88 1 O Yahweh, my God, I call for help by day;
I cry out in the night before you.
88 2 Let my prayer come before you,
incline your ear to my cry!
88 3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
88 4 I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
88 5 like one 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.
88 6 You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
88 7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah
88 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;
88 9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Yahweh;
I spread out my hands to you.
88 10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah
88 11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
88 12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
88 13 But I, O Yahweh, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
88 14 O Yahweh, why do you cast me off?
Why do you hide your face from me?
88 15 Afflicted and close to death
from my youth up, I suffer your terrors;
I am helpless.
88 16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your dread assaults destroy me.
88 17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in upon me together.
88 18 You have caused lover and friend to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.