Abide

In Psalm 88, the singer of psalms is distressed and overwhelmed with a sense of alienation. He feels that his condition is so revolting that his friends, loved ones, and even God cannot bear to look upon him. He cannot stand under the weight of his own isolation.

Still, he prays, with more desperation than faith, "But I, O Lord, cry yto you; in the morning my prayer comes before you."

http://www.esvbible.org/Psalm+88/

What does the placement of the psalms in the canon mean? Is there a swelling of lament until one works his or her way toward a statement of faith?

That would be much like our spiritual development and journey.

So, a short while later, if singing the psaltery, one would come to old number 91 and faith would take a solid foothold upon the mind as well as the heart, informing the mood of the song:

http://www.esvbible.org/Psalm+91/

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “'My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.'”

(Psalm 91:1-2 ESV)

Can we keep singing and seeking when the mood is not right and our hearts are not in it? Can we continue to reach when that for which we reach is far beyond our grasp? Can we receive the invisible, inconceivable, and unatainable from God when we sense no reciprocation in our prayers? God is alreaddy giving more than we are asking.

What we need to do is dwell, yeah, abide.