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Psalm 88:13-18
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 88:13-18
New Catholic Bible
13 Are your wonders known in the region of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?[a]
14 [b]But for my part, I cry out to you, O Lord;
in the morning my prayer rises before you.
15 Why do you cast me away, O Lord?[c]
Why do you hide your face from me?
16 Since infancy I have been wretched and close to death;
I have borne your terrors
and have now reached the point of exhaustion.
17 Your wrath has weighed down upon me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
18 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they encircle me completely.
Footnotes
- Psalm 88:13 The psalmist speaks of death as a place of total darkness, also known as the land of oblivion, in contrast with the “land of the living” (Pss 27:13; 52:7; 116:9; 142:6), because those who die are quickly forgotten by the living (see Pss 6:6; 31:13; Eccl 9:5).
- Psalm 88:14 Even when human consolation is lacking, suffering can still be bearable if God gives his perceptible consolation; however, the psalmist also feels himself abandoned by God.
- Psalm 88:15 Why . . . ?: see note on Ps 6:4. Hide your face: see note on Ps 13:2.
