Psalm 88
1O Lord, my God, my Savior, *
by day and night I cry to you.
2Let my prayer enter into your presence; *
incline your ear to my lamentation.
3For I am full of trouble; *
my life is at the brink of the grave.
4I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; *
I have become like one who has no strength;
5Lost among the dead, *
like the slain who lie in the grave,
6Whom you remember no more, *
for they are cut off from your hand.
7You have laid me in the depths of the Pit, *
in dark places, and in the abyss.
8Your anger weighs upon me heavily, *
and all your great waves overwhelm me.
9You have put my friends far from me;
you have made me to be abhorred by them; *
I am in prison and cannot get free.
10My sight has failed me because of trouble; *
Lord, I have called upon you daily;
I have stretched out my hands to you.
11Do you work wonders for the dead? *
will those who have died stand up and give you thanks?
12Will your loving-kindness be declared in the grave? *
your faithfulness in the land of destruction?
13Will your wonders be known in the dark? *
or your righteousness in the country where all
is forgotten?
14But as for me, O Lord, I cry to you for help; *
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
15Lord, why have you rejected me? *
why have you hidden your face from me?
16Ever since my youth, I have been wretched and at the
point of death; *
I have borne your terrors with a troubled mind.
17Your blazing anger has swept over me; *
your terrors have destroyed me;
18They surround me all day long like a flood; *
they encompass me on every side.
19My friend and my neighbor you have put away from me, *
and darkness is my only companion.
A Collect for Fridays
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
Image Credit: Censer, second half 18th century, Italian
Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Open Access Collection
