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Psalm 88 · a question people ask

Is God punishing him for something?

In the text

The psalm doesn't say. The psalmist asks why himself: "LORD, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?" (88:14). He speaks of the LORD's wrath: "Your wrath lies heavily on me" (88:7), and "Your fierce wrath has gone over me" (88:16). But the psalm names no sin of his, and he confesses none. Psalm 38 also speaks of the LORD's wrath (Psalm 38:1) and of friends standing far off (Psalm 38:11), and it does name sin: "neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin" (Psalm 38:3). Psalm 88 has no line like that. It says his trouble goes back "from my youth up" (88:15), and it doesn't say what brought it. These notes don't give a reason the psalm doesn't give, and they pass no verdict on him.

The verses

“Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah.”
Psalm 88:7 · World English Bible
“LORD, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted. Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.”
Psalm 88:14-16 · World English Bible
“A Psalm by David, for a memorial. LORD, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.”
Psalm 38:1 · World English Bible
“There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.”
Psalm 38:3 · 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