Psalms 88
88
Save Me from This Sorrow # 88 This psalm has traditionally been used by Christians for reading on Good Friday. Many insights can be found here of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
To the Pure and Shining One
A song, a psalm # 88 Psalm 88 is both a song and a psalm. The Hebrew for “song” can also mean “wall.” There are times that our purest music will come when we feel like we are up against a “wall.” by the prophetic singers of Korah’s clan
To the tune of “Pierced,” for instruction by Heman the Ezrahite # 88 Heman the Ezrahite was considered comparable to Solomon in his wisdom (1 Kings 4:31). Jewish literature states that he was also a gifted musician and vocalist. But it also teaches that Heman was a leper, an outcast from society who lived in poverty, was shunned by all, and could not sing in the temple because of his disease. Read Ps. 88 with this background in mind. To the tune of “Pierced” can also be translated “He has been humbled more than any man.” The Hebrew word for “instruction” (maschil) comes from a word that means “to prosper” or “to understand.”
1Yahweh is the God who continually saves me.
I weep before you night and day.
2Please bend down and listen to my sobbing,
for my life is riddled with troubles
and death is just around the corner!
3Everyone sees my life ebbing out.
They consider me a hopeless case and see me as a dead man.
4They’ve all left me here to die, helpless,
like one who is doomed for death.
5They’re convinced you’ve forsaken me,
certain that you’ve forgotten me completely—
abandoned, pierced, with nothing to look forward to but death.
6They have discarded me # 88:6 As translated from the Septuagint. The Hebrew reads “You have discarded me.” and thrown me down
into the deepest darkness as into a bottomless pit.
7I feel your wrath, and it’s a heavy weight upon me,
drowning me beneath a sea of sorrow.
Pause in his presence
8Why did you turn all my friends against me?
You’ve made me like a cursed man in their eyes.
No one wants to be with me now.
You’ve caught me in a trap with no way out.
9Every day I beg for your help. Can’t you see my tears?
My eyes are swollen with weeping.
My arms are wide, longing for mercy, # 88:9 As translated from the Septuagint. The Greek reads “My hands are stretched out to you.”
but you’re nowhere to be found.
10How can those who are cut off from your care
even know that you are there?
Do departed spirits # 88:10 Or “Rephaites.” The Rephaites were giants that inhabited the region of Bashan east of the Jordan. See Deut. 2:11; 3:11; Josh. 12:4–5. rise up to praise you?
Pause in his presence
11Who can give thanks for your love in the graveyard?
Who preaches your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12Does death’s darkness declare your miracles?
How can anyone who’s in the grave, where all is forgotten,
remember how you keep your promises?
13Lord, you know my prayer before I even whisper it. # 88:13 As translated from the Septuagint.
At each and every sunrise you will
continue to hear my cry until you answer.
14O Lord, why have you thrown my life away?
Will you keep turning the other way every time I call out to you?
15I’ve had to live in poverty and trouble all my life. # 88:15 As translated from the Septuagint. The Greek reads “close to death all my life.”
Now I’m humiliated, broken, and helpless before your terrors
and I can’t take it anymore.
16I’m overwhelmed by your burning anger.
I’ve taken the worst you could give me,
and I’m speechless before you.
17I’m drowning beneath the waves of this sorrow,
cut off with no one to help.
18All my loved ones and friends keep far away from me,
leaving me all alone with only darkness as my friend.
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Psalms 88: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 88
88
A Cry of Desperation
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. # 1Kg 4:31; 1Ch 2:6
1Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out before You day and night. # Ps 22:2; 86:3; Lk 18:7
2May my prayer reach Your presence;
listen to my cry. # Ps 18:6; 31:2; 86:1
3For I have had enough troubles,
and my life is near Sheol. # Ps 16:10; 116:3
4I am counted among those going down to the Pit. # Ps 28:1; 143:7
I am like a man without strength, # Ps 61:2
5abandoned # Or set free among the dead.
I am like the slain lying in the grave, # Ps 31:12
whom You no longer remember,
and who are cut off from Your care. # Or hand # Ps 31:22; Is 53:8
6You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit,
in the darkest places, in the depths. # Ps 69:15; 86:13; Ezk 26:20
7Your wrath weighs heavily on me; # Ps 32:4; 39:10
You have overwhelmed me with all Your waves. # Ps 42:7Selah
8You have distanced my friends from me;
You have made me repulsive to them. # Jb 19:13-22; Ps 31:11
I am shut in and cannot go out.
9My eyes are worn out from crying. # Ps 6:7; 31:9
Lord, I cry out to You all day long; # Ps 86:3
I spread out my hands to You. # Ps 143:6
10Do You work wonders for the dead?
Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? # Ps 6:5; 30:9Selah
11Will Your faithful love be declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in Abaddon? # Jb 26:6; Pr 15:11; 27:20
12Will Your wonders be known in the darkness
or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion? # Ec 9:5
13But I call to You for help, Lord;
in the morning my prayer meets You. # Ps 5:3; 119:147
14Lord, why do You reject me? # Ps 43:2
Why do You hide Your face from me? # Jb 13:24; Ps 10:1; 13:1
15From my youth,
I have been afflicted and near death.
I suffer Your horrors; I am desperate. # Jb 31:23
16Your wrath sweeps over me;
Your terrors destroy me. # Jb 6:4; 9:34
17They surround me like water all day long;
they close in on me from every side. # Ps 22:12,16; 118:10-12
18You have distanced loved one and neighbor from me;
darkness is my only friend. # Or from me, my friends. Oh darkness! # Jb 19:13; Ps 31:11; 38:11
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