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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 88

Psalm 88: a cry from the lowest pit that ends in darkness

General context

The speaker addresses the Lord God of my salvation and says he has cried day and night, asking that his prayer come before God. His soul is full of troubles and his life draws near the grave; he is counted with those who go down into the pit, a man without strength, free among the dead like the slain whom God remembers no more. He says God has laid him in the lowest pit, in darkness and the deeps, that God's wrath lies hard on him and has afflicted him with all his waves; a Selah follows. God has put his acquaintance far from him and made him an abomination to them; he is shut up and cannot come forth. His eye mourns, and he has called daily and stretched out his hands. He asks whether God will show wonders to the dead, whether the dead will arise and praise; another Selah. He asks whether lovingkindness will be declared in the grave, faithfulness in destruction, wonders in the dark, righteousness in the land of forgetfulness. He has cried to the Lord and his prayer will come in the morning; he asks why God casts off his soul and hides his face. He has been afflicted and ready to die from his youth, distracted by God's terrors, which have cut him off and come round him daily like water. The last line says lover and friend have been put far from him, and his acquaintance into darkness.

Cited passages: Psalms 88:1, Psalms 88:2, Psalms 88:3, Psalms 88:4, Psalms 88:5, Psalms 88:6, Psalms 88:7, Psalms 88:8, Psalms 88:9, Psalms 88:10, Psalms 88:11, Psalms 88:12, Psalms 88:13, Psalms 88:14, Psalms 88:15, Psalms 88:16, Psalms 88:17, Psalms 88:18

Psalms 88 (KJV)

1O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:

2Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;

3For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

4I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:

5Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

6Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

7Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

8Thou 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.

9Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

10Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

11Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?

12Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

14Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?

15I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

16Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.

17They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.

18Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

This source prints no superscription; the psalm begins with O Lord God of my salvation. The speaker is a single voice. The affliction is described as lifelong, from my youth up, and as coming from God himself: thou hast laid me, thy wrath lieth hard upon me, thou hast put away mine acquaintance. No human enemy is named, and no illness, place or event is given; the images are of the grave, the pit, darkness and water. The isolation is stated twice, acquaintance put far away in verse 8 and lover and friend in verse 18. Two Selah markers stand after verses 7 and 10. Unlike many laments, this psalm contains no turn to confidence or thanks; the questions of verses 10 to 12 are left unanswered, and the last word is darkness. The only hopeful phrasing is the address itself, God of my salvation, and the report that the speaker keeps praying day and night and in the morning.

Cited passages: Psalms 88:15, Psalms 88:6, Psalms 88:8, Psalms 88:18, Psalms 88:7, Psalms 88:10, Psalms 88:1, Psalms 88:13

Literary context

The psalm has the shape of a lament with the ending removed. It opens and returns to the act of crying, day and night in verse 1, daily in verse 9, and again in verse 13 with the morning prayer, but each return leads back into the pit rather than out. Six questions in verses 10 to 12 argue that the dead cannot praise, declare or know God's works; the argument is directed at God and is followed by why castest thou off my soul rather than by any reply. The speaker's location is the grave, the pit, the deeps, the dark and the land of forgetfulness, and water is the image for God's wrath and terrors, waves in verse 7 and water that compasses in verse 17. The repeated thou hast places every affliction in God's hands, including the loss of friends, which is the first and last human detail. The final word, darkness, matches the darkness of verse 6, so the poem ends where its trouble began.

Cited passages: Psalms 88:1, Psalms 88:9, Psalms 88:11, Psalms 88:14, Psalms 88:12, Psalms 88:17, Psalms 88:6, Psalms 88:18

Key moments

  1. Crying day and night (Psalms 88:1). The speaker addresses the God of his salvation and says he has cried without stopping.
  2. Counted with the dead (Psalms 88:5). The speaker describes himself as free among the dead, whom God remembers no more.
  3. Laid in the lowest pit (Psalms 88:6). The speaker says God himself has placed him in darkness and the deeps.
  4. Can the dead praise? (Psalms 88:10). The speaker asks whether God will show wonders to the dead.
  5. Why hide thy face? (Psalms 88:14). The speaker asks why God casts off his soul.
  6. Friends into darkness (Psalms 88:18). The psalm ends with lover, friend and acquaintance put far away.

For reflection

The speaker keeps calling the Lord the God of my salvation while saying God has laid him in the lowest pit and taken every friend. What holds those two claims together in a prayer that never reaches relief?

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