plaintive Prayer of a Patient Sufferer Like Job
Psalm 88 is as gloomy as Psalm 87:1-7 is cheerful; they stand near one another as contrasts. Not Ps 77, as the old expositors answer to the question quaenam ode omnium tristissima, but this Psalm 88 is the darkest, gloomiest, of all the plaintive Psalm; for it is true the name "God of my salvation," with which the praying one calls upon God, and his praying itself, show that the spark of faith within him is not utterly extinguished; but as to the rest, it is all one pouring forth of deep lament in the midst of the severest conflict of temptation in the presence of death, the gloom of melancholy does not brighten up to become a hope, the Psalm dies away in Job-like lamentation. Herein we discern echoes of the Korahitic Psalm 42:1-11 and of Davidic Psalm: compare Psalm 88:3 with Psalm 18:7; Psalm 88:5 with Psalm 28:1; Psalm 88:6 with Psalm 31:23; Psalm 88:18 with Psalm 22:17.; v. 19 (although differently applied) with Psalm 31:12; and more particularly the questions in Psalm 88:11-13 with Psalm 6:6, of which they are as it were only the amplification. But these Psalm-echoes are outweighed by the still more striking points of contact with the Book of Job, both as regards linguistic usage (דּאב, Psalm 88:10, Job 14:14; רפאים, Psalm 88:11, Job 26:5; אבדּון, Psalm 88:12, Job 26:6; Job 28:22; נער, Psalm 88:16, Job 33:25; Job 36:14; אמים, Psalm 88:16, Job 20:25; בּעוּתים, Psalm 88:17, Job 6:4) and single thoughts (cf. Psalm 88:5 with Job 14:10; Psalm 88:9 with Job 30:10; v. 19 with Job 17:9; Job 19:14), and also the suffering condition of the poet and the whole manner in which this finds expression. For the poet finds himself in the midst of the same temptation as Job not merely so far as his mind and spirit are concerned; but his outward affliction is, according to the tenor of his complaints, the same, viz., the leprosy (Psalm 88:9), which, the disposition to which being born with him, has been his inheritance from his youth up (Psalm 88:16). Now, since the Book of Job is a Chokma-work of the Salomonic age, and the two Ezrahites belonged to the wise men of the first rank at the court of Solomon (1-Kings 4:31), it is natural to suppose that the Book of Job has sprung out of this very Chokma-company, and that perhaps this very Heman the Ezrahite who is the author of Psalm 88 has made a passage of his own life, suffering, and conflict of soul, a subject of dramatic treatment.
The inscription of the Psalm runs: A Psalm-song by the Korahites; to the Precentor, to be recited (lit., to be pressed down, not after Isaiah 27:2 : to be sung, which expresses nothing, nor: to be sung alternatingly, which is contrary to the character of the Psalm) after a sad manner (cf. Psalm 53:1) with muffled voice, a meditation by Heman the Ezrahite. This is a double inscription, the two halves of which are contradictory. The bare להימן side by side with לבני־קרח would be perfectly in order, since the precentor Heman is a Korahite according to 1-Chronicles 6:33-38; but חימן האזרחי is the name of one of the four great Israelitish sages in 1-Kings 4:31, who, according to 1-Chronicles 2:6, is a direct descendant of Zerah, and therefore is not of the tribe of Levi, but of Judah. The suppositions that Heman the Korahite had been adopted into the family of Zerah, or that Heman the Ezrahite had been admitted among the Levites, are miserable attempts to get over the difficulty. At the head of the Psalm there stand two different statements respecting its origin side by side, which are irreconcilable. The assumption that the title of the Psalm originally was either merely שׁיר מזמור לבני־קרח, or merely למנצח וגו, is warranted by the fact that only in this one Psalm למנצח does not occupy the first place in the inscriptions. But which of the two statements is the more reliable one? Most assuredly the latter; for שׁיר מזמור לבני־קרח is only a recurrent repetition of the inscription of Psalm 87:1-7. The second statement, on the other hand, by its precise designation of the melody, and by the designation of the author, which corresponds to the Psalm that follows, gives evidence of its antiquity and its historical character.