Psalms 88
1 A Song. A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah. To the chief music-maker; put to Mahalath Leannoth. Maschil. Of Heman the Ezrahite. O Lord, God of my salvation, I have been crying to you for help by day and by night:
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 Let my prayer come before you; give 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 numbered among those who go down into the earth; I have become like a man for whom there is no help:
I am considered to be among those who will descend into the pit. I have become like a man without assistance,
5 My soul is among the dead, like those in the underworld, to whom you give no more thought; for they 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 put me in the lowest deep, even in dark places.
They have lain me in the lower pit: in dark places and in the shadow of death.
7 The weight of your wrath is crushing me, all your waves have overcome me. (Selah)
Your fury has been confirmed over me. And you have brought all your waves upon me.
8 You have sent my friends far away from me; you have made me a disgusting thing in their eyes: I am shut up, and not able to come out.
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 are wasting away because of my trouble: Lord, my cry has gone up to you every day, my hands are stretched out 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 Will you do works of wonder for the dead? will the shades come back to give you praise? (Selah)
Will you perform wonders for the dead? Or will physicians raise to life, and so confess to you?
11 Will the story of your mercy be given in the house of the dead? will news of your faith come to the place of destruction?
Could anyone declare your mercy in the sepulcher, or your truth from within perdition?
12 May there be knowledge of your wonders in the dark? or of your righteousness where memory is dead?
Will your wonders be known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion?
13 But to you did I send up my cry, O Lord; in the morning my prayer came before you.
And I have cried out to you, O Lord, and in early morning, my prayer will come before you.
14 Lord, why have you sent away my soul? why is your face covered from me?
Lord, why do you reject my prayer? Why do you turn your face away from me?
15 I have been troubled and in fear of death from the time when I was young; your wrath is hard on me, and I have no strength.
I am poor, and I have been amid hardships from my youth. And, though I have been exalted, I am humbled and disturbed.
16 The heat of your wrath has gone over me; I am broken by your cruel punishments.
Your wrath has crossed into me, and your terrors have disturbed me.
17 They are round me all the day like water; they have made a circle about me.
They have surrounded me like water, all day long. They have surrounded me, all at once.
18 You have sent my friends and lovers far from me; I am gone from the memory of those who are dear to me.
Friend and neighbor, and my acquaintances, you have sent far away from me, away from misery.
