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Psalm 88:12-14
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 88:12-14
New Catholic Bible
12 Is your kindness[a] celebrated in the grave,
or your faithfulness in the tomb?
13 Are your wonders known in the region of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?[b]
14 [c]But for my part, I cry out to you, O Lord;
in the morning my prayer rises before you.
Footnotes
- Psalm 88:12 The psalmist would be unable to render praise to God if he were to go to the grave, also known as the “pit.” Kindness . . . faithfulness: see notes on Pss 6:5; 36:6f. The tomb: literally, “destruction,” another name for the grave or the pit; in Hebrew it is Abaddon (see Job 26:6; 28:22; Prov 15:11; Rev 9:11).
- Psalm 88:13 The psalmist speaks of death as a place of total darkness, also known as the land of oblivion, in contrast with the “land of the living” (Pss 27:13; 52:7; 116:9; 142:6), because those who die are quickly forgotten by the living (see Pss 6:6; 31:13; Eccl 9:5).
- Psalm 88:14 Even when human consolation is lacking, suffering can still be bearable if God gives his perceptible consolation; however, the psalmist also feels himself abandoned by God.
