Psalms 88
1 A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry out before You.
A Canticle Psalm to the sons of Korah. Unto the end. For Mahalath, to answer the understanding of Heman the Ezrahite. O Lord, God of my salvation: I have cried out, day and night, in your presence.
2 May my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry.
Let my prayer enter in your sight. Incline your ear to my petition.
For my soul has been filled with evils, and my life has drawn near to Hell. (Sheol h7585)
4 I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength.
I am considered to be among those who will descend into the pit. I have become like a man without assistance,
5 I am forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, who are cut off from Your care.
idle among the dead. I am like the wounded sleeping in sepulchers, whom you no longer remember, and who have been repelled by your hand.
6 You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.
They have lain me in the lower pit: in dark places and in the shadow of death.
7 Your wrath weighs heavily upon me; all Your waves have submerged me.
Your fury has been confirmed over me. And you have brought all your waves upon me.
8 You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.
You have sent my acquaintances far from me. They have set me as an abomination to themselves. I was handed over, yet I did not depart.
9 My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.
My eyes languished before destitution. All day long, I cried out to you, O Lord. I stretched out my hands to you.
10 Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You?
Will you perform wonders for the dead? Or will physicians raise to life, and so confess to you?
11 Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Could anyone declare your mercy in the sepulcher, or your truth from within perdition?
12 Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
Will your wonders be known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion?
13 But to You, O LORD, I cry for help; in the morning my prayer comes before You.
And I have cried out to you, O Lord, and in early morning, my prayer will come before you.
14 Why, O LORD, do You reject me? Why do You hide Your face from me?
Lord, why do you reject my prayer? Why do you turn your face away from me?
15 From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
I am poor, and I have been amid hardships from my youth. And, though I have been exalted, I am humbled and disturbed.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.
Your wrath has crossed into me, and your terrors have disturbed me.
17 All day long they engulf me like water; they enclose me on every side.
They have surrounded me like water, all day long. They have surrounded me, all at once.
18 You have removed my beloved and my friend; darkness is my closest companion.
Friend and neighbor, and my acquaintances, you have sent far away from me, away from misery.
