Psalms 88

I Cry Out before You

A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹O LORD, the God of my salvation,

day and night I cry out before You.1

²May my prayer come before You;

incline Your ear to my cry.1

³For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.1

⁴I am counted among those descending to the Pit.

I am like a man without strength.1

⁵I 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.1

⁶You have laid me in the lowest Pit,

in the darkest of the depths.1

⁷Your wrath weighs heavily upon me;

all Your waves have submerged me.

Selah1

⁸You have removed my friends from me;

You have made me repulsive to them;

I am confined and cannot escape.1

⁹My eyes grow dim with grief.

I call to You daily, O LORD;

I spread out my hands to You.1

¹⁰Do You work wonders for the dead?

Do departed spirits rise up to praise You?

Selah1

¹¹Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave,

Your faithfulness in Abaddon?1

¹²Will Your wonders be known in the darkness,

or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?1

¹³But to You, O LORD, I cry for help;

in the morning my prayer comes before You.1

¹⁴Why, O LORD, do You reject me?

Why do You hide Your face from me?1

¹⁵From my youth I was afflicted and near death.

I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.1

¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me;

Your terrors have destroyed me.2

¹⁷All day long they engulf me like water;

they enclose me on every side.1

¹⁸You have removed my beloved and my friend;

darkness is my closest companion.1