The psalmist in Psalm 88:1-9 recorded these words: 

O LORD, the God of my salvation, I have cried out both day and night before You.
Let my prayer come before You [LORD]; Incline Your ear to my cry!
For my soul has had enough troubles, And my life has drawn nigh unto the grave.
I am counted with those who go down into the pit; I am as a man with no strength….
You have put me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the depths.
Your wrath has rested upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves.
You have removed my acquaintances far from me; and made me an abomination to them….
My eye mourns because of my affliction; I have called upon You every day, O LORD.

Though a passage such as this is hard for most young people to understand, due to the unlikelihood that they have yet to experience grievous afflictions… the truth of the matter is, every believer will eventually come to the point of having a “deeply troubled soul.”  The poor man of Psalm 88 was so grievously ill that he was lying at death’s door and had lost the comfortable presence of God — it seemed to him that he had been abandoned and forgotten by God.  He was utterly perplexed that God would so completely abandon him that He would actually hold back any expression of pity or favor, so that his only companion was darkness (v. 18). It is good that this Psalm was included in God’s Word, because every believer will one day know the experience of a deeply troubled soul — incidentally, there are far more “Jobs” (Job 1:6-12) out there in the world than some would have you believe.  All of us, no matter how firm our faith in the Lord (Job 1:1-5; Lk 22:31; 1 Pet 5:8; Jam 4:7), will at some point fall into “great times of trouble,” so that it seems as though God has abandoned us.  When we are subjected to such difficult times, it is important to remember that, as believers, we not only lack the capacity to keep ourselves saved (Num 6:24; 23:19; Is 55:11; Rom 3:3; 1 Cor 1:9; Tit 1:2), but we also lack the capacity to hold on to our own faith (that is simply the reality of our feeble condition — 2 Tim 2:13; Lk 22:31-34). Like the poor suffering saint of Psalm 88, each of us can easily come to that point where we think that God has totally forgotten and deserted us, resulting in a greatly troubled soul.  Most scholars believe this, “the saddest of all psalms,” was included in Scripture to assure the most desperately afflicted believer that God will not forsake him… ever! (Deut. 31:6; Heb 13:5).  

There are two wonderful things to remember when we reach such desperate straits:  First, our salvation and our soul rest in God’s hands alone.  Nothing (not even some profane sin — the natural result of diabolical flesh) can pluck our souls from the safe harbor of God’s protection (Rom 7:18; 8:35-39).  Second, it was God who saved us and it is God who will keep us saved (Jn 6:37-39; 17:2; 18:9; Rom 8:28-31; Eph 1:11).  As the 16th century Scottish Presbyterian minister, David Dickson, said: “God can sustain a soul by secretly supporting a man’s faith without comfortable sense” (A Commentary on the Psalms, published by The Banner of Truth Trust, 1985, pp. 106-107).  Our salvation does not rest upon our feelings, which will wax and wane throughout the difficult experiences of life (one moment we can feel incredibly close to God, and the next moment we might wonder if we even know Him)… nor does it rest upon our performance, which is never pure and without blemish; it is always tainted with sin — the truth of the matter is, there is no room whatsoever for boasting of any great virtue by the child of God — we are saved by grace… start to finish!  

Probably one of the most poignant messages of Psalm 88, is that, in the end, the only thing that really matters in this life is “our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.”  We can float through life on beds of ease, or stumble through from one difficulty after another… yet, when we reach death’s door, the only thing that will matter is our relationship to Christ.  So, if you’re disillusioned by your sinfulness, or perplexed by your seeming lack of faith, “get your eyes off of yourself and focus on Christ" (Rom 7:18; Heb 12:2).  A “self” focus will always lead to discouragement.  As Christians, our number one problem is that we are preoccupied with our [sinful] selves! (Rom 7:18).  We desperately want to “feel good” about us — but that will never be a reality as long as we inhabit sinful flesh — we can only feel good about Jesus! (Heb 12:2).  Humility (brought about by being brought low) is a necessary requisite for godliness.