Psalm 88:1-18
A song. A melody of the sons of Korʹah.+ To the director; in the style of Maʹha·lath,* to be sung alternately. Masʹkil* of Heʹman+ the Ezʹra·hite.
88 O Jehovah, the God of my salvation,+By day I cry out,And by night I come before you.+
2 Let my prayer come to you,+Incline your ear* to my cry for help.+
3 For my soul* has been filled with calamity,+And my life is on the brink of the Grave.*+
4 I am already counted among those going down to the pit;*+I have become a helpless man,*+
5 Left among the deadLike the slain lying in a grave,Whom you remember no longerAnd who have been separated from your care.*
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,In dark places, in a large abyss.
7 Your rage weighs heavily on me,+And you overwhelm me with your crashing waves. (Selah)
8 You have driven my acquaintances far away from me;+You have made me something detestable to them.
I am trapped and cannot escape.
9 My eye is worn out because of my affliction.+
I call on you, O Jehovah, all day long;+To you I spread out my hands.
10 Will you perform wonders for the dead?
Can those powerless in death rise up to praise you?+ (Selah)
11 Will your loyal love be declared in the grave,Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?*
12 Will your wonders be known in the darknessOr your righteousness in the land of oblivion?+
13 But I still cry to you for help, O Jehovah,+Each morning my prayer comes before you.+
14 Why, O Jehovah, do you reject me?*+
Why do you hide your face from me?+
15 From my youth on,I have been afflicted and ready to perish;+I am numb from the terrible things you allow me to suffer.
16 Your burning anger overwhelms me;+Your terrors destroy me.
17 They surround me like waters all day long;They close in on me from all sides.*
18 You have driven my friends and companions far away from me;+Darkness has become my companion.
Footnotes
^ Or “Bend down and listen.”
^ Or “like a man without strength.”
^ Or “grave.”
^ Lit., “hand.”
^ Or “in Abaddon.”
^ Or “my soul.”
^ Or possibly, “all at once.”