Psalm 88 is the darkest prayer in the Bible: “O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee… my soul is filled with evils: and my life hath drawn nigh to hell.” Unlike almost every other lament, it ends with no word of relief. And yet it is a prayer from start to finish, addressed to “the God of my salvation.” In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 87. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 88 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
A canticle of a psalm for the sons of Core: unto the end, for Maheleth, to answer understanding of Eman the Ezrahite.
O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee.
Let my prayer come in before thee: incline thy ear to my petition.
For my soul is filled with evils: and my life hath drawn nigh to hell.
I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am become as a man without help,
Free among the dead. Like the slain sleeping in the sepulchres, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cast off from thy hand.
They have laid me in the lower pit: in the dark places, and in the shadow of death.
Thy wrath is strong over me: and all thy waves thou hast brought in upon me.
Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me: they have set me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and came not forth:
My eyes languished through poverty. All the day I cried to thee, O Lord: I stretched out my hands to thee.
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? or shall physicians raise to life, and give praise to thee?
Shall any one in the sepulchre declare thy mercy: and thy truth in destruction?
Shall thy wonders be known in the dark; and thy justice in the land of forgetfulness?
But I, O Lord, have cried to thee: and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee.
Lord, why castest thou off my prayer: why turnest thou away thy face from me?
I am poor, and in labours from my youth: and being exalted have been humbled and troubled.
Thy wrath hath come upon me: and thy terrors have troubled me.
They have come round about me like water all the day: they have compassed me about together.
Friend and neighbour thou hast put far from me: and my acquaintance, because of misery.
Psalm 88 or Psalm 87?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 87 is Psalm 88 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Domine, Deus salutis meae. See how many psalms are there?
Why the Church prays the darkest psalm
Psalm 88 gives words to those who are in deep depression, terminal illness, grief or abandonment, and who cannot yet feel hope. Its very existence in Scripture says that God accepts even this prayer. The psalmist never stops speaking to God, and calls him “the God of my salvation” in the very first line: that is faith in the dark.
The Church prays it every Friday at Night Prayer, the day of the Lord’s death, and has always heard in it the voice of Christ in his Passion and in the tomb: abandoned by friends, “counted among them that go down to the pit,” numbered among the dead. Because Christ entered this darkness, no one who prays it is alone. See Good Friday and psalms for comfort.
What the psalm means
- Day and night prayer: the psalmist never stops crying to God.
- Near to death: “I am counted among them that go down to the pit.”
- Abandoned: “Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me.”
- Questions to God: “Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead?”
- No happy ending: the psalm ends in darkness, yet it is still a prayer.
How the Church uses Psalm 88
- At Night Prayer (Compline) on Fridays. See Compline.
- In Holy Week, as a meditation on the Passion and on Christ in the tomb.
- For the depressed, the dying and the grieving.
A prayer with Psalm 88
Written for this page:
Lord, God of my salvation, I cry to you day and night.
My soul is full of troubles, and I feel near to death.
Even when I cannot see any light, I keep speaking to you.
Jesus, who went down into the darkness of death for me, stay with me in mine. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Psalm 88 called the darkest psalm?
Because, unlike other laments, it ends without any expression of hope or relief.
When is Psalm 88 prayed?
Every Friday at Night Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, the day of Christ’s death.
More psalms and prayers
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 87 (88), Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.