Psalms  ◦   Chapter 88

1O Lord God, you are my savior;
it is to you that I cry out — day and night.

2May my prayer touch your heart —
listen tenderly to my plea,

3for my troubles overwhelm me;
I feel like I’m about to die.

4To my friends I’m useless, like one already dead —
I’m so weak and worn out.

5I’m abandoned among the lifeless;
I feel like those already in the grave,
like one you have forgotten —
whose life is beyond your care.

6You have let me sink so deep that I am close to death;
I am in the darkest pits of despair.

7I feel like you are angry with me;
I am drowning in waves of discouragement.

8My friends have abandoned me —
they find me repulsive;
I feel trapped with no way out.

9My eyes are swollen from crying.
Lord, to you I cry out all day long;
I reach out my hands to you.

10Do you perform wonders to reach the dead?
Do they stand up and give you praise?

11Do those in the grave live out your love?
Do the dead respond to your faithfulness?

12Is your perfect design for life celebrated in the darkest grave
or your righteous character of love in the land where nothing lives?

13But I call to you for help, O Lord;
each morning my prayer greets you.

14Lord, why do I feel abandoned?
Why do I feel like you’re hidden from me?

15Ever since my youth — when I gave my heart to you —
I have been in conflict and have nearly died.
In your cause I have suffered many horrors and have been confused —

16it seems like you want me overwhelmed,
terrified and destroyed.

17For all day long enemies surround me like a flood;
they close in on me from every side.

18All my friends and family have abandoned me;
darkness is my only comfort.