Psalm 88, NEW INTERNATIONAL READER’S VERSION
Prior Chapter  |  Next Chapter

1

Lord, you are the God who saves me.
Day and night I cry out to you.
 

2

Please hear my prayer.
Pay attention to my cry for help.
 

3

I have so many troubles
I’m about to die.
 

4

People think my life is over.
I’m like someone who doesn’t have any strength.
 

5

People treat me as if I were dead.
I’m like those who have been killed and are now in the grave.
You don’t even remember them anymore.
They are cut off from your care.
 

6

It seems as if you have put me deep down in the grave,
that deep and dark place.
 

7

Your burning anger lies heavy on me.
All the waves of your anger have crashed over me.
Selah
 

8

You have taken my closest friends away from me.
You have made me sickening to them.
I feel trapped.  I can’t escape.
 

9

I’m crying so much I can’t see very well.
Lord, I call out to you every day.
I lift up my hands to you in prayer.
 

10

Do you work miracles for those who are dead?
Do dead people rise up and praise you?
Selah
 

11

Do those who are dead speak about your love?
Do those who are in the grave tell how faithful you are?
 

12

Are your miracles known in that dark place?
Are your holy acts known in that land
where the dead are forgotten?
 

13

Lord, I cry out to you for help.
In the morning I pray to you.
 

14

Lord, why do you say no to me?
Why do you turn your face away from me?
 

15

I’ve been in pain ever since I was young.
I’ve been close to death.
You have made me suffer terrible things.
I have lost all hope.
 

16

Your burning anger has swept over me.
Your terrors have destroyed me.
 

17

All day long they surround me like a flood.
They have closed in all around me.
 

18

You have taken my companions and loved ones away from me.
The darkness is my closest friend.