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Psalm 88 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

A Cry of Desperation

A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

Psa 88:1

LORD, God of my salvation,

I cry out before you day and night.

Psa 88:2

May my prayer reach your presence;

listen to my cry.

Psa 88:3

For I have had enough troubles,

and my life is near Sheol.

Psa 88:4

I am counted among those going down to the Pit.

I am like a man without strength,

Psa 88:5

abandoned[fn] among the dead.

I am like the slain lying in the grave,

whom you no longer remember,

and who are cut off from your care.[fn]

Psa 88:6

You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit,

in the darkest places, in the depths.

Psa 88:7

Your wrath weighs heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.Selah

Psa 88:8

You have distanced my friends from me;

you have made me repulsive to them.

I am shut in and cannot go out.

Psa 88:9

My eyes are worn out from crying.

LORD, I cry out to you all day long;

I spread out my hands to you.

Psa 88:10

Do you work wonders for the dead?

Do departed spirits rise up to praise you?Selah

Psa 88:11

Will your faithful love be declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Abaddon?

Psa 88:12

Will your wonders be known in the darkness

or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

Psa 88:13

But I call to you for help, LORD;

in the morning my prayer meets you.

Psa 88:14

LORD, why do you reject me?

Why do you hide your face from me?

Psa 88:15

From my youth,

I have been suffering and near death.

I suffer your horrors; I am desperate.

Psa 88:16

Your wrath sweeps over me;

your terrors destroy me.

Psa 88:17

They surround me like water all day long;

they close in on me from every side.

Psa 88:18

You have distanced loved one and neighbor from me;

darkness is my only friend.[fn]

CSB Footnotes
Or set free
Or hand
Or from me, my friends. Oh darkness!
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Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Additional information is provided here.

For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.

Psalm Chapter 88 — Additional Translations: