Eleven verses from psalms whose writers were left on their own, grouped by the kind of loneliness.
Loneliness runs all through the psalms, though the word itself is rare. Writers say their friends stand far off, their family treats them as strangers, no one cares for their soul, and they are like a sparrow alone on a housetop. Some add that God feels absent too. The psalms do not answer this with advice about making friends. They answer it by speaking to God, and a few say plainly that he is present where no one else is.
The first three sections name the kind of loneliness: people gone, no one caring, and God far away. The last gathers the verses about presence. Tick the ones that fit and print them as one sheet.
Loneliness caused by other people pulling away, through illness, shame or conflict.
You have put lover and friend far from me,and my friends into darkness.
Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.
You have put lover and friend far from me. It is the last verse of Psalm 88, and the psalm ends in darkness rather than company.
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague.My kinsmen stand far away.
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
My lovers and my friends stand aloof, and my kinsmen stand far away. In this psalm the distance comes with illness: they keep away from my plague.
I have become a stranger to my brothers,an alien to my mother’s children.
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.
A stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's children. The loneliness here is inside a family.
When my father and my mother forsake me,then the LORD will take me up.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. It names the closest people there are, and says that even if they go, the LORD will take me up.
For the feeling that nobody notices, or would notice.
Look on my right, and see;for there is no one who is concerned for me.Refuge has fled from me.No one cares for my soul.
I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
Look on my right, and see: there is no one who is concerned for me. The heading places David in a cave, and the verse ends: no one cares for my soul.
I watch, and have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop.
I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
Like a sparrow alone on the housetop. The writer is awake and watching, a small bird with no company.
Turn to me, and have mercy on me,for I am desolate and afflicted.
Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.
Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted. A direct request to be noticed. The next verse adds that the troubles of my heart are enlarged.
The hardest loneliness in the psalms, when even God seems absent. The psalms still say it to him.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me. Matthew 27:46 records Jesus crying these words at his crucifixion.
Why do you stand far off, LORD?Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
Why do you stand far off, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Two questions with no answer yet, and the psalm keeps talking to God while he feels distant.
Verses about presence: places and situations where the psalms say God is still there.
Where could I go from your Spirit?Or where could I flee from your presence?
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Where could I go from your Spirit? The verses after it name heaven, Sheol and the far side of the sea, and find God in each.
God sets the lonely in families.He brings out the prisoners with singing,but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
God sets the lonely in families. The King James Version says the solitary. The verse before calls God a father of the fatherless and a defender of widows.
Psalm 142 is written from a cave, according to its heading, and says no one cares for my soul before calling God my refuge. Psalm 25:16 is a short prayer: turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.
Psalm 68:6. The King James Version reads: God setteth the solitary in families.
Psalm 102:7 says I have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop. Psalm 88 ends with lover and friend put far away.
Psalm 22:1, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me. Matthew 27:46 records it.
Psalms for DepressionPsalms for a Broken HeartPsalms About FriendshipPsalms for Comfort and StrengthPsalms for Family and HomePsalms of Lament