Psalms 88
1 O Yhwh God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
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 thee: incline thine ear unto 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 with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
I am considered to be among those who will descend into the pit. I have become like a man without assistance,
5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
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 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
They have lain me in the lower pit: in dark places and in the shadow of death.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. (Selah)
Your fury has been confirmed over me. And you have brought all your waves upon me.
8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
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 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Yhwh, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
My eyes languished before destitution. All day long, I cried out to you, O Lord. I stretched out my hands to you.
10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? (Selah)
Will you perform wonders for the dead? Or will physicians raise to life, and so confess to you?
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
Could anyone declare your mercy in the sepulcher, or your truth from within perdition?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
Will your wonders be known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion?
13 But unto thee have I cried, O Yhwh; and in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.
And I have cried out to you, O Lord, and in early morning, my prayer will come before you.
14 Yhwh, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
Lord, why do you reject my prayer? Why do you turn your face away from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
I am poor, and I have been amid hardships from my youth. And, though I have been exalted, I am humbled and disturbed.
16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
Your wrath has crossed into me, and your terrors have disturbed me.
17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
They have surrounded me like water, all day long. They have surrounded me, all at once.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.
Friend and neighbor, and my acquaintances, you have sent far away from me, away from misery.
