Psalms 88
1 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.
A song, a psalm of the sons of Korah; for the chief musician; set to the Mahalath Leannoth style. A maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. Yahweh, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer enter in your sight. Incline your ear to my petition.
Listen to my prayer; pay attention to my cry.
For I am filled with troubles, and my life has reached Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
4 I am considered to be among those who will descend into the pit. I have become like a man without assistance,
People treat me like those who go down into the pit; I am a man with no strength.
5 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.
I am abandoned among the dead; I am like the dead who lie in the grave, about whom you care no more because they are cut off from your power.
6 They have lain me in the lower pit: in dark places and in the shadow of death.
You place me in the lowest part of the pit, in the dark and deep places.
7 Your fury has been confirmed over me. And you have brought all your waves upon me.
Your wrath lies heavy on me, and all your waves crash over me. (Selah)
8 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.
Because of you, my acquaintances avoid me. You have made me a shocking sight to them. I am hemmed in and I cannot escape.
9 My eyes languished before destitution. All day long, I cried out to you, O Lord. I stretched out my hands to you.
My eyes grow weary from trouble; All day long I call out to you, Yahweh; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Will you perform wonders for the dead? Or will physicians raise to life, and so confess to you?
Will you do wonders for the dead? Will those who have died rise and praise you? (Selah)
11 Could anyone declare your mercy in the sepulcher, or your truth from within perdition?
Will your covenant faithfulness be proclaimed in the grave, your loyalty in the place of the dead?
12 Will your wonders be known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion?
Will your wonderful deeds be known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the place of forgetfulness?
13 And I have cried out to you, O Lord, and in early morning, my prayer will come before you.
But I cry to you, Yahweh; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Lord, why do you reject my prayer? Why do you turn your face away from me?
Yahweh, why do you reject me? Why do you hide your face from me?
15 I am poor, and I have been amid hardships from my youth. And, though I have been exalted, I am humbled and disturbed.
I have always been afflicted and on the verge of death since my youth. I have suffered from your terrors; I am in despair.
16 Your wrath has crossed into me, and your terrors have disturbed me.
Your angry actions have passed over me, and your terrifying deeds have annihilated me.
17 They have surrounded me like water, all day long. They have surrounded me, all at once.
They surround me like water all the day long; they have all encircled me.
18 Friend and neighbor, and my acquaintances, you have sent far away from me, away from misery.
You have removed every friend and acquaintance from me. My only acquaintance is the darkness.
