Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of #Ps. 42, title the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to #Ps. 53, title Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil#88:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms of #1 Kgs. 4:31; 1 Chr. 2:6Heman the Ezrahite.

1 O Lord, *See Ps. 24:5God of my salvation,

I *Ps. 22:2;Luke 18:7cry out day and night before you.

2 Let my prayer come before you;

*See Ps. 31:2incline your ear to my cry!

3 For my soul is full of troubles,

and *[Ps. 107:18] my life draws near to *See Ps. 16:10Sheol.

4 I am counted among those who *See Ps. 28:1go down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

5 like one set loose among the dead,

like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom *[Ps. 31:12] you remember no more,

for they are *Isa. 53:8cut off from your hand.

6 You have put me in *[Ps. 63:9] the depths of the pit,

in the *ver. 12, 18;Ps. 143:3;Lam. 3:6regions dark and *Ps. 69:15deep.

7 Your wrath *[Ps. 32:4] lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with *Ps. 42:7all your waves. Selah

8 You have caused *ver. 18;Ps. 142:4;See Job 19:13my companions to shun me;

you have made me *Job 30:10a horror*88:8 Or an abomination to them.

I am *Jer. 32:2shut in so that I cannot escape;

9 *[Ps. 6:7] my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon you, O Lord;

I *See Job 11:13spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you work wonders for the dead?

*[Ps. 6:5]Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12 Are your *Ps. 89:5wonders known in *ver. 6;Job 10:21the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of *[Eccles. 9:5]forgetfulness?

13 But I, O Lord, cry *Ps. 30:2to you;

*See Ps. 5:3in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14 O Lord, why *See Ps. 44:9do you cast my soul away?

Why *See Job 13:24do you hide your face from me?

15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.*88:15 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

16 Your wrath has swept over me;

your *Job 6:4;9:34dreadful assaults destroy me.

17 They *See Ps. 118:10-12surround me like a flood *Ps. 86:3all day long;

they *Ps. 18:4;22:16;[Ps. 118:10]close in on me together.

18 You have caused *See Job 19:13,14my beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.*88:18 Or darkness has become my only companion