Psalms 88

The AIT Bible

0A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

A Cry from the Brink of Death

1Yahweh, God of my salvation, by day I cry out, in the night before you.

2Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.

3For my soul is sated with troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.

4I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man without strength.

5forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, and they are cut off from your hand.

6You have put me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the depths.

7Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and with all your breakers you have afflicted me. Selah.

8You have removed my acquaintances far from me; you have made me an abomination to them; I am shut in and cannot go out.

9My eye grows dim from affliction. I call to you, Yahweh, every day; I spread out my palms to you.

10Will you work wonders for the dead? Will the shades rise up to praise you? Selah.

11Is your loyal love recounted in the grave, your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12Are your wonders known in the darkness, and your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13But I, to you, Yahweh, I cry for help, and in the morning my prayer comes before you.

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

15Afflicted am I, and dying from my youth; I bear your terrors; I am in despair.

16Your fierce anger has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.

17They surround me like water all day long; together they close in on me.

18You have removed lover and friend far from me; my acquaintances are darkness.

Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.

allusion Psalms 28:1 — Shared imagery of being counted among those who go down to the pit.
thematic Isaiah 38:18 — Hezekiah similarly laments that the grave and death cannot praise God or hope in his faithfulness.
thematic Isaiah 38:9 — Shared motif that the dead in the pit cannot declare God's faithfulness, so only the living praise him.
thematic Job 19:1 — Both describe God alienating the sufferer's companions and acquaintances so they shun him.
thematic Psalms 6:5 — Shared motif that the dead cannot praise Yahweh, arguing that death cuts off remembrance and worship.
thematic Psalms 30:9 — Both ask whether God's faithfulness and praise can be recounted from the grave/dust.
thematic Psalms 31:11 — Both describe becoming an object of scorn and being abandoned by acquaintances.
thematic Psalms 31:12 — Both portray the sufferer as one already forgotten and reckoned among the dead.
thematic Psalms 6:1 — Same argument that there is no praise or remembrance of God in death/Sheol.
thematic Psalms 30:1 — Same motif that the dead and dust cannot declare God's faithfulness or praise him.
thematic Psalms 115:9 — Shared motif that the dead in silence cannot praise or declare God's faithfulness.

allusion Psalms 44:24 — Nearly identical accusation asking why God hides his face from the afflicted.
thematic Psalms 13:1 — Shared lament of God hiding his face and rejecting the sufferer.
thematic Psalms 38:11 — Both lament that loved ones and friends stand far off from the sufferer.
thematic Psalms 5:1 — Both express bringing prayer before Yahweh in the morning as a discipline of watchful trust.
thematic Psalms 38:1 — Both describe loved ones and friends standing far off from the sufferer's affliction.