Psalm 88

A Prayer for Help in Despair

88A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

For the music director; according to Mahalath Leannoth.

A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.^a

¹O Yahweh, God of my salvation,

I cry out by day and through the night before you.

²Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry.

³For my soul is full with troubles,

and my life approaches Sheol.

⁴I am reckoned with those descending to the pit.

I am like a man^b without strength,^c

⁵set free^d among the dead,

like the slain lying in the grave,

whom you no longer remember,

even those cut off from your hand.

⁶You have set me in the pit below,

in dark places, in the depths.

⁷Your wrath presses upon me,

and you afflict me with all your waves. Selah

⁸You have removed my acquaintances far from me.

You have made me detestable^e to them.

I am confined and cannot go out.

⁹My eye languishes from misery.

I call on you, O Yahweh, every day;

I spread out my hands^f to you.

¹⁰Do you work wonders^g for the dead?

Or do the departed spirits^h rise up to praise you? Selah

¹¹Is your loyal love told in the grave,

or your faithfulness in the underworld?ⁱ

¹²Are your wonders^j known in the darkness,

or your righteousness^k in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³But as for me, I cry for help to you, O Yahweh,

and in the morning my prayer comes before you.

¹⁴Why do you reject my soul, O Yahweh?

Why do you hide your face from me?

¹⁵I am afflicted and perishing from my youth.

I bear your terrors. I am distraught.^l

¹⁶Your burning anger has passed over me;

your sudden fears have destroyed me.

¹⁷They surround me like water all the day;

they circle about me altogether.

¹⁸You have removed loved one and friend far from me,

my acquaintances far from my darkness.