Psalms 88

88 ¹ The Father of my salvation, by day I cry out, and at night I cry before you. ² Let my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. ³ For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to the grave. ^a a v3 Sheol: the Hebrew name for the realm of the dead. ⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man without strength. ⁵ Set adrift among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. ⁶ You have laid me in the depths of the pit, in the dark places, in the deeps. ⁷ Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

⁸ You have removed my companions far from me; you have made me an object of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; ⁹ my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, my Father; I spread out my hands to you. ¹⁰ Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

¹¹ Is your covenant love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? ^b b v11 Abaddon: Hebrew for 'destruction,' a name for the deepest place of the dead. ¹² Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? ¹³ But I cry out to you for help, my Father; in the morning my prayer comes before you. ¹⁴ Why, my Father, do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me? ¹⁵ Afflicted and close to death from my youth, I have borne your terrors; I am in despair. ¹⁶ Your burning anger has swept over me; your terrifying assaults destroy me. ¹⁷ They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. ¹⁸ You have removed lover and friend far from me; my companions are in darkness.