Afflicted and Ready to Die - Psalms 88:15

In Psalms eighty eight the Psalmist asked Jehovah God, “LORD, why cast you off my soul? why hide you your face from me?”, and in chapter eighty eight and verse fifteen of Psalms the Psalmist said, “I am afflicted and ready to die” where we read,

I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer your terrors I am distracted.

The verse begins, “I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up:” The Psalmist began with the words, “I am afflicted” or “I, the Psalmist, exist as poor, humble and wretched” “and ready to die” which means “and prepared to expire, perish, give up the ghost and as dead” “from my youth up” or “separate and apart from my, the Psalmist's, boyhood or childhood forward”. The Psalmist said he existed as poor, wretched and on the brink of dying from the time of his childhood.

The verse goes on to say, “while I suffer your terrors I am distracted.” The Psalmist continued with the words, “while I suffer your terrors” or “during the time I, the Psalmist, bear up, carry, sustain and endure your, Jehovah God's, dreads, frights and fears” “I am distracted” which means “I, the Psalmist, exist as perplexed”. The Psalmist said he was perplexed during the time he was sustaining the dreads, frights and fears of Jehovah God.

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we see how the Psalmist acknowledged the wretched trouble that caused him to believe and he was prepared to die from childhood. He endured horrific fears, and they caused him to be “distracted” and perplexed. Sometimes we may feel overwhelmed by all the difficulties we endure, but we must keep in mind that Jehovah God sent His Only Son Jesus into the world to “suffer” and die on the cross for our sins. We have an opportunity to believe and trust in Him and receive God's forgiveness and promise of eternal life. (See John 3:16) God loves us, and He knows our troubles. He offers us His salvation, and we will enjoy Him for all eternity when we simply believe.

Next time the Psalmist says, “your fierce wrath goes over me”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".