Psalm 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.^(A)

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]!^(B)

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.

¹³ He has put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

¹⁴ My kinsfolk have failed me, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

¹⁵ Those who live temporarily in my house and my maids count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.

¹⁶ I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer, though I beseech him with words.

¹⁷ I am repulsive to my wife and loathsome to the children of my own mother.

¹⁸ Even young children despise me; when I get up, they speak against me.

¹⁹ All the men of my council and my familiar friends abhor me; those whom I loved are turned against me.