Psalm 88 - Heman's Prayer From the Lowest Pit
The one psalm that ends in darkness, with no turn toward praise.
Attributed to Heman the Ezrahite, Psalm 88 stands apart in the Psalms overview as the only psalm that offers no closing note of hope, ending instead with 'darkness' as the last word. The psalmist describes being 'free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave.'
A Song, a Psalm, by sons of Korah, to the Overseer, `Concerning the Sickness of Afflictions.' -- An instruction, by Heman the Ezrahite. O Jehovah, God of my salvation, Daily I have cried, nightly before Thee,
My prayer cometh in before Thee, Incline Thine ear to my loud cry,
For my soul hath been full of evils, And my life hath come to Sheol.
I have been reckoned with those going down `to' the pit, I have been as a man without strength.
Among the dead -- free, As pierced ones lying in the grave, Whom Thou hast not remembered any more, Yea, they by Thy hand have been cut off.
Thou hast put me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in depths.
Upon me hath Thy fury lain, And `with' all Thy breakers Thou hast afflicted. Selah.
Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me, Thou hast made me an abomination to them, Shut up -- I go not forth.
Mine eye hath grieved because of affliction, I called Thee, O Jehovah, all the day, I have spread out unto Thee my hands.
To the dead dost Thou do wonders? Do Rephaim rise? do they thank Thee? Selah.
Is Thy kindness recounted in the grave? Thy faithfulness in destruction?
Are Thy wonders known in the darkness? And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
And I, unto Thee, O Jehovah, I have cried, And in the morning doth my prayer come before Thee.
Why, O Jehovah, castest Thou off my soul? Thou hidest Thy face from me.
I `am' afflicted, and expiring from youth, I have borne Thy terrors -- I pine away.
Over me hath Thy wrath passed, Thy terrors have cut me off,
They have surrounded me as waters all the day, They have gone round against me together,
Thou hast put far from me lover and friend, Mine acquaintance `is' the place of darkness!