Putting Away My Acquaintance - Psalms 88:8

In Psalms chapter eighty eight the Psalmist said to Jehovah God, “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Your wrath lies hard upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah”, and in chapter eighty eight and verse eight of Psalms the Psalmist said, “you have put away my acquaintance far from me” where we read,

You have put away my acquaintance far from me;

you have made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

The verse begins, “You have put away my acquaintance far from me;” The Psalmist began with the words, “you have put away” or “you, Jehovah God, have made distant and removed” “my acquaintance” which means “my, the Psalmist's, people who knew him” “far from me” or “separate and apart from me, the Psalmist”. The Psalmist said Jehovah God made people who were familiar with him and friends to be distant from him.

The verse continues, “you have made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.” The Psalmist added the words, “you have made me” or “you, Jehovah God, have appointed, fixed, set and constituted me, the Psalmist” “an abomination” which means “a disgusting thing, wicked and unclean” “unto them” or “to the Psalmist's friends and people who were familiar with him”: “I am shut up” which means “I, the Psalmist, exist as restricted, restrained, withheld, kept back and forbidden”, “and I cannot come forth” or “and I, the Psalmist, am unable to proceed and go forth”. The Psalmist said Jehovah God caused him to be disgusting and wicked to people who were his friends and familiar with him, and he considered himself restricted, restrained and withheld so that he was unable to proceed.

When we consider the words in this verse, we see how the Psalmist believed Jehovah God separated him from his friends and people who were familiar with him. He was like a wicked person and disgusting to them, and was restricted and restrained in his ability to go on with his life. God was aware of the truth in the Psalmist's life, and no doubt He knew how the Psalmist felt. God knows us, and He loves us. He never promised us that we would not endure hardships and alienation, however, He provided His Son Jesus as the “Savior and Lord” of the world to comfort us in our time of need. Jesus Himself suffered difficulties and was alienated from people who were familiar with Him. He was crucified for our sins, and when we believe and trust in Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us eternal life and be with us when troubles, difficulties and estrangement occur. Let us give praise, honor and glory to Jehovah God and His Son Jesus for providing for us even we feel isolated, abandoned and alone.

Next time the Psalmist says, “my eye mourns by reason of affliction”, 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".