A Prayer to Be Saved from Death
88 O Lord, the God Who saves me, I have cried out before You day and night. 2 Let my prayer come to You. Listen to my cry. 3 For my soul is filled with troubles. And my life comes near the grave. 4 I am added among those who go down into the deep hole. I am like a man without strength. 5 I am left among the dead, like those who have been killed and lie in the grave, whom You remember no more. They are cut off from Your help. 6 You have put me in the deepest hole, in a dark and deep place. 7 Your anger has rested upon me. And You have troubled me with all Your waves. 8 You have taken my good friends far from me. You have made me hated by them. I am shut in and cannot go out. 9 My eyes have become weak because of trouble. I have called to You every day, O Lord. I have spread out my hands to You.
10 Will You show Your great works to the dead? Will the dead rise and praise You? 11 Will Your loving-kindness be told about in the grave, and how faithful You are in the place that destroys? 12 Will Your great works be known in the darkness, and Your right and good works in the land where all is forgotten?
13 But I have cried to You for help, O Lord. My prayer comes to You in the morning. 14 O Lord, why do You turn away from me? Why do You hide Your face from me? 15 I have been troubled and near death since I was young. I have suffered Your punishment. And I cannot win. 16 Your burning anger has passed over me. The punishment You have sent destroys me. 17 They gather around me like water all day long. Together they close in upon me. 18 You have taken my friend and loved one far from me. Friends that were near to me are in darkness.