Twenty-one verses from psalms that suffer out loud, grouped by the question suffering raises.
The psalms do not explain suffering away. Psalm 22 opens with my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, and Psalm 88 ends in darkness. Psalm 44 says a whole people suffered while staying faithful. Other psalms say that God sees affliction and does not despise it, and Psalm 119 says affliction taught the writer something. These are different answers, and the book of Psalms keeps them side by side.
The verses are grouped by the question suffering raises: why, whether God sees it, what it can teach, suffering for doing right, and coming through. Each has a short note on what the verse says. Tick any that help and print them.
Psalms that ask why, and are not answered straight away.
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?
The cry of abandonment, asking why God is so far away. Matthew 27:46 records Jesus crying these words as he was dying.
How long, LORD?Will you forget me forever?How long will you hide your face from me?
How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
How long is asked twice in one verse. The writer feels forgotten and says so to God directly.
LORD, why do you reject my soul?Why do you hide your face from me?
LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
Why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face? Psalm 88 asks and receives no reply within the psalm.
Why do you hide your face,and forget our affliction and our oppression?
Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction? Here a whole community asks the question, not one person.
Verses that say the suffering is noticed.
For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted,neither has he hidden his face from him;but when he cried to him, he heard.
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
The psalm that began with forsaken says later that God has not despised the affliction of the afflicted, nor hidden his face. The turn happens inside one psalm.
I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness,for you have seen my affliction.You have known my soul in adversities.
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
You have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities. The comfort in this verse is being known.
But you do see trouble and grief.You consider it to take it into your hand.You help the victim and the fatherless.
Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
But you do see trouble and grief. The verse goes on: God considers it, takes it into his hand, and helps the victim and the fatherless.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous. The verse counts the afflictions as many and then says the LORD delivers out of them all.
A few writers say they learned something through affliction. They speak of their own experience.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,that I may learn your statutes.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted. The writer says this about his own suffering, looking back, and names what it taught him: your statutes.
This is my comfort in my affliction,for your word has revived me.
This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
This is my comfort in my affliction, for your word has revived me. The comfort is found during the affliction, not after it.
For you, God, have tested us.You have refined us, as silver is refined.
For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Refined as silver is refined. The picture is of metal being tested and purified, and verse 12 says the people went through fire and water to a place of abundance.
Psalms written by people who say they suffered because of their loyalty to God.
Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long.We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
For your sake we are killed all day long, regarded as sheep for the slaughter. Romans 8:36 quotes this verse.
Because for your sake, I have borne reproach.Shame has covered my face.
Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
Because for your sake I have borne reproach. As the writer tells it, his shame comes from his loyalty.
For all day long I have been plagued,and punished every morning.
For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.
All day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning, while the writer has watched the arrogant prosper (73:3). Psalm 73 wrestles with that unfairness until verse 17, when the writer enters God's sanctuary.
Verses that look back on suffering from the other side.
You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles,you will let me live.You will bring us up again from the depths of the earth.
Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
You, who have shown us many and bitter troubles, you will let me live. The same God is named as the one who showed the troubles and the one who brings up from the depths.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit,out of the miry clay.He set my feet on a rock,and gave me a firm place to stand.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
Out of a horrible pit and miry clay, onto a rock and a firm place to stand. Verse 1 says it came after waiting patiently for the LORD.
Several psalms speak of the day of trouble. These verses say what the writers did in those days and where they looked.
The LORD will also be a high tower for the oppressed;a high tower in times of trouble.
The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
The LORD will be a high tower for the oppressed, a high tower in times of trouble. The picture is a tall, safe place above the danger.
For in the day of trouble, he will keep me secretly in his pavilion.In the secret place of his tabernacle, he will hide me.He will lift me up on a rock.
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
In the day of trouble, he will keep me secretly in his pavilion. The verse gathers pictures of shelter: a pavilion, a secret place, a rock.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord.My hand was stretched out in the night, and didn’t get tired.My soul refused to be comforted.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord, and my soul refused to be comforted. The seeking and the lack of comfort sit in the same verse.
In the day of my trouble I will call on you,for you will answer me.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me. The writer decides in advance what he will do when trouble comes.
But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD.He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.
The LORD is the stronghold of the righteous in the time of trouble. It comes near the end of a long psalm about waiting while the wicked seem to do well.
The gospels quote some of these psalms in their accounts of Jesus' death. Matthew 27:46 records him crying my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, the first line of Psalm 22. Luke 23:46 records him saying into your hands I commit my spirit, which echoes Psalm 31:5. Psalm 22 itself moves from that cry to praise before it ends.
Psalm 22, Psalm 44 and Psalm 88 each speak from inside suffering. Psalm 22 moves from abandonment to praise, while Psalm 88 stays in the dark.
Psalm 34:19: many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Psalm 119:71 says it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. The writer is speaking about his own affliction, looking back on it.
Matthew 27:46 records Jesus crying my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, the first line of Psalm 22. Luke 23:46 records him saying words that echo Psalm 31:5.
Psalm 13:1 and 13:2 ask how long four times. Psalm 6:3 and Psalm 90:13 also ask the LORD how long.
Psalms of LamentPsalms for Healing and StrengthPsalms for Grief and the Loss of a Loved OnePsalms for PatiencePsalms of HopePsalms for Doubt and Questioning God