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Psalm 88:14

LORD, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?

12Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13But to you, LORD, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you.
14LORD, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me?
15I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
16Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.
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← Psalm 88:13Psalm 88:15 →
Notice

The repeated why makes God's hidden face the center of this lament, as the speaker addresses the very YHWH whose rejection he fears.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What would you want to say to God when his face seems hidden from you?

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How does addressing YHWH while asking about rejection compare with your own prayers?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

6 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Job 13:24Why do you hide your face, and consider me your enemy?Both speakers ask why God hides his face, linking that hiddenness with the distress of being treated as rejected.
Psalm 10:1Why do you stand far off, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?Both prayers question God's hiddenness in distress and direct their protest to the LORD himself.
Psalm 13:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?Both prayers ask about God's hidden face, with Psalm 13 also asking how long that absence will last.
Psalm 43:2For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?Both speakers ask God about rejection, making their distress part of a prayer addressed to him.
Psalm 44:24Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?Both prayers ask why God hides his face, expressing distress over his apparent withdrawal.
Matthew 27:46About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”Both cries address God with a question about abandonment, bringing the pain of rejection into direct speech to him.
Where this verse fits

Feeling distant from God. grief. doubt.

What the Bible says about doubt →What the Bible says about grief →What the Bible says about doubt →
One step

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Encouragement

Your prayer does not have to reach a calm ending to be spoken to God. This lament addresses YHWH while its questions remain unanswered.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 88:14. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 88 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).