Psalms

O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:

1LORD, you are the God who saves me. I have cried out to you day and night.

2Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;

2Let my prayer reach you. Turn your ear and listen to my cry.

3For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

3My soul is full of trouble, and my life is close to the grave.

4I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:

4People count me with those going down into the pit. I am like a man with no strength left.

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.

5I am left alone among the dead, like bodies lying in a grave. You remember them no more. They are cut off from your care.

NoteThe KJV says "free among the dead," which sounds good to us today. It does not mean free in a happy way. It means set apart from the living and left alone with the dead.

6Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

6You have put me in the lowest pit, in the dark, in the deep waters.

7Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

7Your anger presses down hard on me. All your waves crash over me. Selah.

Note"Selah" is a word from the music of the psalms. Nobody today knows exactly what it meant. It may have marked a pause or a change in the music.

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.

8You have taken my friends far away from me. You made them turn from me in disgust. I am shut in and cannot get out.

9Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

9My eyes are worn out from grief. LORD, I call to you every day. I hold out my hands to you.

10Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

10Do you do wonders for dead people? Do the dead get up and praise you? Selah.

11Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?

11Is your faithful love talked about in the grave? Is your faithfulness spoken of in the place of ruin?

12Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

12Are your wonders known in the dark? Is your goodness known in the land where everything is forgotten?

13But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee.

13But I cry to you for help, LORD. In the morning my prayer comes to meet you.

NoteThe KJV says the prayer will "prevent" God. In 1611 "prevent" meant to go before or arrive first, not to stop something. The writer means his prayer reaches God early in the morning.

14LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?

14LORD, why do you turn me away? Why do you hide your face from me?

15I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

15Since I was young I have been hurting and close to death. I have carried your terrors, and I am in despair.

NoteThe KJV says "I am distracted." That meant driven to despair or nearly out of one's mind, not simply losing focus.

16Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off.

16Your burning anger has swept over me. Your terrors have destroyed me.

17They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.

17All day long they flow around me like water. They close in on me from every side.

18Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

18You have taken the people I love and my friends far away. Darkness is now my closest companion.