NIV

Psalms 88

1<pb/><e>A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.</e><f>[165]</f> A <e>maskil</e><f>[166]</f> of Heman the Ezrahite. <pb/><t>LORD, you are the God who saves me;</t> <t>day and night I cry out to you.</t>
2<t>May my prayer come before you;</t> <t>turn your ear to my cry. <pb/></t>
3<t>I am overwhelmed with troubles</t> <t>and my life draws near to death.</t>
4<t>I am counted among those who go down to the pit;</t> <t>I am like one without strength.</t>
5<t>I am set apart with the dead,</t> <t>like the slain who lie in the grave,</t> <t>whom you remember no more,</t> <t>who are cut off from your care. <pb/></t>
6<t>You have put me in the lowest pit,</t> <t>in the darkest depths.</t>
7<t>Your wrath lies heavily on me;</t> <t>you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.<f>[167]</f></t>
8<t>You have taken from me my closest friends</t> <t>and have made me repulsive to them.</t> <t>I am confined and cannot escape;</t>
9<t>my eyes are dim with grief. <pb/>I call to you, LORD, every day;</t> <t>I spread out my hands to you.</t>
10<t>Do you show your wonders to the dead?</t> <t>Do their spirits rise up and praise you?</t>
11<t>Is your love declared in the grave,</t> <t>your faithfulness in Destruction<f>[168]</f>?</t>
12<t>Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,</t> <t>or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? <pb/></t>
13<t>But I cry to you for help, LORD;</t> <t>in the morning my prayer comes before you.</t>
14<t>Why, LORD, do you reject me</t> <t>and hide your face from me? <pb/></t>
15<t>From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;</t> <t>I have borne your terrors and am in despair.</t>
16<t>Your wrath has swept over me;</t> <t>your terrors have destroyed me.</t>
17<t>All day long they surround me like a flood;</t> <t>they have completely engulfed me.</t>
18<t>You have taken from me friend and neighbor—</t> <t>darkness is my closest friend.</t>