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Psalm 88:4
I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help,
2Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry.
3For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.
4I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help,
5set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand.
6You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
Notice
Being counted among those headed for the pit makes death seem close, while “no help” names the speaker’s lack of support.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What does being “counted among those who go down into the pit” suggest to you?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, do the words “a man who has no help” fit your life?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 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
Psalm 28:1By David. To you, LORD, I call. My rock, don’t be deaf to me, lest, if you are silent to me, I would become like those who go down into the pit.Both use “those who go down into the pit” to describe the prospect of death in a prayer for God’s help.
2 Corinthians 1:9Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,Both describe death as close; Paul also names trust in God who raises the dead, while the psalm’s line remains with helplessness.
Psalm 143:7Hurry to answer me, LORD. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.Both speak of becoming like those who descend into the pit, within prayers asking God to hear or answer.
Isaiah 38:17–18Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.The pit marks the threat of death in both texts; Isaiah reports deliverance, while Psalm 88:4 describes still being near it.
Psalm 31:12I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man. I am like broken pottery.Both speakers compare themselves to the dead, describing either being counted among them or being forgotten like a dead man.
Job 17:1“My spirit is consumed. My days are extinct and the grave is ready for me.Both speakers describe death as near, with the psalm naming the pit and Job naming the grave ready for him.
2 Corinthians 13:4For he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we will live with him through the power of God …The shared thread is limited to weakness and death; Paul speaks of Christ’s crucifixion and life through God’s power.
Psalm 30:9“What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth?Both speak of going down to the pit; Psalm 30 asks about praise after destruction, while Psalm 88 describes helplessness.
Romans 5:6For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.The shared thread is human helplessness: the psalm describes a man without help, while Romans speaks of weakness when Christ died.
Jonah 2:6I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever; yet you have brought my life up from the pit, LORD my God.Both describe descent toward death through the pit; Jonah reports being brought up, while the psalm’s line contains no rescue.
Ezekiel 26:20then I will bring you down with those who descend into the pit, to the people of old time, and will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, in the …Both describe joining those who descend into the pit; Ezekiel speaks of God sending someone there, while the psalm voices personal distress.
Luke 10:30Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving …Both portray a man near death and without help at that moment; Luke names the robbers who left him there.
Where this verse fits
Illness or diagnosis. loneliness. death and what comes after.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
There is no rescue reported in this line. Yet these words belong to a prayer addressed to God; helplessness has a place in speech directed to him.
Now put it in your words.
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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).