Old Testament

Psalms 88

A Lament Without Resolution

6 passages

Overview

Heman the Ezrahite pours out a lifelong anguish before "the God of my salvation," describing a soul overwhelmed by suffering and divine wrath, stripped of all human companionship, and crying out into apparent silence — in a psalm that, uniquely among the laments, ends not in praise but in darkness, which Catholic tradition reads as a prophetic foreshadowing of Christ's desolation on the Cross.

Passages

1–2Opening Cry to the God of Salvation 3–7Into the Depths: The Soul Overwhelmed by Suffering 8–9Into the Depths Alone: The Grief of Abandonment 10–12Can the Dead Praise God? The Abyss Cries Out 13–14Crying Out into the Silence 15–18Swallowed by Darkness: A Lifelong Affliction and Final Desolation

Study Resources

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Psalms 88

¹A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Suffering of Affliction.” A contemplation by Heman, the Ezrahite. Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.

²Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry.

³For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.

⁴I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help,

⁵set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand.

⁶You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.

⁷Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah.

⁸You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can’t escape.

⁹My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you.

¹⁰Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and praise you? Selah.

¹¹Is your loving kindness declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in Destruction?

¹²Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³But to you, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you.

¹⁴Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?

¹⁵I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.

¹⁶Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.

¹⁷They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me.

¹⁸You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.

Psalms 87 Psalms 89