Psalm 88

A Prayer for Help in Despondency

A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath Leannoth.” A ^aContemplation of Heman the Ezrahite.

O LORD, God of my salvation,

I have cried out day and night before You.

²Let my prayer come before You;

^bIncline Your ear to my cry.

³For my soul is full of troubles,

And my life draws near to the grave.

⁴I am counted with those who go^c down to the pit;

I am like a man who has no strength,

^5dAdrift among the dead,

Like the slain who lie in the grave,

Whom You remember no more,

And who are cut off from Your hand.

⁶You have laid me in the lowest pit,

In darkness, in the depths.

⁷Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

And You have afflicted me with all Your waves.

Selah

⁸You have ^eput away my acquaintances far from me;

You have made me an abomination to them;

I am shut up, and I cannot get out;

⁹My eye wastes away because of affliction.

LORD, I have called daily upon You;

I have stretched out my hands to You.

¹⁰Will You work wonders for the dead?

Shall ^fthe dead arise and praise You?

Selah

¹¹Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?

Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?

¹²Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?

And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³But to You I have cried out, O LORD,

And in the morning my prayer comes before You.

¹⁴LORD, why do You cast off my soul?

Why do You hide Your face from me?

¹⁵I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;

I suffer Your terrors;

I am distraught.

¹⁶Your fierce wrath has gone over me;

Your terrors have ^gcut me off.

¹⁷They came around me all day long like water;

They engulfed me altogether.

¹⁸Loved one and friend You have put far from me,

And my acquaintances into darkness.