MOF PSA Chapter 88

A Korahite song for music from the Choirmaster’s collection. To the tune of “Suffering sore.” An ode of Heman the Ezrahite.

88 O thou Eternal, I cry for help in the daytime,

and at night I moan before thee;

2 let my prayer reach thy presence,

bend an ear to my cry.

3 For trouble fills my soul to the full,

my life is on the verge of death;

4 I am already reckoned among the departed,

I am but the shadow of a man,

5 left to myself among the dead,

like the slain lying in their graves,

of whom thou hast mind no more–

they are deprived of thee.

6 In the nethermost pit thou hast placed me,

in abysses dark and deep;

7 thy wrath lies heavy upon me,

thy waves all overwhelm me.

8 Thou has removed my friends from afar,

and made them loathe me;

I cannot get free from my prison,

9 and my health pines away under my trouble.

Daily I call to thee, O thou Eternal,

I stretch my hands to thee.

10 Canst thou work wonders for the dead?

Can ghosts arise to praise thee?

11 Can thy love be recounted in the grave,

thy faithfulness within the world below?

12 Can thy wonders be known in the darkness,

thy saving help in the land of oblivion?

13 I am crying for help, O Eternal, to thee,

my prayer comes to thee in the morning.

14 Why discard me, O Eternal?

Why hide thy face from me?

15 Ever since youth I have suffered and languished,

crushed by the dread of thee, I faint;

16 thy burning wrath sweeps over me,

thy terrors have undone me,

17 surging round me without end,

closing round on every side.

18 Thou has put far every friend,

and darkness is my one companion.