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New Testament
Psalm 88
Psalm 88
Darkness Is My Friend
A song. A psalm. By the Sons of Korah.
Opening Plea
1O Lord, the God who saves me, by day I cry out.
At night I cry before you.
2May my prayer come before you.
Turn your ear to my cry.
The Problem
3Indeed, my soul has had its fill of troubles,
and my life has arrived at the grave.
4I am treated like those who go down to the pit.
I am like someone without strength.
5I am turned loose with the dead.
I am like the slain who lie in the grave,
like the ones you do not remember anymore,
like those who are cut off from your hand.
6You have put me in the lowest pit,
in dark places, in the depths.
7Your wrath presses against me.
You have battered me with all your breakers. Interlude
8You have distanced my acquaintances from me.
You have made me repulsive to them.
I am shut in and I cannot get out.
9My eyesight grows dim from affliction.
I call to you, O Lord, every day.
I spread out my hands to you.
The Darkness of Death
10Is it for the dead that you do a miracle?
Do the spirits of the dead rise up and praise you? Interlude
11Is your mercy declared in the tomb,
your faithfulness in decay?
12Is your wonderful work known in the darkness.
Is your righteousness known in the land of forgetfulness?
13But I cry to you, O Lord,
and in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14Why, O Lord, do you reject my soul?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15I have been afflicted
and I have been close to death since my youth.
I have endured your terrors.
I am in despair.
16Your rage has swept over me.
Your terrors have destroyed me.
17All day long they surround me like water.
They have battered me completely.
18You have distanced my loved one and friend from me.
My only friend is darkness.