Psalm 88

PSALM 88

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹O Lord, my God, I call for help by day;

I cry out in the night before thee.

²Let my prayer come before thee,

incline thy ear to my cry!

³For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

⁴I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

⁵like one forsaken among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom thou dost remember no more,

for they are cut off from thy hand.

⁶Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

⁷Thy wrath lies heavy upon me,

and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves. [Selah]

⁸Thou hast caused my companions to shun me;

thou hast made me a thing of horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

⁹my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon thee, O Lord;

I spread out my hands to thee.

¹⁰Dost thou work wonders for the dead?

Do the shades rise up to praise thee? [Selah]

¹¹Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave,

or thy faithfulness in Abaddon?

¹²Are thy wonders known in the darkness,

or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³But I, O Lord, cry to thee;

in the morning my prayer comes before thee.

¹⁴O Lord, why dost thou cast me off?

Why dost thou hide thy face from me?

¹⁵Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer thy terrors; I am helpless.

¹⁶Thy wrath has swept over me;

thy dread assaults destroy me.

¹⁷They surround me like a flood all day long;

they close in upon me together.

¹⁸Thou hast caused lover and friend to shun me;

my companions are in darkness.