88:1 [A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the music director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A ①Maskil of Heman ②the Ezrahite.]
LORD, the God of my salvation,
I have cried out by day and in the night before You.
▷ ①Possibly, Contemplative; or Didactic; or Skillful Psalm ②1 Kin 4:31; 1 Chr 2:6; Ps 89: title
88:2 Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry!
88:3 For my soul has ①had enough troubles,
And my life has approached ②Sheol.
▷ ①Or been satisfied with ②I.e., the netherworld
88:4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I have become like a man without strength,
88:5 ①Abandoned among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You no longer remember,
And they are cut off from Your hand.
▷ ①Lit A freed one among the dead
88:6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
In dark places, in the depths.
88:7 Your wrath has rested upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah
88:8 You have removed my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an ①object of loathing to them;
I am shut up and cannot go out.
▷ ①Lit abomination to them
88:9 My eye grows dim from misery;
I have called upon You every day, LORD;
I have spread out my ①hands to You.
▷ ①Lit palms
88:10 Will You perform wonders for the dead?
Or will the departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah
88:11 Will Your graciousness be declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in ①Abaddon?
▷ ①I.e., place of destruction
88:12 Will Your wonders be made known in the darkness?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
88:13 But I, LORD, have cried out to You for help,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
88:14 LORD, why do You reject my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
88:15 I was miserable and about to die from my youth on;
I suffer Your terrors; I grow weary.
88:16 Your burning anger has passed over me;
Your terrors have ①destroyed me.
▷ ①Or silenced
88:17 They have surrounded me like water all day long;
They have encircled me altogether.
88:18 You have removed lover and friend far from me;
My acquaintances are in a hiding place.