Scholars have long struggled to interpret the lack of resolution within the individual lament of Psalm 88. Nowhere within the psalmist’s impassioned plea is there any expression of divine deliverance or of trust that the deity will deliver. Rather, the psalm concludes abruptly on the word “darkness,” leaving one to ponder the fate of this troubled psalmist. In an attempt to resolve this theological tension, this paper offers a reading of Psalm 88 which appreciates its literary integrity. After a brief treatment of the superscription, the paper investigates the repetitions and thematic developments within the psalm proper. From this inquiry emerges the recognition that the first and third stanzas of the psalm are cyclically arranged in a way that one can begin to anticipate. Consequently, the differences between stanza one and three become acutely noticeable and informative. For example, there is a near absence of metaphors for Sheol in stanza three; only with the psalm’s last word does this motif return in the third stanza. The second stanza, within which the psalmist tries to rationalize with the deity, only heightens this absence by having the highest density of metaphors for Sheol in the psalm. Thus, the paper argues that one is conditioned to look for Sheol. Taken as a whole, this motif, combined with other repetitive elements within the psalm, forms a structure which clearly indicates a systematic, progressive intensification of the psalmist’s plight within the psalm. Finally, this plight culminates with the psalmist’s entrance into the realm of darkness; that is, with the psalmist’s death. The demise of the psalmist resolves the primary crisis within this psalm, for the psalmist, if not for the theologian.