² Today my complaint is again bitter;^[a]
    my strength is weighed down because of my groaning.
³ Oh, that I could know how to find him—
    come to his dwelling place;
⁴     I would lay out my case before him,
        fill my mouth with arguments,
⁵     know the words with which he would answer,
        understand what he would say to me.
⁶ Would he contend with me through brute force?
    No, he would surely listen to me.
⁷ There those who do the right thing can argue with him;
    I could escape from my judge forever.

⁸ Look, I go east; he’s not there,
    west, and don’t discover him;
⁹     north in his activity, and I don’t grasp him;
    he turns south, and I don’t see.

¹⁶ God has weakened my mind;
    the Almighty has frightened me.
¹⁷ Still I’m not annihilated by darkness;
    he has hidden deep darkness from me.

22 My God! My God,
    why have you left me all alone?
    Why are you so far from saving me—
        so far from my anguished groans?
² My God, I cry out during the day,
    but you don’t answer;
    even at nighttime I don’t stop.
³ You are the holy one, enthroned.
You are Israel’s praise.
⁴ Our ancestors trusted you—
    they trusted you and you rescued them;
⁵     they cried out to you and they were saved;
    they trusted you and they weren’t ashamed.