“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.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 88:8 Mean?
The psalmist attributes his isolation directly to God: "Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me." Not circumstances, not bad luck, not social rejection — God did this. God moved his friends away. God made him repulsive to the people who knew him. The suffering is relational, and the cause is divine.
The phrase "made me an abomination unto them" is staggering. The word for abomination (to'evah) is one of the strongest words in Hebrew — it describes something detestable, revolting, fundamentally repugnant. Heman doesn't say his friends find him awkward or uncomfortable. He says God has made him an abomination to them. The rejection isn't social distance — it's visceral revulsion.
"I am shut up, and I cannot come forth" describes confinement — whether literal imprisonment or the metaphorical imprisonment of illness, disability, or social exile. The psalmist is trapped and cannot escape. The combination of isolation, revulsion, and confinement creates a picture of total abandonment.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you ever felt that God Himself was the cause of your isolation?
- 2.What does it mean that God includes accusations against Himself in His own Scripture?
- 3.Have you experienced the kind of rejection that makes people physically back away?
- 4.What does it say about faith that Heman is still talking to God in this extremity?
Devotional
God put his friends away. God made him repulsive to the people who knew him. God shut him in so he couldn't get out. Heman doesn't blame his friends or his circumstances. He blames God. And God lets the accusation stand in His own holy book.
This is the permission structure of Psalm 88: you can say this to God. You can tell God that He is the reason you're isolated, that He is the cause of your abandonment, that He has made you someone people can't bear to be near. And God doesn't strike you for saying it. He includes it in Scripture.
The isolation described here is total. Not one friend has remained. Not one acquaintance can tolerate his presence. He is an abomination — the strongest word possible — to everyone who knew him. If you've ever experienced the kind of sickness, crisis, or shame that makes people physically back away from you, this verse sees you.
The prison imagery — "shut up, and I cannot come forth" — adds despair to isolation. He's not just alone; he's trapped alone. He can't go to people; they won't come to him. There's no exit from the situation and no visitors within it.
And yet: this is a prayer. He's speaking to God. Even in this extremity, he's addressing Someone. The relationship with God is the last thing standing. Everything else has been stripped away, and the conversation with God continues.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me,.... His familiar friends, who were well known to him, and he to them:…
Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me - The same ground of complaint, or expression of the depth of…
It should seem, by the titles of this and the following psalm, that Heman was the penman of the one and Ethan of the…
Like Job he is deserted even by his familiar friends (not merely acquaintance, as A.V.), and this is due to the act of…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture