Psalm 88
New English Translation
Psalm 88[a]
A song, a psalm written by the Korahites, for the music director, according to the machalath-leannoth style;[b] a well-written song[c] by Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord God who delivers me,[d]
by day I cry out
and at night I pray before you.[e]
2 Listen to my prayer.[f]
Pay attention[g] to my cry for help.
3 For my life[h] is filled with troubles,
and I am ready to enter Sheol.[i]
4 They treat me like[j] those who descend into the grave.[k]
I am like a helpless man,[l]
5 adrift[m] among the dead,
like corpses lying in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
and who are cut off from your power.[n]
6 You place me in the lowest regions of the Pit,[o]
in the dark places, in the watery depths.
7 Your anger bears down on me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)
8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;
you make me an appalling sight to them.
I am trapped and cannot get free.[p]
9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.
I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;
I spread out my hands in prayer to you.[q]
10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?
Do the departed spirits[r] rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)
11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,
or your faithfulness in the place of the dead?[s]
12 Are your amazing deeds experienced[t] in the dark region,[u]
or your deliverance in the land of oblivion?[v]
13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;
in the morning my prayer confronts you.
14 O Lord, why do you reject me,
and pay no attention to me?[w]
15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth.[x]
I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.[y]
16 Your anger overwhelms me;[z]
your terrors destroy me.
17 They surround me like water all day long;
they join forces and encircle me.[aa]
18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance;[ab]
those who know me leave me alone in the darkness.[ac]
Footnotes
- Psalm 88:1 sn Psalm 88. The psalmist cries out in pain to the Lord, begging him for relief from his intense and constant suffering. The psalmist regards God as the ultimate cause of his distress, but nevertheless clings to God in hope.
- Psalm 88:1 tn The Hebrew phrase מָחֲלַת לְעַנּוֹת (makhalat leʿannot) may mean “illness to afflict.” Perhaps it refers to a particular style of music, a tune title, or a musical instrument. The term מָחֲלַת also appears in the superscription of Ps 53.
- Psalm 88:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
- Psalm 88:1 tn Heb “O Lord God of my deliverance.” In light of the content of the psalm, this reference to God as the one who delivers seems overly positive. For this reason some assume dittography of the י (yod) and emend the text from אֱלֹהֵי יְשׁוּעָתִי (ʾelohe yeshuʿati) to אֱלֹהַי שִׁוַּעְתִּי (ʾelohay shivvaʿtiy, “[O Lord] my God, I cry out”). See v. 13.
- Psalm 88:1 tn Heb “[by] day I cry out, in the night before you.”
- Psalm 88:2 tn Heb “may my prayer come before you.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive, indicating the psalmist’s desire or prayer.
- Psalm 88:2 tn Heb “turn your ear.”
- Psalm 88:3 tn Or “my soul.”
- Psalm 88:3 tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”
- Psalm 88:4 tn Heb “I am considered with.”
- Psalm 88:4 tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.
- Psalm 88:4 tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”
- Psalm 88:5 tn Heb “set free.”
- Psalm 88:5 tn Heb “from your hand.”
- Psalm 88:6 tn The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See v. 4.
- Psalm 88:8 tn Heb “[I am] confined and I cannot go out.”
- Psalm 88:9 tn Heb “I spread out my hands to you.” Spreading out the hands toward God was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). The words “in prayer” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this.
- Psalm 88:10 tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).
- Psalm 88:11 tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”
- Psalm 88:12 tn Heb “known.”
- Psalm 88:12 tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.
- Psalm 88:12 tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”sn The rhetorical questions in vv. 10-12 expect the answer, “Of course not!”
- Psalm 88:14 tn Heb “[why] do you hide your face from me?”
- Psalm 88:15 tn Heb “and am dying from youth.”
- Psalm 88:15 tn Heb “I carry your horrors [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew form אָפוּנָה (ʾafunah), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. It may be an adverb meaning “very much” (BDB 67 s.v.), though some prefer to emend the text to אָפוּגָה (ʾafugah, “I am numb”) from the verb פוּג (pug; see Pss 38:8; 77:2).
- Psalm 88:16 tn Heb “passes over me.”
- Psalm 88:17 tn Heb “they encircle me together.”
- Psalm 88:18 tn Heb “you cause to be far from me friend and neighbor.”
- Psalm 88:18 tn Heb “those known by me, darkness.”
Psalm 88
Expanded Bible
A Sad Complaint
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22]. For the director of music. By the ·mahalath [C perhaps “sickness”; Ps. 53] ·leannoth [C perhaps related to a word for “affliction” or a word for “chant”]. A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of Heman the Ezrahite [C perhaps a wise man (1 Kin. 4:31) or a Levitical singer (1 Chr. 6:16, 33, 39, 43–44; 15:17, 19)].
88 Lord, you are the God who ·saves me [gives me victory].
I cry out to you day and night.
2 Receive my prayer,
and ·listen [L extend your ear] to my cry.
3 My life is full of ·troubles [hurt; harm],
and ·I am nearly dead [L my life approaches/touches Sheol; C the grave or the underworld].
4 They think I am ·on the way to my grave [L like someone who goes down into the Pit].
I am like a man with no strength.
5 I have been ·left as dead [L freed among the dead],
like a ·body [corpse] lying in a grave
whom you don’t remember anymore,
cut off from your ·care [L hand].
6 You have ·brought me close to death [L set me in a Pit below];
·I am almost in the dark place of the dead [L …in the deepest darkness].
7 You have ·been very angry with [L put your wrath on] me;
·all your waves crush me [L you have afflicted me with all your breakers]. ·
8 You have ·taken [moved] my friends away from me
and have made ·them hate me [me an abomination to them].
I am ·trapped [imprisoned] and cannot ·escape [get out].
9 My eyes ·are weak [waste away] from ·crying [affliction].
Lord, I have ·prayed [called] to you every day;
I have ·lifted [spread out] my hands to you [C in prayer].
10 Do you ·show [L do] your ·miracles [wonderful acts] for the dead?
Do their ·spirits [shades; departed] rise up and ·praise [thank] you? ·
11 Will your ·love [loyalty] be ·told [recounted] in the grave?
Will your ·loyalty [faithfulness] be told in ·the place of death [L Abaddon/Destruction]?
12 Will your ·miracles [wonderful acts] be known in the ·dark grave [L darkness]?
Will your ·goodness [righteousness] be known in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But, Lord, I have called out to you for help;
every morning ·I pray to you [L my prayer comes before you].
14 Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 I have been ·weak [afflicted] and dying since I was young.
I suffer from your terrors, and I am ·helpless [or depressed].
16 ·You have been angry with me [L Your wrath has passed over me],
and your terrors have ·destroyed [or silenced] me.
17 They surround me daily like ·a flood [water; C representing chaos];
they ·are [go] all around me.
18 You have ·taken away [removed me from] my loved ones and friends.
Darkness is my only friend.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.