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 of a psalm for the sons of Core: unto the end, for Maheleth, to answer understanding of Eman the Ezrahite. O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee.
2 May my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry.
Let my prayer come in before thee: incline thy ear to my petition.
For my soul is filled with evils: and my life hath drawn nigh to hell. (Sheol h7585)
4 I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength.
I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am become as a man without help,
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.
Free among the dead. Like the slain sleeping in the sepulchres, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cast off from thy hand.
6 You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.
They have laid me in the lower pit: in the dark places, and in the shadow of death.
7 Your wrath weighs heavily upon me; all Your waves have submerged me.
Thy wrath is strong over me: and all thy waves thou hast brought in upon me.
8 You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.
Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me: they have set me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and came not forth:
9 My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.
My eyes languished through poverty. All the day I cried to thee, O Lord: I stretched out my hands to thee.
10 Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You?
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? or shall physicians raise to life, and give praise to thee?
11 Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon?
Shall any one in the sepulchre declare thy mercy: and thy truth in destruction?
12 Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
Shall thy wonders be known in the dark; and thy justice in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But to You, O LORD, I cry for help; in the morning my prayer comes before You.
But I, O Lord, have cried to thee: and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee.
14 Why, O LORD, do You reject me? Why do You hide Your face from me?
Lord, why castest thou off my prayer: why turnest thou away thy face 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 in labours from my youth: and being exalted have been humbled and troubled.
16 Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.
Thy wrath hath come upon me: and thy terrors have troubled me.
17 All day long they engulf me like water; they enclose me on every side.
They have come round about me like water all the day: they have compassed me about together.
18 You have removed my beloved and my friend; darkness is my closest companion.
Friend and neighbour thou hast put far from me: and my acquaintance, because of misery.
