Psalm 88 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Psa 88:1

Psa 88:1For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah. A song to be sung to the tune “The Suffering of Affliction.” A psalm[fn] of Heman the Ezrahite.

O LORD, God of my salvation,
I cry out to you by day.
I come to you at night.

Psa 88:2

Psa 88:2Now hear my prayer;
listen to my cry.

Psa 88:3

Psa 88:3For my life is full of troubles,
and death[fn] draws near.

Psa 88:4

Psa 88:4I am as good as dead,
like a strong man with no strength left.

Psa 88:5

Psa 88:5They have left me among the dead,
and I lie like a corpse in a grave.
I am forgotten,
cut off from your care.

Psa 88:6

Psa 88:6You have thrown me into the lowest pit,
into the darkest depths.

Psa 88:7

Psa 88:7Your anger weighs me down;
with wave after wave you have engulfed me.
Interlude

Psa 88:8

Psa 88:8You have driven my friends away
by making me repulsive to them.
I am in a trap with no way of escape.

Psa 88:9

Psa 88:9My eyes are blinded by my tears.
Each day I beg for your help, O LORD;
I lift my hands to you for mercy.

Psa 88:10

Psa 88:10Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?
Do the dead rise up and praise you?
Interlude

Psa 88:11

Psa 88:11Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love?
Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?[fn]

Psa 88:12

Psa 88:12Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?
Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?

Psa 88:13

Psa 88:13O LORD, I cry out to you.
I will keep on pleading day by day.

Psa 88:14

Psa 88:14O LORD, why do you reject me?
Why do you turn your face from me?

Psa 88:15

Psa 88:15I have been sick and close to death since my youth.
I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.

Psa 88:16

Psa 88:16Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me.
Your terrors have paralyzed me.

Psa 88:17

Psa 88:17They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.
They have engulfed me completely.

Psa 88:18

Psa 88:18You have taken away my companions and loved ones.
Darkness is my closest friend.

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(88:1)

Hebrew maskil. This may be a literary or musical term.

(88:3)

Hebrew Sheol.

(88:11)

Hebrew in Abaddon?

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