Psalm 88 14

Psalm 88:14 kjv

LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?

Psalm 88:14 nkjv

LORD, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?

Psalm 88:14 niv

Why, LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?

Psalm 88:14 esv

O LORD, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me?

Psalm 88:14 nlt

O LORD, why do you reject me?
Why do you turn your face from me?

Psalm 88 verses

Psalm 88 14 Meaning

Psalm 88:14 expresses the deep anguish of the psalmist Heman, crying out to the LORD with two central, desperate questions: "Why have You cast off my soul?" and "Why do You hide Your face from me?" This verse encapsulates the psalmist's profound experience of divine abandonment and perceived rejection, where the very core of his being feels forsaken by God. It highlights a painful crisis of faith and relationship, conveying an intense personal suffering stemming from God's apparent withdrawal and silence.

Psalm 88 14 Context

Psalm 88 is uniquely bleak among the psalms, standing out for its lack of an eventual turn to praise or renewed hope. It is a song and psalm of Heman the Ezrahite, possibly a Levite musician associated with the sons of Korah (1 Chr 6:33). The chapter begins with an appeal to the LORD, God of salvation, acknowledging constant cries (v. 1). The psalmist describes himself as deeply afflicted, near death, and likened to those in the grave (v. 3-6). He feels God's wrath and affliction (v. 7). Crucially, he feels utterly isolated; his friends and loved ones have been removed from him, becoming abhorrent (v. 8). His eye wastes away from sorrow (v. 9). The preceding verses question if God's wonders and steadfast love are known in the land of the dead, intensifying the plea for help before he descends fully into the pit. Verse 14 therefore forms the climactic question, expressing the incomprehensible nature of God's silence and apparent rejection in his desperate state. Historically, the feeling of God's hidden face was the deepest form of spiritual dread for an Israelite, often associated with judgment or utter destitution.

Psalm 88 14 Word analysis

• LORD (יהוה - Yahweh):

  • This is God's covenant name, signifying His personal and redemptive character, emphasizing His faithfulness and eternal nature.
  • The psalmist appeals to God by His sacred, covenantal name, underscoring the deep relational pain: it is this faithful God who seems to have forsaken him. This highlights the paradox and the intense disorientation of the psalmist.

• why (לָמָה - lamah):

  • An interrogative adverb expressing profound inquiry, distress, and a longing for understanding.
  • It is a cry of incomprehension, not defiance. It signifies a desperate need for a reason or explanation from God for His apparent abandonment. Its repetition strengthens the intensity of this plea.

• have You cast off (זָנַחְתָּ - zanachta):

  • From the root זָנַח (zanach), meaning "to reject, cast away, abandon, despise." It's a strong, emphatic verb.
  • In the Hebrew perfect tense, it indicates an action completed in the past but with ongoing results. The psalmist feels God has already made a definitive decision to forsake him, and he is experiencing the continuous consequences of that rejection. It conveys a sense of being thrown away as useless or abhorrent.

• my soul (נַפְשִׁי - nafshi):

  • From the root נֶפֶשׁ (nephesh), which encompasses "life, soul, self, person, vital breath."
  • It refers to the entire being of the psalmist, not merely a spiritual part. God has seemingly abandoned his very existence, his core vitality, and personal identity. It intensifies the feeling of complete internal desolation.

• do You hide Your face (תַּסְתִּיר פָּנֶיךָ - tastir paneikha):

  • תַּסְתִּיר (tastir): Hiphil imperfect of סתר (satar), "to hide, conceal." The Hiphil stem indicates that God is actively causing His face to be hidden. It's a deliberate act.
  • פָּנֶיךָ (paneikha): "Your face," from פָּנִים (panim), which refers to "face, presence, appearance."
  • Group of words: "To hide one's face" is a significant idiom in the Old Testament, representing God's disfavor, withdrawal of His presence, refusal to respond or intervene, and a sign of judgment or abandonment. It is the opposite of God "shining His face" upon someone (Num 6:25) or "seeing His face" in communion (Ps 27:8-9). This indicates a complete cessation of communication, favor, and perceived love from God.

• from me (מִמֶּנִּי - mimmeni):

  • The preposition מִן (min) means "from."
  • It emphasizes the direct and personal impact of God's withdrawal upon the psalmist. He is experiencing this isolation acutely and individually.

Psalm 88 14 Bonus section

• Paradox of continued prayer: Despite feeling cast off and ignored, the psalmist continues to address God ("LORD," "You"). This indicates that even in the deepest despair, faith's last thread is clinging to the divine reality and God's capacity to hear, even when seemingly silent. It's a prayer to God about His absence.
• The uniqueness of Psalm 88: Unlike almost all other lament psalms, Psalm 88 offers no traditional turn from lament to trust or praise. It ends in darkness and "gloomy" terrors, leaving the suffering unresolved within the psalm itself (v. 18, "darkness"). This stark realism offers solace to those who feel such unmitigated despair, validating their experience as truly biblical.
• A "dark night of the soul" experience: This psalm resonates deeply with the concept of a "dark night of the soul," where a believer experiences prolonged spiritual dryness, distance from God, and a sense of abandonment, despite ongoing faithfulness or longing for God's presence.

Psalm 88 14 Commentary

Psalm 88:14 serves as a raw and honest expression of profound spiritual darkness. The psalmist's repeated "Why?" highlights a fundamental crisis in his understanding of God's character and covenant faithfulness in the face of his overwhelming suffering and God's perceived silence. The twin accusations—being "cast off" and God "hiding His face"—paint a picture of complete and utter divine rejection. "Casting off the soul" conveys an experience of total spiritual and existential abandonment, where life itself feels divinely forsaken. "Hiding the face" amplifies this by denoting a deliberate withdrawal of presence, favor, and communication, leading to a crushing sense of isolation and spiritual despair.

This verse is critically important for articulating the depths of human suffering where even the divine presence seems absent, challenging neat theological explanations for suffering. It acknowledges that true spiritual agony can reach a point where hope is difficult to grasp, making this psalm unique in the biblical landscape. The New Testament connects the themes of divine abandonment and "hiding of face" to Christ's crucifixion, where Jesus himself quotes Ps 22:1, echoing a similar cry of "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46). This underscores that the darkest human experience, articulated in Psalm 88, was fully entered into and ultimately triumphed over by God in Christ. It teaches that even in the experience of spiritual night, one can continue to address God, even if only with questions of lament, which in itself is an act of persistent faith.