Limitless Word
I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
Psalms 88:15 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted.
  • BSB From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
  • NKJV I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth; I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught.
  • NASB I was miserable and about to die from my youth on; I suffer Your terrors; I grow weary.
  • NLT I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

He has been afflicted and near death from his youth, distraught under God's terrors. His suffering has been lifelong.

Overview

Heman reveals that his affliction is not new but has marked his entire life, leaving him overwhelmed. The depth and duration of his trial intensify the lament. Such prolonged suffering reminds believers that endurance is part of the path, and points to the One who was a man of sorrows.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
  • Luke 22:44And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
  • Ps 73:14For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
  • Job 7:11–16Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
  • Isa 53:10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
  • Zech 13:7Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
  • Job 17:11–16My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart.
  • Isa 53:3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
  • Job 17:1My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
  • Ps 22:14–15I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 88:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 88:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.