I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

88 A Song. A Psalm of zthe Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to aMahalath Leannoth. A Maskil1 of bHeman the Ezrahite.

1  O Lord, cGod of my salvation,

I dcry out day and night before you.

2  Let my prayer come before you;

eincline your ear to my cry!

3  For my soul is full of troubles,

and fmy life draws near to gSheol.

4  I am counted among those who hgo down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

5  like one set loose among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom iyou remember no more,

for they are jcut off from your hand.

6  You have put me in kthe depths of the pit,

in the lregions dark and mdeep.

7  Your wrath nlies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with oall your waves. Selah

8  You have caused pmy companions to shun me;

you have made me qa horror2 to them.

I am rshut in so that I cannot escape;

9  smy eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O Lord;

I tspread out my hands to you.

10  Do you work wonders for the dead?

uDo the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12  Are your vwonders known in wthe darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of xforgetfulness?

13  But I, O Lord, cry yto you;

zin the morning my prayer comes before you.

14  O Lord, why ado you cast my soul away?

Why bdo you hide your face from me?

15  Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.3

16  Your wrath has swept over me;

your cdreadful assaults destroy me.

17  They dsurround me like a flood eall day long;

they fclose in on me together.

18  You have caused gmy beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.4