1 A song or Psalme of Heman the Ezrahite to give instruction, committed to the sonnes of Korah for him that excelleth upon Malath Leannoth. O Lord God of my saluation, I cry day and night before thee. 2 Let my prayer enter into thy presence: incline thine eare vnto my cry. 3 For my soule is filled with euils, and my life draweth neere to the graue. 4 I am counted among them that go downe vnto the pit, and am as a man without strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slaine lying in the graue, whome thou remembrest no more, and they are cut off from thine hand. 6 Thou hast layde me in the lowest pit, in darkenes, and in the deepe. 7 Thine indignation lyeth vpon me, and thou hast vexed me with all thy waues. Selah. 8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance farre from me, and made mee to be abhorred of them: I am shut vp, and cannot get foorth. 9 Mine eye is sorowfull through mine affliction: Lord, I call dayly vpon thee: I stretch out mine hands vnto thee. 10 Wilt thou shewe a miracle to the dead? or shall the dead rise and prayse thee? Selah. 11 Shall thy louing kindenes be declared in the graue? or thy faithfulnes in destruction? 12 Shall thy wonderous workes be knowen in the darke? and thy righteousnes in the land of obliuion? 13 But vnto thee haue I cryed, O Lord, and early shall my prayer come before thee. 14 Lord, why doest thou reiect my soule, and hidest thy face from me? 15 I am afflicted and at the point of death: from my youth I suffer thy terrours, doubting of my life. 16 Thine indignations goe ouer me, and thy feare hath cut me off. 17 They came round about me dayly like water, and compassed me together. 18 My louers and friends hast thou put away from me, and mine acquaintance hid themselues.
Psalm 88 Geneva Bible (1599)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (2)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
- Original 16th-century spelling.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Heman the Ezrahite
Named in the title of Psalm 88 as the author of its Maskil, a song also marked as a psalm of the sons of Korah. The text does not say whether he is Heman the wise man of 1 Kings…
Cited in the guide: Psalm 88:1
Cross references (18)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Isaiah 12:2; Psalm 22:2; Luke 18:7; Psalm 86:3; Genesis 49:18
- 2 Psalm 31:2; Psalm 141:1–2; Lamentations 3:8; Psalm 79:11; 1 Kings 8:31
- 3 Psalm 107:18; Lamentations 3:15–19; Mark 14:33–34; Psalm 69:17–21; Isaiah 53:3
- 4 Psalm 28:1; 2 Corinthians 1:9; Isaiah 38:17–18; Psalm 31:12; Psalm 143:7
- 5 Isaiah 53:8; Psalm 31:22; Isaiah 14:9–12; Psalm 136:23; Job 6:9
- 6 Psalm 69:15; Psalm 86:13; Psalm 40:2; Psalm 143:3; Lamentations 3:2
- 7 Psalm 42:7; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 2:5–9; Job 6:4; John 3:36
- 8 Psalm 31:11; Isaiah 49:7; Job 30:10; Isaiah 63:3; Zechariah 11:8
- 9 Job 11:13; Psalm 86:3; Psalm 38:10; Psalm 143:6; Psalm 42:3
- 10 Isaiah 26:19; Psalm 6:5; Isaiah 38:18–19; Psalm 30:9; 1 Corinthians 15:52–57
- 11 Proverbs 15:11; Psalm 55:23; Matthew 7:13; Romans 9:22; Job 21:30
- 12 Ecclesiastes 9:5; Matthew 8:12; Job 10:21–22; Ecclesiastes 2:16; Isaiah 8:22
- 13 Psalm 5:3; Mark 1:35; Psalm 30:2; Psalm 119:147–148
- 14 Job 13:24; Psalm 13:1; Psalm 43:2; Psalm 44:24; Matthew 27:46
- 15 Job 6:4; Luke 22:44; Psalm 73:14; Job 7:11–16; Isaiah 53:10
- 16 Galatians 3:13; Revelation 6:17; Psalm 90:7; Psalm 89:46; Romans 8:32
- 17 Psalm 22:16; Psalm 69:1–2; Psalm 116:3; Job 30:14–15; Psalm 42:7
- 18 Psalm 88:8; Psalm 38:11; Job 19:12–15; Psalm 31:11
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
The Psalm which has just been sung is short, if we look to the number of its words, but of deep interest in its thoughts....The subject of song and praise in that Psalm is a city, whose citizens are we, as far as we are Christians: whence we are absent, as long as we are mortal: whither we are tending: …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)