Psalm 88
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 88
Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. To the leader: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
at night, when I cry out before you,(A)
2 let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.(B)
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.(C)
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
I am like those who have no help,(D)
5 like those forsaken 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.(E)
6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.(F)
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah(G)
8 You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;(H)
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.(I)
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah(J)
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness
or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?(K)
13 But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.(L)
14 O Lord, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?(M)
15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.[a](N)
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dread assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
from all sides they close in on me.(O)
18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.(P)
Footnotes
- 88.15 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Psalm 88
King James Version
88 O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;
3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee have I cried, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.
14 Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.