Psalm 88
I Cry Out Day and Night Before You
A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
[1] O LORD, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.
[2] Let 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 who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
[5] like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
[6] You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
[7] Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
[8] You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
[9] my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to you.
[10] Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
[11] Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
[12] Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
[13] But I, O LORD, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
[14] O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?
[15] Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
[16] Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.
[17] They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.
[18] You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness. (ESV)
