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Psalm 88:5
set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand.
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.
7Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah.
Notice
The slain in the grave become the singer’s picture of his own distress: he speaks to God while describing himself as forgotten and cut off.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What distinction do you hear between lying in the grave and being forgotten by God?
Write on thisWhen, if ever, have you prayed while feeling cut off from God’s help?
Write on thisConnect
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
Isaiah 53:8He was taken away by oppression and judgment. As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the …Both passages speak of being cut off in connection with death, and Isaiah names oppression and judgment.
Psalm 31:22As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.Both speakers describe being cut off from God; Psalm 31 also recounts God hearing the speaker’s cry.
Psalm 136:23who remembered us in our low estate, for his loving kindness endures forever;God’s remembering is central to both verses: Psalm 88 laments its absence, while Psalm 136 recounts it in low estate.
Isaiah 14:9–12Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the departed spirits for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up …Both passages picture the company of the dead, though Isaiah depicts departed rulers rising to meet someone entering Sheol.
Genesis 8:1God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.Psalm 88 describes the dead as forgotten by God; Genesis names God remembering Noah and the animals as the waters subside.
Psalm 88:16Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off.Within the same lament, being cut off appears again, now linked to God’s terrors and fierce wrath.
Genesis 19:29When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot …God’s remembrance connects these texts: the psalm describes its absence among the dead, while Genesis links it to Lot’s rescue.
Isaiah 38:10–12I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.”Both speakers describe approaching the realm of the dead, with Isaiah’s speaker mourning the loss of remaining years.
Ezekiel 32:18–32“Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those …Both passages place people among the dead below, with Ezekiel commanding a lament over Egypt’s descent into the pit.
Job 11:10If he passes by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who can oppose him?The link is limited: Job speaks of God’s unopposed power, while the psalm describes being cut off from his hand.
Job 6:9even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!Both mention God’s hand and being cut off; Job asks for death, while the psalm describes distress through the dead.
Psalm 31:12I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man. I am like broken pottery.Both speakers compare themselves to forgotten dead people, though Psalm 31 names human forgetfulness and Psalm 88 addresses God.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. grief. death and what comes after.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The fear of being forgotten by God has a place in Scripture’s prayers. Here, the singer speaks to God from that fear, with no relief yet in view.
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).