This verse highlights the writer’s lifelong torment and his overwhelming sense that God’s terrors have crushed him.
I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on; I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome. (v.15) This line, found in Psalm 88, emerges from one of the most somber and anguished compositions within the entire collection of Psalms. The psalm is attributed to Heman the Ezrahite, who served as a temple musician during the era of King David (c. 1010-970 BC). Heman’s words here depict a person who has endured unrelenting hardship from his early years, resulting in a sense of being battered by trials that are understood as divine “terrors.” The speaker feels so overwhelmed by grief that he believes he stands on the threshold of death itself, reflecting an intensity of sorrow seldom matched elsewhere in Scripture.
In this verse, the psalmist makes plain that the distress is not fleeting but rather a lengthy, ongoing struggle. The phrase I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on (v.15) underscores the depth of his accumulated pain. Whatever its exact cause, the psalmist sees his suffering as allowed—even ordained—by God. This perception underscores the psalmist’s profound sense of God's responsibility over all life events, something widely affirmed in other biblical passages that declare God’s sovereignty. Yet, this grappling with divine sovereignty also leads to a raw expression of lament, resembling the cries of Jesus in His darkest hour, as He uttered words of anguish on the cross (Mark 15:34).
Despite the heavy mood of this verse, many believers find a measure of solidarity with the psalmist’s willingness to voice unfiltered despair before God. By doing so, Scripture validates the reality that faith and anguish can coexist, and that pouring out one's troubles to the Lord can be an act of deep belief. Christians might see in such laments a foreshadowing of Christ’s own sufferings in humanity’s place (see Hebrews 5:7-8). In both contexts, the anguish directs us to a reliance on divine mercy, even when clarity or immediate relief is not yet visible.
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Psalms 88:15 meaning
I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on; I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome. (v.15) This line, found in Psalm 88, emerges from one of the most somber and anguished compositions within the entire collection of Psalms. The psalm is attributed to Heman the Ezrahite, who served as a temple musician during the era of King David (c. 1010-970 BC). Heman’s words here depict a person who has endured unrelenting hardship from his early years, resulting in a sense of being battered by trials that are understood as divine “terrors.” The speaker feels so overwhelmed by grief that he believes he stands on the threshold of death itself, reflecting an intensity of sorrow seldom matched elsewhere in Scripture.
In this verse, the psalmist makes plain that the distress is not fleeting but rather a lengthy, ongoing struggle. The phrase I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on (v.15) underscores the depth of his accumulated pain. Whatever its exact cause, the psalmist sees his suffering as allowed—even ordained—by God. This perception underscores the psalmist’s profound sense of God's responsibility over all life events, something widely affirmed in other biblical passages that declare God’s sovereignty. Yet, this grappling with divine sovereignty also leads to a raw expression of lament, resembling the cries of Jesus in His darkest hour, as He uttered words of anguish on the cross (Mark 15:34).
Despite the heavy mood of this verse, many believers find a measure of solidarity with the psalmist’s willingness to voice unfiltered despair before God. By doing so, Scripture validates the reality that faith and anguish can coexist, and that pouring out one's troubles to the Lord can be an act of deep belief. Christians might see in such laments a foreshadowing of Christ’s own sufferings in humanity’s place (see Hebrews 5:7-8). In both contexts, the anguish directs us to a reliance on divine mercy, even when clarity or immediate relief is not yet visible.