88:1  
O LORD, the God who saves me,
day and night I cry out before you.

88:2  May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.

88:3  For my soul is full of trouble
and my life draws near the grave.

88:4  I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man without strength.

88:5  I 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.

88:6  You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.

88:7  Your wrath lies heavily upon me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
Selah

88:8  You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;

88:9  my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, O LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.

88:10  Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?
Selah

88:11  Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction ?

88:12  Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

88:13  But I cry to you for help, O LORD;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.

88:14  Why, O LORD, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?

88:15  From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death;
I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.

88:16  Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.

88:17  All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.

88:18  You have taken my companions and loved ones from me;
the darkness is my closest friend.