1O LORD God of my salvation , I have cried day and night before thee: 2Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry ; 3For my soul is full of troubles : and my life draweth nigh unto the grave . 4I am counted with them that go down into the pit : I am as a man that hath no strength : 5Free among the dead , like the slain that lie in the grave , whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand . 6Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit , in darkness , in the deeps .
A Cry for Help
7Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves . Selah . 8Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up , and I cannot come forth . 9Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction : LORD , I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee. 10Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead ? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah . 11Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave ? or thy faithfulness in destruction ? 12Shall thy wonders be known in the dark ? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness ?
The Experience of Abandonment
13But unto thee have I cried , O LORD ; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. 14LORD , why castest thou off my soul ? why hidest thou thy face from me? 15I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted . 16Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off . 17They came round about me daily like water ; they compassed me about together . 18Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness .