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Illustration for Psalm 88: Darkest Lament

Psalm 88

Darkest Lament

ComfortWhen AfraidJoy

This is one of the saddest psalms — it doesn't have a happy ending. The writer has been in pain for a long, long time. But even in total darkness, he is still praying to God. Just the fact that he prays shows he hasn't lost all hope.

  1. 1O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out before You day and night.
  2. 2May my prayer come before You; turn Your ear to my cry.
  3. 3I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.
  4. 4I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength.
  5. 5I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, who are cut off from Your care.
  6. 6You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
  7. 7Your wrath lies heavily on me; You have overwhelmed me with all Your waves.
  8. 8You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;
  9. 9my eyes are dim with grief. I call to You, LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to You.
  10. 10Do You show Your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise You?
  11. 11Is Your love declared in the grave, Your faithfulness in Destruction?
  12. 12Are Your wonders known in the place of darkness, or Your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
  13. 13But I cry to You for help, LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before You.
  14. 14Why, LORD, do You reject me and hide Your face from me?
  15. 15From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne Your terrors and am in despair.
  16. 16Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.
  17. 17All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
  18. 18You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.

What it means

This is the one psalm that never cheers up. It ends in the dark. And God put it in the Bible on purpose, because some sadness lasts a long time and nobody should be told to hurry up and feel better. Notice what the writer keeps doing anyway: he keeps talking to God.

A little prayer

God, sometimes sadness does not go away quickly, and I do not have anything cheerful to say. Thank You that I can still talk to You from here. I am not letting go of You. Amen.

Memory verse

“O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out before You day and night.”

Psalm 88:1 (BSB)

It is the one thing still happening in the darkest psalm in the book: he is still talking to God.

Talk about it

Questions with no single right answer — for a family table or a Sunday-school circle.

  1. This psalm has no happy ending. Why do you think the Bible keeps it?
  2. The writer keeps praying anyway, every day. What does that tell you about prayer?
  3. The last word is 'darkness'. Is it alright for a prayer to end there?
  4. What would you want someone to say to you on a day like this — or would you rather they said nothing?

Try this

Sitting with it

Read the whole psalm out loud without adding anything hopeful at the end. Sit in the quiet for a minute. Then talk about who you know who might need someone to sit like that with them.

Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB)