Psalm 88
Prayer in Affliction
1 A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the director. According to Mahalath. For singing. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
2 O Lord, the God of my salvation,
day and night I cry out to you.
3 Let my prayer come before you;
give ear to my cry for help.
4 For my soul is filled with misery,
and my life draws near to the netherworld.
5 I am numbered among those who go down to the pit;
all strength has failed me.
6 I have been abandoned among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no longer
and whom your hand has abandoned.
7 You have lowered me into the depths of the pit,
into the darkest regions of the abyss.
8 Your wrath lies heavy upon me;
all your waves engulf me. Selah
9 You have caused my closest friends to shun me
and made me hateful in their sight.
I am shut in with no means of escape,
10 and my eyes grow dim with my suffering.
Every day I call out to you, O Lord,
and spread out my hands to you.
11 Do you perform wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up and give you praise? Selah
12 Is your kindness celebrated in the grave,
or your faithfulness in the tomb?
13 Are your wonders known in the region of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
14 But for my part, I cry out to you, O Lord;
in the morning my prayer rises before you.
15 Why do you cast me away, O Lord?
Why do you hide your face from me?
16 Since infancy I have been wretched and close to death;
I have borne your terrors
and have now reached the point of exhaustion.
17 Your wrath has weighed down upon me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
18 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they encircle me completely.
19 You have caused my friends and neighbors to shun me;
my sole companion now is darkness.
Footnotes
- Psalm 88:1
- Psalm 88:1
- Psalm 88:2
- Psalm 88:4
- Psalm 88:4
- Psalm 88:5
- Psalm 88:6
- Psalm 88:7
- Psalm 88:9
- Psalm 88:10
- Psalm 88:10
- Psalm 88:11
- Psalm 88:12
- Psalm 88:13
- Psalm 88:14
- Psalm 88:15
- Psalm 88:19
