Psalm 88
New International Version
Chapter overview
Psalm 88 is an unrelieved lament from someone near death, overwhelmed, isolated, and apparently unanswered. Even without visible resolution, the sufferer continues addressing God day and night, making persistent prayer the final act.
LamentIsolationSufferingPrayer
1Lord, you are the God who saves me; day and night I cry out to you.
2May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry.
3I am overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death.
4I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like one without strength.
5I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care.
6You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.
7Your wrath lies heavily on me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
8You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape;
9my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
10Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction?
12Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13But I cry to you for help, Lord; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14Why, Lord, do you reject me and hide your face from me?
15From my youth I have suffered and been close to death; I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
16Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me.
17All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me.
18You have taken from me friend and neighbor— darkness is my closest friend.
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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Text unchanged, provided through API.Bible.