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Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
Psalms 88:6 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
  • BSB You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.
  • 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 69:15Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
  • Ps 86:13For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
  • John 12:46I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
  • Lam 3:2He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.
  • Ps 143:3For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
  • Ps 40:2He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
  • Deut 32:22For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
  • Prov 4:19The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
  • Ps 130:1Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.
  • Lam 3:55I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon.
  • Jude 1:6And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
  • Jude 1:13Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

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.