Psalm 88

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹Lord, you are the God who saves me;

day and night I cry out to you.

²May my prayer come before you;

turn your ear to my cry.

³I am overwhelmed with troubles

and my life draws near to death.

⁴I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am like one without strength.

⁵I am set apart with the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

who are cut off from your care.

⁶You have put me in the lowest pit,

in the darkest depths.

⁷Your wrath lies heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

⁸You have taken from me my closest friends

and have made me repulsive to them.

I am confined and cannot escape;

⁹my eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, Lord, every day;

I spread out my hands to you.

¹⁰Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

¹¹Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destruction?

¹²Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,

or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³But I cry to you for help, Lord;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

¹⁴Why, Lord, do you reject me

and hide your face from me?

¹⁵From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;

I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me;

your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁷All day long they surround me like a flood;

they have completely engulfed me.

¹⁸You have taken from me friend and neighbor—

darkness is my closest friend.