The Meaning of Psalms 88:15 Explained

Psalms 88:15

KJV: I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

YLT: I am afflicted, and expiring from youth, I have borne Thy terrors -- I pine away.

Darby: I am afflicted and expiring from my youth up; I suffer thy terrors, and I am distracted.

ASV: I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I [am] afflicted  and ready to die  from [my] youth  up: [while] I suffer  thy terrors  I am distracted. 

What does Psalms 88:15 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 88:1-18 - A Cry From The Waves
Most of the psalms which begin in sorrow end in exuberant joy and praise. This is an exception. There seems to be no break in the monotony of grief and despair. In Psalms 88:1-8 it would appear that the psalmist was oppressed by some loathsome disorder which made even his friends shrink from companionship. But it is a hopeful sign when, even in such circumstances, a man can still speak of God as "the God of my salvation."
In Psalms 88:9-18 the psalmist combats his despair by reminding God and himself that his has been a praying soul. Surely the Almighty will not forget his outstretched hands, nor the prayers that have anticipated the morning! It is a true argument. That you can pray at all is a sure sign that the divine Spirit is within your heart. From unknown depths He is helping your infirmity, and this proves that God has not forgotten or forsaken you. If just now life's bark is overwhelmed with difficulty, God rules the waves. The storm-wind will presently subside at His rebuke. Lover and friend will again stand round about you, and your soul will come back into light. God's days are not like man's-from morning to evening, but from dark to dawn. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 88

1  A prayer containing a grievous complaint

What do the individual words in Psalms 88:15 mean?

Afflicted I [have been] and ready to die from [my] youth I suffer Your terrors I am distraught
עָ֘נִ֤י אֲנִ֣י וְגֹוֵ֣עַ מִנֹּ֑עַר נָשָׂ֖אתִי אֵמֶ֣יךָ אָפֽוּנָה

עָ֘נִ֤י  Afflicted 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: עָנִי  
Sense: poor, afflicted, humble, wretched.
אֲנִ֣י  I  [have  been] 
Parse: Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אֲנִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
וְגֹוֵ֣עַ  and  ready  to  die 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: גָּוַע  
Sense: to expire, die, perish, give up the ghost, yield up the ghost, be dead, be ready to die.
מִנֹּ֑עַר  from  [my]  youth 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: נׄעַר  
Sense: youth, boyhood, early life.
נָשָׂ֖אתִי  I  suffer 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
אֵמֶ֣יךָ  Your  terrors 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֵימָה 
Sense: terror, dread.
אָפֽוּנָה  I  am  distraught 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: אָפוּנָה 
Sense: (Qal) to be perplexed, be distracted.