In Psalm 88, the psalmist cries out to "the God of my salvation." He is suffering greatly, and his suffering shows no sign of ending, but he will continue in prayer.
This is a Korahite psalm, and it speaks often of death and the grave, as is typical for these psalms (see especially verses 3-6). When Korah was swallowed up by the ground (Num 16), his children were spared from death (Num 26:11). After that his descendants seem to have been keenly aware of how God had rescued their ancestors, and the Korahite psalms say much about rescue from death and God's presence in times when death is near.
In Christian tradition this psalm has often been read on Good Friday. The psalmist's experience has been seen as prefiguring that of Jesus on the cross. For example, when verse 8 says, "You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them," we think about how many of Jesus' disciples fled when he was arrested, while those who stayed with him through the crucifixion could only watch from a distance (Luke 23:49).
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