Psalm 88¹⁵

A song, a psalm written by the Korachites; for the music director; according to the machalath-leannoth style;¹⁶ a well-written song¹⁷ by Heman the Ezrachite
88:1 O LORD God who delivers me!¹
By day I cry out
and at night I pray before you.²
88:2 Listen to my prayer!³
Pay attention⁴ to my cry for help!
88:3 For my life⁵ is filled with troubles,
and I am ready to enter Sheol.⁶
88:4 They treat me like⁷ those who descend into the grave.⁸
I am like a helpless man,⁹
88:5 adrift¹⁰ among the dead,
like corpses lying in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
and who are cut off from your power.¹¹
88:6 You place me in the lowest regions of the pit,¹²
in the dark places, in the watery depths.
88:7 Your anger bears down on me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)
88:8 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.¹³
88:9 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.¹⁴
88:10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?
Do the departed spirits¹⁵ rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)
88:11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,
or your faithfulness in the place of the dead?¹⁶
88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced¹⁷ in the dark region,¹⁸
or your deliverance in the land of oblivion?¹⁹
88:13 As for me, I cry out to you, O LORD,
in the morning my prayer confronts you.
88:14 O LORD, why do you reject me,
and pay no attention to me?²⁰
88:15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth.²¹
I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.²²
88:16 Your anger overwhelms me,²³
your terrors destroy me.
88:17 They surround me like water all day long,
they join forces and encircle me.²⁴
88:18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance,²⁵
those who know me leave me alone in the darkness.²⁶