Psalm 88
Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.
A prayer from the darkness
1A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the music director. On mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. 2LORD, God who saves me, \q I have cried for help by day, and at night I am before you. 3Let my prayer make its way into your presence; \q bend down and hear me as I cry. 4For I have had my fill of troubles, \q and my life has come to the edge of Sheol. 5I am reckoned with those who descend into the pit; \q I have become like someone with no strength left. 6I am turned loose among the dead, \q like those killed in battle who lie buried, whom you no longer keep in mind, \q who are beyond the reach of your hand. 7You have laid me at the bottom of the pit, \q in places of darkness, in the deep waters. 8Your fury presses down on me; \q you have crushed me under all your waves. Selah 9You have driven my friends away from me \q and made me loathsome to them; \q I am shut in, with no way out. 10My eyes are worn out with misery. \q Day after day I call on you, LORD, \q holding out my hands to you. 11Are your wonders done for the dead? \q Do the spirits of the dead stand up to give you thanks? Selah 12Does anyone tell of your loyal love in the grave, \q or of your faithfulness in Abaddon? 13Will anyone in the darkness know your wonders, \q or your saving justice in the land where all is forgotten? 14As for me, LORD, I keep calling to you for help; \q at dawn my prayer is there to meet you. 15LORD, why do you cast me off? \q Why do you turn your face away from me? 16From my youth I have been afflicted and close to dying; \q I bear your terrors and am at a loss. 17Your blazing anger has rolled over me; \q your terrors have put an end to me. 18Like water they swirl around me the whole day; \q from every side at once they close in. 19You have taken far from me those I love and my friends; \q my one companion is the dark.