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Psalm 88 · a question people ask

The psalm ends in darkness. Where is the hope in it?

In the text

The psalm doesn't turn. Its last words are "You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness" (88:18), and nothing comes after them: no praise, no thanks, no "But I trust". The introduction to Psalms says the chapters won't give a lament a turn it doesn't have, and these notes don't. What the psalm does have, it says plainly. It speaks to the LORD from its first line to its last. It calls him "the God of my salvation" (88:1). And it says the psalmist keeps crying to him: "day and night" (88:1), "daily" (88:9), and "In the morning" (88:13). The psalm doesn't say whether he was answered. These notes don't say it for the psalm, and they pass no verdict on the psalmist for ending where he does.

The verses

“A 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. LORD, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.”
Psalm 88:1 · World English Bible
“My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, LORD. I have spread out my hands to you.”
Psalm 88:9 · World English Bible
“But to you, LORD, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you.”
Psalm 88:13 · World English Bible
“You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.”
Psalm 88:18 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 88

Psalm 88: Day and night before you

Psalm 88 says three times that the psalmist has called to the LORD, day and night, daily and in the morning (88:1, 88:9, 88:13), each time with a different Hebrew verb. It opens with "the God of my salvation" (88:1), names no enemy and no sin, and ends, in Hebrew as in English, on the word darkness (88:18).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions