Psalms — Chapter 87

DOMINE DEUS SALUTIS MEAE. Lapide: Psalm 87 — the darkest psalm, the psalm of desolation. "O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before Thee." Lapide: this psalm, more than any other, is applied to Christ's cry from the Cross — the "dark night of the soul" at its most extreme. Verses 5-6: "I am as a man without help, free among the dead... whom Thou rememberest no more" — Christ experiencing the uttermost dereliction of spirit. Lapide: the "dark night" described by mystics (John of the Cross, etc.) is rooted in this psalm. The soul in desolation should take comfort that Christ Himself experienced and sanctified this state.