Psalms 88: Out of the Depths
The darkest lament in the Psalter, a relentless cry from one overwhelmed by suffering who keeps praying though no light comes.
Psalms 88 (WEB)
1 Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help,
5 set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand.
6 You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah.
8 You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can’t escape.
9 My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and praise you? Selah.
11 Is your loving kindness declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But to you, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you.
14 Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.
17 They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me.
18 You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.
Psalms 88 (KJV)
1 O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;
3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
8 Thou 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.
9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
14 Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.
Psalms 88 (ASV)
1 O Jehovah, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee.
2 Let my prayer enter into thy presence; Incline thine ear unto my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol.
4 I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no help,
5 Cast off among the dead, Like the slain that lie in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more, And they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. [Selah
8 Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me; Thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction: I have called daily upon thee, O Jehovah; I have spread forth my hands unto thee.
10 Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall they that are deceased arise and praise thee? [Selah
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in Destruction?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee, O Jehovah, have I cried; And in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.
14 Jehovah, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
16 Thy fierce wrath is gone over me; Thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me like water all the day long; They compassed me about together.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, And mine acquaintance into darkness.
Summary
This psalm of the sons of Korah is the darkest song in the Psalter, a lament that begins in anguish and ends in darkness without the usual turn to praise. The psalmist cries day and night before Yahweh, the God of his salvation, describing a life so full of trouble that it draws near to Sheol. He feels counted among the dead, laid in the lowest pit, with God's wrath lying heavily on him like crashing waves. His friends have been taken from him, and he is shut in with no escape; his eyes grow dim from grief. He presses God with searching questions—do the dead praise you? Is your loving kindness declared in the grave?—as if to plead that God act now, while there is still breath. He testifies that he has cried to God in the morning, yet asks why the Lord rejects his soul and hides his face. The psalm closes with the stark line, "You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness." Yet even here faith persists: every complaint is addressed to God, and the sufferer never stops praying. For believers, this psalm gives words to the deepest grief and points to Christ, who entered the true darkness of God-forsakenness so that we would never be finally abandoned.
Voices
- The suffering psalmist — One overwhelmed by affliction near to death, who cries to God day and night and keeps praying even when no relief comes.
- Yahweh, the God of salvation — The God to whom every complaint is addressed, still called the God of the sufferer's salvation even in the dark.
- The lost friends — The companions taken away and put far off, leaving the sufferer confined, alone, and in darkness.
Key Verse
Psalm 88:1 (WEB)
Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.
Lessons Learned
- Faith does not always feel like sunshine; sometimes it persists as a cry in unrelieved darkness.
- God is big enough for our most desperate, unresolved laments; he invites them into his presence.
- Even when we feel forsaken, the act of still praying to God is itself an expression of faith.
- This psalm prepares us for Christ, who entered true God-forsakenness so that we never face it alone.
- We may pray in the dark. "Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you" (Psalm 88:1, WEB). Even unanswered prayer offered persistently is faith at work.
- Honest grief belongs before God. "For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol" (Psalm 88:3, WEB). God welcomes our rawest sorrow rather than requiring us to mask it.
- Lament still calls God his salvation. "Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?" (Psalm 88:14, WEB). Even the bleakest questions are aimed at the God of salvation, not away from him.
- The darkness is not the last word. "You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness" (Psalm 88:18, WEB). Though the psalm ends here, Christ has gone into this darkness and broken its hold.
- How does this psalm differ from most laments, which usually end in praise or hope?
- How does the psalmist describe his condition in verses 3-9?
- What is the point of the questions in verses 10-12 about the dead praising God?
- Why is it significant that even in such darkness he keeps addressing God (88:1, 9, 13)?
- How might this psalm help you, or someone you love, who is walking through deep darkness?
- Unlike most laments, this psalm never resolves into praise; it begins in anguish and ends with the word "darkness" (88:18). It honors the reality that some seasons of suffering do not lift quickly, giving voice to grief that finds no immediate relief.
- He says his soul is full of troubles and near to Sheol, that he is counted among the dead, laid in the lowest pit, weighed down by God's wrath, abandoned by friends, confined, and dim-eyed from grief (88:3-9). It is total, overwhelming distress.
- He asks whether the dead can praise God or declare his faithfulness in the grave, pressing God to act while he still lives (88:10-12). The questions are a form of pleading; the sufferer wants God to save him now, for the living glorify him.
- Though he feels rejected and unheard, he never stops crying out to God morning and night (88:1, 9, 13). Continuing to pray in the dark is itself an act of faith; he clings to God even when he cannot feel him.
- This is a gentle personal-application question. Encourage members to see that this psalm gives permission to grieve honestly and to keep praying even without resolution. As leader, point tenderly to Jesus, who cried out forsaken on the cross so that none of us would be finally abandoned.