Psalms 88
88
PSALM 88
Common Meter: 8,6,8,6
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1Lord God, my Saviour, day and night
before thee cry'd have I.
2Before thee let my prayer come;
give ear unto my cry.
3For troubles great do fill my soul;
my life draws nigh the grave.
4I'm counted with those that go down to pit,
and no strength have.
5Ev'n free among the dead, like them
that slain in grave do lie;
Cut off from thy hand, whom no more
thou hast in memory.
6Thou hast me laid in lowest pit,
in deeps and darksome caves.
7Thy wrath lies hard on me, thou hast
me press'd with all thy waves.
8Thou hast put far from me my friends,
thou mad'st them to abhor me;
And I am so shut up, that I
find no evasion for me.
9By reason of affliction
mine eye mourns dolefully:
To thee, Lord, do I call,
and stretch my hands continually.
10Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead?
shall they rise, and thee bless?
11Shall in the grave thy love be told?
in death thy faithfulness?
12Shall thy great wonders in the dark,
or shall thy righteousness
Be known to any in the land
of deep forgetfulness?
13But, Lord, to thee I cry'd; my pray'r
at morn prevent shall thee.
14Why, Lord, dost thou cast off my soul,
and hid'st thy face from me?
15Distress'd am I, and from my youth
I ready am to die;
Thy terrors I have borne, and am
distracted fearfully.
16The dreadful fierceness of thy wrath
quite over me doth go:
Thy terrors great have cut me off,
they did pursue me so.
17For round about me ev'ry day,
like water, they did roll;
And, gathering together, they
have compassed my soul.
18My friends thou hast put far from me,
and him that did me love;
And those that mine acquaintance were
to darkness didst remove.
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Psalm 88
88
A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician; set to chant mournfully. A didactic {or} reflective poem of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried to You for help by day; at night I am in Your presence. [Luke 18:7.]
2 Let my prayer come before You and really enter into Your presence; incline Your ear to my cry!
3 For I am full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol (the place of the dead).
4 I am counted among those who go down into the pit (the grave); I am like a man who has no help or strength [a mere shadow],
5 Cast away among the dead, like the slain that lie in a [nameless] grave, whom You [seriously] remember no more, and they are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have laid me in the depths of the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
7 Your wrath lies hard upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! [Ps. 42:7.]
8 You have put my [familiar] friends far from me; You have made me an abomination to them. I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 My eye grows dim because of sorrow and affliction. Lord, I have called daily on You; I have spread forth my hands to You.
10 Will You show wonders to the dead? Shall the departed arise and praise You? Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
11 Shall Your steadfast love be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in Abaddon (Sheol, as a place of ruin and destruction)?
12 Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the place of forgetfulness [where the dead forget and are forgotten]?
13 But to You I cry, O Lord; and in the morning shall my prayer come to meet You.
14 Lord, why do You cast me off? Why do You hide Your face from me? [Matt. 27:46.]
15 I was afflicted and close to death from my youth up; while I suffer Your terrors I am distracted [I faint].
16 Your fierce wrath has swept over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long; together they have closed in upon me.
18 Lover and friend have You put far from me; my familiar friends are darkness and the grave.
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation