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Psalm 88
The Message
Psalm 88
The Message
88 1-9 God, you’re my last chance of the day.
I spend the night on my knees before you.
Put me on your salvation agenda;
take notes on the trouble I’m in.
I’ve had my fill of trouble;
I’m camped on the edge of hell.
I’m written off as a lost cause,
one more statistic, a hopeless case.
Abandoned as already dead,
one more body in a stack of corpses,
And not so much as a gravestone—
I’m a black hole in oblivion.
You’ve dropped me into a bottomless pit,
sunk me in a pitch-black abyss.
I’m battered senseless by your rage,
relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger.
You turned my friends against me,
made me horrible to them.
I’m caught in a maze and can’t find my way out,
blinded by tears of pain and frustration.
9-12 I call to you, God; all day I call.
I wring my hands, I plead for help.
Are the dead a live audience for your miracles?
Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you?
Does your love make any difference in a graveyard?
Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell?
Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark,
your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory?
13-18 I’m standing my ground, God, shouting for help,
at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak.
Why, God, do you turn a deaf ear?
Why do you make yourself scarce?
For as long as I remember I’ve been hurting;
I’ve taken the worst you can hand out, and I’ve had it.
Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life;
I’m bleeding, black-and-blue.
You’ve attacked me fiercely from every side,
raining down blows till I’m nearly dead.
You made lover and neighbor alike dump me;
the only friend I have left is Darkness.
Psalm 88
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 88
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 88
Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites. To the leader: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
at night, when I cry out before you,(A)
2 let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.(B)
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.(C)
4 I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
I am like those who have no help,(D)
5 like those forsaken among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.(E)
6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.(F)
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah(G)
8 You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;(H)
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to you.(I)
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah(J)
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness
or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?(K)
13 But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.(L)
14 O Lord, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?(M)
15 Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.[a](N)
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dread assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
from all sides they close in on me.(O)
18 You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.(P)
Footnotes
- 88.15 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Psalm 88
New International Version
Psalm 88
New International Version
Psalm 88[a]
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.[b] A maskil[c] of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 Lord, you are the God who saves me;(A)
day and night I cry out(B) to you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
3 I am overwhelmed with troubles(C)
and my life draws near to death.(D)
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;(E)
I am like one without strength.(F)
5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off(G) from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.(H)
7 Your wrath(I) lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.[d](J)
8 You have taken from me my closest friends(K)
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined(L) and cannot escape;(M)
9 my eyes(N) are dim with grief.
I call(O) to you, Lord, every day;
I spread out my hands(P) to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?(Q)
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness(R) in Destruction[e]?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help,(S) Lord;
in the morning(T) my prayer comes before you.(U)
14 Why, Lord, do you reject(V) me
and hide your face(W) from me?
15 From my youth(X) I have suffered(Y) and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors(Z) and am in despair.(AA)
16 Your wrath(AB) has swept over me;
your terrors(AC) have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;(AD)
they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend(AE) and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
Footnotes
- Psalm 88:1 In Hebrew texts 88:1-18 is numbered 88:2-19.
- Psalm 88:1 Title: Possibly a tune, “The Suffering of Affliction”
- Psalm 88:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 88:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 10.
- Psalm 88:11 Hebrew Abaddon
Psalm 88
Living Bible
Psalm 88
Living Bible
88 O Jehovah, God of my salvation, I have wept before you day and night. 2 Now hear my prayers; oh, listen to my cry, 3 for my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. 4 They say my life is ebbing out—a hopeless case. 5 They have left me here to die, like those slain on battlefields from whom your mercies are removed.
6 You have thrust me down to the darkest depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavy on me; wave after wave engulfs me. 8 You have made my friends to loathe me, and they have gone away. I am in a trap with no way out. 9 My eyes grow dim with weeping. Each day I beg your help; O Lord, I reach my pleading hands to you for mercy.
10 Soon it will be too late! Of what use are your miracles when I am in the grave? How can I praise you then? 11 Can those in the grave declare your loving-kindness? Can they proclaim your faithfulness? 12 Can the darkness speak of your miracles? Can anyone in the Land of Forgetfulness talk about your help?
13 O Lord, I plead for my life and will keep on pleading day by day. 14 O Jehovah, why have you thrown my life away? Why are you turning your face from me and looking the other way?
15 From my youth I have been sickly and ready to die. I stand helpless before your terrors. 16 Your fierce wrath has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have cut me off. 17 They flow around me all day long. 18 Lover, friend, acquaintance—all are gone. There is only darkness everywhere.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.