“Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 88:9 Mean?
"Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee." The psalmist's eyes are wasting from grief, he has called on God DAILY, and his hands are stretched out in supplication — the posture of desperate prayer. Three physical realities: eyes mourning, voice calling daily, hands extended. The entire body is engaged in unanswered prayer.
The phrase "called daily" (qeratiyka bekol yom — I have called You every day) emphasizes the persistence: this isn't one prayer. It's daily prayer. The calling hasn't stopped. The discipline hasn't broken despite the silence. Every day — the same cry, the same God, the same silence. And still: he calls.
The "stretched out my hands" (shittachti eleka kappai — I have spread out to You my palms) is the prayer posture of total vulnerability: open palms, extended arms, the body arranged in maximum openness. Nothing is held back. Nothing is hidden. Nothing is clenched. The hands that could be fists are instead open palms, reaching toward a God who hasn't answered.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you still calling daily — even when the silence continues?
- 2.What does persisting in prayer without answers teach about the nature of faith?
- 3.How does 'stretched out my hands' — maximum vulnerability — describe your prayer posture?
- 4.What does Psalm 88 never resolving teach about the honesty God allows in worship?
Devotional
Eyes mourning. Calling daily. Hands stretched out. The entire body is praying — the eyes weep from affliction, the voice calls every single day, the hands reach toward God with open palms. And God hasn't answered. The psalm continues without resolution. The body prays. The silence continues.
The 'called daily' is the persistence that defines faith without feelings: every day, the same call. Not because yesterday's call was answered. Not because there's evidence the calling works. But because calling is what you DO when God is all you have. The daily calling isn't faith rewarded. It's faith persisting. The calling continues because the Caller has nowhere else to go.
The 'stretched out my hands' is maximum vulnerability in prayer: open palms, no fists, no clenched resistance. The hands that could grab or fight are instead open — exposed, reaching, receiving nothing but continuing to reach. The posture says: I have nothing to offer and nothing to hold. I'm just open. Still reaching. Still stretching toward a God who hasn't responded.
Psalm 88 never resolves — it ends in darkness (verse 18). The daily calling and the stretched hands never produce a recorded answer in this psalm. And that's the point: sometimes faithfulness looks like calling daily into silence. Sometimes the most honest prayer is the one that gets no answer and keeps praying anyway.
Are you still calling daily — still stretching out your hands — even when the silence continues?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction,.... Or dropped tears, as the Targum, by which grief was vented; see Psa 6:7.…
Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction - I weep; my eye pours out tears. Literally, My eye pines away, or decays.…
It should seem, by the titles of this and the following psalm, that Heman was the penman of the one and Ethan of the…
Again (cp. Psa 88:88) he pleads the constancy of his prayers. His strength is failing. He will soon be dead; and in the…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture