Psalm 88

O LORD, the God of my salvation,
I have cried out by day and in the night before Thee.
Let my prayer come before Thee;
Incline Thine ear to my cry!

For my soul has had enough troubles,
And my life has drawn near to Sheol.
I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit;
I have become like a man without strength,
Forsaken among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom Thou dost remember no more,
And they are cut off from Thy hand.
Thou hast put me in the lowest pit,
In dark places, in the depths.
Thy wrath has rested upon me,
And Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy waves. Selah.

Thou hast removed my acquaintances far from me;
Thou hast made me an object of loathing to them;
I am shut up and cannot go out.
My eye has wasted away because of affliction;
I have called upon Thee every day, O LORD;
I have spread out my hands to Thee.
Wilt You perform wonders for the dead?
Will the departed spirits rise and praise Thee? Selah.

Will Thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
Thy faithfulness in Abaddon?
Will Thy wonders be made known in the darkness?
And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

But I, O LORD, have cried out to Thee for help,
And in the morning my prayer comes before Thee.
O LORD, why dost Thou reject my soul?
Why dost Thou hide Thy face from me?
I was afflicted and about to die from my youth on;
I suffer Thy terrors; I am overcome.
Thy burning anger has passed over me;
Thy terrors have destroyed me.
They have surrounded me like water all day long;
They have encompassed me altogether.
Thou hast removed lover and friend far from me;
My acquaintances are in darkness.

~Psalm 88 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 56

Be gracious, O God, for man has trampled upon me;
Fighting all day long he oppresses me.
My foes have trampled upon me all day long,
For they are many who fight proudly against me.
When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in Thee.
In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
What can mere man do to me?
All day long they distort my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil
They attach, they lurk,
They watch my steps,
As they have waiting to take my life.
Because of wickedness, cast them forth,
In anger put down the peoples, O God!

Thou hast taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Thy bottle;
Are they not in Thy book?
Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;
This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man to do me?
Thy vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to Thee.
For Thou hast delivered my soul from death,
Indeed my feet from stumbling,
So that I may walk before God
In the light of the living.

~Psalm 56 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 42

As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for Thee, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
These things I remember, and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
O my God, my soul is in despair within me,
Therefore I remember Thee from the land of the Jordan,
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at he sound of Thy waterfalls;
All Thy breakers and Thy waves have rolled over me.
The Lord will command His lovingkindess in the day time;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

I will say to God my rock, “Why hast Thou forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance, and my God.

~Psalm 42 (NASB 1977)

Psalm 39

I said, “I will guard my ways,
That I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle,
While the wicked are in my presence.”
I was dumb and silent,
I refrained even from good;
And my sorrow grew worse.
My heart was hot within me;
While I was musing the fire burned;
Then I spoke with my tongue:
“Lord, make me to know my end,
And what is the extent of my days,
Let me know how transient I am.
“Behold, Thou hast made my days as handbreadths,
And my lifetime as nothing in Thy sight,
Surely every man at his best is a mere breadth;
“Surely every man walks about as a phantom;
Surely they make an uproar for nothing;
He amasses riches, and does not know who will gather them.

“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in Thee.
“Deliver me from all my transgressions;
Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
“I have become dumb, I do not open my mouth,
Because it is Thou who hast done it.
“Remove Thy plague from me;
Because of the opposition of Thy hand, I am perishing.
“With reproofs Thou dost chasten a man for iniquity;
Thou dost consume as a moth what is precious to him;
Surely every man is a mere breath.

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;
Do not be silent at my tears;
For I am a stranger with Thee,
A sojourner like all my fathers.
“Turn Thy gaze away from me, that I may smile again,
Before I depart and am no more.”

~Psalm 39 (NASB 1977)