The Bible does not explain away suffering; it gives words to cry out and a God who comes close. Jesus prayed Psalm 22 on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Psalm 22:1). Isaiah says of God and His people, "In all their affliction he was afflicted" (Isaiah 63:9), and Peter urges sufferers to "commit the keeping of their souls to him" (1 Peter 4:19).
Suffering asks questions that tidy answers cannot reach. Why did this happen? Where is God? How long will it last? Some people search for Bible verses about suffering in the middle of a diagnosis, a death, chronic pain or a slow loss; others are walking alongside someone who is hurting and do not know what to say. This page is not about getting through a test with a smile. It gathers twelve King James verses that give you permission to lament, show a Savior who knows pain from the inside, and model faith that holds on even without every answer. For trials that strengthen faith, see trials and tribulations; for loss, see grief.
Permission to cry out: honest laments
1. Psalms 22:1
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?"
David's psalm begins with the rawest question in the Bible, and Jesus prayed its first line aloud from the cross (Matthew 27:46). If the Son of God could say why to His Father, so can you. Asking God hard questions is not a lack of faith; it is talking to Him instead of walking away. The psalm moves slowly from abandonment to trust, but it does not skip the abandonment.
2. Habakkuk 1:2
"O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!"
Habakkuk is a prophet who argues with God. He watches violence and injustice and asks how long. God's answers do not come quickly, and when they do they are not what Habakkuk expected. Yet the book ends with one of the great statements of faith in the dark (Habakkuk 3:17-18). The Bible includes complaints like this so that sufferers know their prayers are allowed.
3. Psalms 88:1
"O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:"
Psalm 88 is often called the darkest psalm. It has no happy ending: its last line says, "Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness" (Psalm 88:18). Yet the very first line calls God God of my salvation, and the writer keeps praying day and night. Sometimes faith looks like nothing more than refusing to stop talking to God. That counts.
4. Psalms 22:24
"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."
Later in the same psalm Jesus quoted, the mood turns. God hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. Suffering can make people feel dirty, ashamed or rejected, as if pain were proof that God is disgusted with them. This verse says the opposite. He did not hide His face. When he cried unto him, he heard.
A God who suffers with us
5. Isaiah 63:9
"In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old."
Isaiah looks back over Israel's history: slavery in Egypt, the desert years, defeat and exile. In all of it, God was not a distant observer. In all their affliction he was afflicted. He carried them like a parent carries a child. The God of the Bible is not untouched by human pain. That truth reaches its fullest point in Jesus.
6. Mark 14:34
"And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch."
In the garden of Gethsemane, the night before the cross, Jesus tells His closest friends that His soul is crushed with sorrow unto death. He does not hide it or pretend to be fine. He asks them to stay awake with Him. Luke adds that "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (Luke 22:44). Jesus knows what it feels like to dread what is coming.
7. Matthew 26:39
"And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Jesus prays honestly, let this cup pass from me, and then surrenders, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Both halves matter. You are allowed to ask God to take the suffering away. Surrender is not pretending you want the pain; it is trusting the Father with it. See surrender and letting go.
8. 2 Corinthians 1:5
"For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ."
Paul wrote this letter after an ordeal so heavy that he "despaired even of life" (2 Corinthians 1:8). He does not claim believers are spared suffering. He says that as suffering overflows, so does comfort by Christ. The comfort is not always an explanation; often it is presence, the people God sends, and the strength to take the next step.
Holding on without every answer
9. Job 2:10
"But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips."
Job has lost his children, his wealth and his health, and his wife urges him to curse God and die. His reply is not cheerful; it is stubborn. He will not let God be only the God of good days. The Bible says that in all this did not Job sin with his lips. Later in the book Job will complain bitterly, and God will still say Job spoke rightly (Job 42:7).
10. Job 13:15
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him."
This is faith with clenched teeth. Job does not understand what God is doing and says so: I will maintain mine own ways before him, meaning he will argue his case. But he will not let go: yet will I trust in him. Trust and lament are not opposites in the Bible. Job's friends had neat explanations for his suffering, and at the end God said they were wrong (Job 42:7).
11. Job 42:5
"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee."
God never tells Job why he suffered. Instead God speaks out of a whirlwind and shows Job the wonders of creation (Job 38 to 41). Job's response is that he had heard of God before, but now mine eye seeth thee. Sometimes suffering does not end with an answer but with an encounter, a deeper knowing of God that the person could not have had any other way.
12. 1 Peter 4:19
"Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."
Peter wrote to believers who were being slandered and mistreated for their faith. His counsel is simple: hand your soul over to God for safekeeping, like depositing something valuable with someone trustworthy, and keep doing good. He calls God a faithful Creator. The One who made you knows how to keep you, even when you cannot see the end. See persecution.
A short prayer
God of my salvation, I do not understand what is happening, and some days it feels like You are far away. Thank You that I can tell You so. Thank You that You were afflicted in our affliction, and that Jesus knew sorrow unto death. I hand You what I cannot carry: my pain, my questions and the people I love. Hold on to me when I cannot hold on to You, and let me see You in this. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
New to this method? See our Bible study guide or pick a Bible reading plan.
Write your honest prayers each day in the 30-Day Prayer Journal · Print our free Psalm 23 printable for the valley · Print our free Bible verse bookmarks
Frequently asked questions
Why does God allow suffering?
The Bible never gives one simple answer, and it warns against neat explanations: Job's friends assumed his suffering was punishment, and God said they were wrong (Job 42:7). Scripture does say that suffering entered through sin and the brokenness of the world (Genesis 3; Romans 8:20-22), that God can bring good out of it (Genesis 50:20), and that He will one day end it, when "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (Revelation 21:4). Meanwhile He does not stand at a distance: He came in Jesus and suffered too.
Is it a sin to question God when I am suffering?
No. Psalm 22, Psalm 88, Habakkuk, Job, Jeremiah and Lamentations are full of honest questions and complaints, and they are in the Bible as models of prayer. Jesus Himself cried why on the cross. What the Bible warns against is walking away from God in bitterness, not bringing Him your bitterness. Questions spoken to God are a form of faith.
What is the difference between suffering and trials in the Bible?
They overlap. Trials (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7) emphasise testing that strengthens faith and endurance. Suffering is the wider word for pain of every kind, including grief, illness and injustice, which may not feel like a test at all. Our trials and tribulations page focuses on endurance; this page focuses on lament and on God's presence when there is no clear purpose in sight.
What can I say to someone who is suffering?
Often less than you think. Job's friends did best in the first week, when they sat with him in silence (Job 2:13). Say you are sorry, that you love them and that you are praying. Avoid explaining their pain or rushing them to a lesson. Offer practical help such as meals, rides or a visit. Paul says God comforts us "that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble" (2 Corinthians 1:4). See encouraging others.
Long seasons of suffering can lead to depression, and it is not a failure of faith to get help. Talk with a pastor, a counselor or your doctor. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, in the US call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 911 in an emergency.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Trials and tribulations · Grief · Strength in hard times · A broken heart · Persecution · It is well with my soul · Depression · God always being with us
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