Psalm 88

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm Hebrew maskil. This may be a literary or musical term. of Heman the Ezrahite. ¹O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day. I come to you at night. ² Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry. ³ For my life is full of troubles, and death Hebrew Sheol. draws near. ⁴ I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left. ⁵ They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave. I am forgotten, cut off from your care. ⁶ You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths. ⁷ Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me.Interlude

⁸You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them. I am in a trap with no way of escape. ⁹ My eyes are blinded by my tears. Each day I beg for your help, O LORD; I lift my hands to you for mercy. ¹⁰ Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you?Interlude

¹¹Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love? Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Hebrew in Abaddon? ¹² Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds? Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness? ¹³ O LORD, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day. ¹⁴ O LORD, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me?

¹⁵I have been sick and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors. ¹⁶ Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have paralyzed me. ¹⁷ They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long. They have engulfed me completely. ¹⁸ You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.