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O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
Psalms 88:1 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Suffering of Affliction.” A contemplation by Heman, the Ezrahite. Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.
  • BSB A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry out before You.
  • NKJV O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You.
  • NASB Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before You.
  • NLT O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night.

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

Heman cries to the LORD, the God of his salvation, day and night in deep distress. Even in darkness, he addresses God as his Savior.

Overview

Psalm 88 is the Bible's darkest lament, yet it opens by naming Yahweh as 'the God of my salvation.' Heman's persistent crying shows faith clinging to God amid unrelieved suffering. This honest anguish, addressed to God, foreshadows Christ's own cries from the depths of His passion.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Isa 12:2Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
  • Ps 22:2O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
  • Luke 18:7And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
  • Ps 86:3Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
  • Ps 27:9Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
  • 1 Kgs 4:31For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.
  • Ps 53:1The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
  • Titus 3:4–7But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
  • Gen 49:18I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
  • Luke 2:37And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
  • Ps 51:14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
  • Titus 2:13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
  • Luke 2:30For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
  • Ps 65:5By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:
  • Ps 68:19Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.
  • Luke 1:47And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
  • Ps 27:1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
  • Ps 79:9Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
  • Ps 24:5He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
  • Ps 140:7O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
  • Ps 62:7In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
  • Neh 1:6Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.
  • Isa 62:6I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
  • 1 Chr 2:6And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.
  • 1 Th 3:10Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
  • Titus 2:10Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
  • 2 Tim 1:3I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 88:1YouTube · 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 88:1 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.