Limitless Word
You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.
Psalms 88:6 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
  • KJV Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
  • NKJV You have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths.
  • NASB You have put me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in the depths.
  • NLT You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.

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 says God has laid him in the lowest pit and darkest depths. He attributes his suffering to God's hand.

Overview

Heman boldly traces his affliction to God Himself, placing him in deepest darkness. Rather than denying God's sovereignty, he wrestles with it honestly. This descent into darkness anticipates the depths Christ endured, plunged into suffering and the darkness of the cross for our sake.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Ps 69:15Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me.
  • Ps 86:13For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.
  • John 12:46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
  • Lam 3:2He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light.
  • Ps 143:3For the enemy has pursued my soul, crushing my life to the ground, making me dwell in darkness like those long since dead.
  • Ps 40:2He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm.
  • Deut 32:22For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
  • Prov 4:19But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
  • Ps 130:1A song of ascents. Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!
  • Lam 3:55I called on Your name, O LORD, out of the depths of the Pit.
  • Jude 1:6And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
  • Jude 1:13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

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 88:6YouTube · 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 88:6 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.