The Fate of Those Trapped in the Pit of Psalm 88
Psalm 88 describes a profound state of suffering and isolation, with the psalmist lamenting being "laid... in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths" [1]. This imagery of the "pit" is central to understanding the psalmist's distress and has been interpreted in various ways throughout Christian tradition.
The "pit" (Hebrew: bor) in biblical literature often refers to a grave, a dungeon, or a place of destruction, sometimes even associated with the underworld or Sheol [3]. The psalmist states, "I am counted among those who go down into the pit" [2], indicating a sense of being condemned or destined for death. John Gill interprets this as being "counted with them that go down into the pit, with the dead, with them that are worthy of death, with malefactors that are judicially put to death" [8]. He connects this to Christ, who was "numbered or counted with transgressors" [8]. The phrase "lowest pit" and "darkest depths" emphasizes the extremity of this condition, suggesting a place of ultimate despair and separation [1]. Gill further notes that the Hebrew for "darkest depths" can be rendered "in darknesses," implying both corporeal and spiritual darkness [6].
The literary context of Psalm 88 is one of intense lament. It is unique among the Psalms in that it ends without a clear resolution or expression of hope, concluding instead with the line, "darkness is my closest friend" (Psalm 88:18, ESV). This sustained tone of despair highlights the severity of the psalmist's perceived fate. The psalmist feels afflicted "in body and mind, from within and from without, by Satan, by the men of the world, and by the Lord himself" [10]. This deep affliction is not merely physical but also spiritual, as the psalmist feels abandoned by God, crying out to Him "day and night" [5].
The historical setting of Psalm 88 is not explicitly stated, but the themes of suffering, isolation, and near-death experiences resonate with various periods of Israelite history, such as captivity or severe illness. Josephus describes a similar state of extreme suffering and isolation among the Essenes, where those excommunicated were forced to famish until near death, sometimes being readmitted out of compassion [4]. This illustrates the profound misery associated with being cut off from one's community and facing a desolate end.
Augustine of Hippo interprets the suffering described in Psalm 88 as a representation of the trials faced by "holy and faithful disciples" [9]. He suggests that the psalmist's lament serves as a model for believers, teaching them that "these sorrows were not sin, but proofs of human weakness" [9]. This perspective allows for the experience of profound sorrow and pain without necessarily implying divine disfavor, seeing it as a shared human experience, even for figures like the Apostle Paul, who confessed "great heaviness and continual sorrow" [9].
The "pit" can also be understood metaphorically. John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, discusses the concept of Christ's descent into hell, noting that some interpret "buried" and "descended into hell" as having the same meaning, though he questions the necessity of such a "superfluous tautology" [7]. However, the imagery of the pit is often associated with death and the grave, and for Christ, it represented a temporary state before resurrection [6]. Charles Hodge discusses the concept of a "spiritual, or figurative, as well as of a literal resurrection," where individuals or communities are "elevated from a state of depression and misery" [11]. This suggests that being "in the pit" can also describe a state of profound spiritual or communal desolation from which one might be raised.
Sources
- Psalms “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. -- Psalms 88:6”
- Psalms “I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help, -- Psalms 88:4”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Pit — [[978]Hell]”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, CHAPTER 8, section 5: he who is thus separated from them does often die after a miserable manner; for as he is bound by the oath he hath taken, and by the customs he hath been engaged in, he is not at liberty to partake of that food that he meets with elsewhere, but is forced to eat grass, and to famish his body with hunger, till he perish; for which reason they receive many of them again when they are at their last gasp, out of compassion to them, as thinking the miseries they have endured till they came to the very brink of death to be a sufficient pun”
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Psalms 88:9 cross-references: Job 3:23, Job 11:13, Job 16:20, Job 17:7, Psalms 6:7, Psalms 38:10, Psalms 38:12, Psalms 42:3, Psalms 44:20, Psalms 55:17, Psalms 68:31, Psalms 86:3, Psalms 88:1, Psalms 102:9, Psalms 143:6, Lamentations 3:7, Lamentations 3:48, Ezekiel 17:11, John 11:35”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 88:6: Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,.... The Targum interprets it of "captivity which was like unto the lowest pit;'' and so Jarchi and Kimchi. Some understand it of a prison or dungeon, into which the psalmist was put; it may be interpreted of the pit of the grave, into which Christ was laid; though he continued in it not so long as to see corruption; from that prison and judgment he was quickly taken, Psa 16:10, "in darkness"; both corporeal and spiritual, Mat 27:45, and it is in the Hebrew text "in darknesses" (k), denoting both: in the deeps; in the deep wat”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 52: matter attended with no difficulty in clear and unambiguous terms, afterwards 442 to involve rather than illustrate it by clothing it in obscure phraseology? When two expressions having the same meaning are placed together, the latter ought to be explanatory of the former. But what kind of explanation would it be to say, the expression, “ Christ was buried ”, means, that “ he descended into hell ”? My second reason is the improbability that a superfluous tautology of this description should have crept into this compendium, in which”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 88:4: I am counted with them that go down into the pit,.... With the dead, with them that are worthy of death, with malefactors that are judicially put to death, and are not laid in a common grave, but put into a pit together: thus Christ was reckoned and accounted of by the Jews; the sanhedrim counted him worthy of death; and the common people cried out Crucify him; and they did crucify him between two malefactors; and so he was numbered or counted with transgressors, and as one of them, Isa 53:3. I am as a man that hath no strength; for his "strength" was "dried up like”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 8: Augustine — Exposition on Psalms — PSALM LXXXVIII.(10) (part 3): holy and faithful disciples: that if amid human temptations any one among them happened to be in sorrow and pain, he might not therefore think that he was separated from His favour: 425 that the body, like the chorus following its leader, might learn from its Head, that these sorrows were not sin, but proofs of human weakness. We read of the Apostle Paul, a chief member in this body, and we hear him confessing that his soul was full of such evils, when he says, that he feels "great heaviness and continual sorrow in h”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 88:15: I am afflicted,.... In body and mind, from within and from without, by Satan, by the men of the world, and by the Lord himself; which is the common lot of God's people, Psa 34:19 and was the case of the Messiah, who was afflicted both with the tongues and hands of men, by words, by blows, and by the temptations of Satan; and was smitten and afflicted of God, by divine justice, as the sinner's surety: see Psa 22:24 or I am poor (a); which as it is a character, which, for the most part, agrees with the saints, who are the poor of this world God has chosen, to whom th”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 91: those of the same class, and even of the same school. This remark, which applies to the whole book, applies with special force to the passage under consideration. 3. The Bible speaks of a spiritual, or figurative, as well as of a literal resurrection. This figure is used both in reference to individuals and in reference to communities. The sinner, dead in trespasses and sins, is said to be quickened and raised again in Christ Jesus. ( Rom. vi. and Eph. ii. ) Whole communities when elevated from a state of depression and misery, are in pro”