Psalm 88
I Cry Out before You
A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth.1 A Maskil 2 of Heman the Ezrahite.
¹ O LORD, the God of my salvation, day and night I cry out before You.
² May my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry.
³ For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.
⁴ I am counted among those descending to the Pit. I am like a man without strength.
⁵ I 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.
⁶ You have laid me in the lowest Pit, in the darkest of the depths.
⁷ Your wrath weighs heavily upon me; all Your waves have submerged me. Selah
⁸ You have removed my friends from me; You have made me repulsive to them; I am confined and cannot escape.
⁹ My eyes grow dim with grief. I call to You daily, O LORD; I spread out my hands to You.
¹⁰ Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah
¹¹ Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave, Your faithfulness in Abaddon 3?
¹² Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
¹³ But to You, O LORD, I cry for help; in the morning my prayer comes before You.
¹⁴ Why, O LORD, do You reject me? Why do You hide Your face from me?
¹⁵ From my youth I was afflicted and near death. I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.
¹⁶ Your wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.
¹⁷ All day long they engulf me like water; they enclose me on every side.
¹⁸ You have removed my beloved and my friend; darkness is my closest companion.