Psalms 88

A Despairing Lament

¹A song; a psalm of the Korahites. For the leader; according to Mahalath . For singing; a maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

²Lord , the God of my salvation, I call out by day;

at night I cry aloud in your presence.

³Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry.

⁴For my soul is filled with troubles;[#In imagination the psalmist already experiences the alienation of Sheol.; #Ps 28:1; 30:4; 40:3; 86:13; 143:7; Nm 16:33; Jb 17:1; Jon 2:7.]

my life draws near to Sheol.

⁵I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit;

I am like a warrior without strength.

⁶My couch is among the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave.

You remember them no more;

they are cut off from your influence.

⁷You plunge me into the bottom of the pit,

into the darkness of the abyss.

⁸Your wrath lies heavy upon me;

all your waves crash over me.

⁹Because of you my acquaintances shun me;

you make me loathsome to them;

Caged in, I cannot escape;

¹⁰my eyes grow dim from trouble.

All day I call on you, Lord ;

I stretch out my hands to you.

¹¹Do you work wonders for the dead?[#The psalmist seeks to persuade God to act out of concern for divine honor: the shades give you no worship, so keep me alive to offer you praise.]

Do the shades arise and praise you?

¹²Is your mercy proclaimed in the grave,

your faithfulness among those who have perished?

¹³Are your marvels declared in the darkness,

your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹⁴But I cry out to you, Lord ;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

¹⁵Why do you reject my soul, Lord ,

and hide your face from me?

¹⁶I have been mortally afflicted since youth;

I have borne your terrors and I am made numb.

¹⁷Your wrath has swept over me;

your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁸All day they surge round like a flood;

from every side they encircle me.

¹⁹Because of you friend and neighbor shun me;[#Jb 19:13.]

my only friend is darkness.