Psalm 88 is the 88th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 87. In Latin, it is known as "Domine Deus salutis meae".Parallel Latin/English Psalter, Psalmus 87 (88). Medievalist. According to the title, it is a "psalm of the sons of Korah" as well as a "maskil of Heman the Ezrahite".

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish and Catholic liturgies as well as a part of Protestant psalmody. It has been set to music, for example by Baroque composers Heinrich Schütz in German and by Marc-Antoine Charpentier in Latin. In the 20th century, Christoph Staude and Jörg Duda set the psalm for choir or solo voice.

Commentary It is often assumed that the Psalm is a sick Psalm.Hochspringen B. Klaus Seybold, Prayer of the sick in the Old Testament (1973), p169.Willy Staerk, poetry (1920). The disease which laid low the psalmist could have been leprosy or some other unclean illness.Hochspringen B. Klaus Seybold, Prayer of the sick in the Old Testament (1973), 169Rudolf Kittel, Psalms (1921) Others see rather than a specific disease, a more general calamity.Emil Kautzsch, The Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament II (4 1923), 113ff.Hochspringen B. Klaus Seybold, Prayer of the sick in the Old Testament (1973), 169

By contrast, Hermann Gunkel contends that this psalm involves accusations against the Psalmist, regarding his sins mentioned.

Neale and Littledale find it "stands alone in all the Psalter for the unrelieved gloom, the hopeless sorrow of its tone. Even the very saddest of the others, and the Lamentations themselves, admit some variations of key, some strains of hopefulness; here only all is darkness to the close."Neale. A Commentary on the Psalms. Vol. 3. 1871. Reprint. London: Forgotten Books, 2013. 90-1.

Description It is described Psalm for the sons of Korah, a prayer for mercy and deliverance, and a Maschil.Charles Spurgeon, Treasury of David .

According to Martin Marty, a professor of church history at the University of Chicago, Psalm 88 is "a wintry landscape of unrelieved bleakness". Psalm 88 ends by saying:

Indeed, in Hebrew, the last word of the psalm is "darkness".

Uses Judaism Psalm 88 is recited on Hoshana Rabbah.The Artscroll Tehillim page 329

Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church Psalm 88 is part of the Six Psalms (Psalms 3, 38, 63, 88, 103 and 143) that constitute the heart of the orthros, that is to say Matins, in the Orthodox and Catholic churches of the Byzantine Rite. In the Liturgy of the Hours revised after Vatican II, the psalm is said on Fridays as part of compline.

Book of Common Prayer In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, Psalm 88 is appointed to be read on the morning of the seventeenth day of the month,Church of England, Book of Common Prayer: The Psalter as printed by John Baskerville in 1762, pp. 262-263 as well as at Evensong on Good Friday.

The Scottish Psalter The Presbyterian Scottish Psalter of 1650 rewords the psalm in a metrical form that can be sung to a tune set to the common meter.

Musical settings Heinrich Schütz set the psalm in a metred version in German, "Herr Gott, mein Heiland, Nacht und Tag", SWV 185, as part of the Becker Psalter, first published in 1628. Marc-Antoine Charpentier compose around 1690 Domine Deus salutis meae, H.207, for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings, and continuo.

Verse 10 is used in a recitative of Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah. Peter Cornelius wrote a choral setting in German as the first of Drei Psalmlieder, Op. 13.

In 1986, Christoph Staude set the psalm for three-part mixed choir and orchestra. Jörg Duda set the psalm as Exaltion III, Op. 31/3, for bass-baritone, horn, bass clarinet, cello and organ.

Text The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels, alongside the Koine Greek text in the Septuagint and the English translation from the King James Version. Note that the meaning can slightly differ between these versions, as the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text come from different textual traditions.A 1917 translation directly from Hebrew to English by the Jewish Publication Society can be found here or here, and an 1844 translation directly from the Septuagint by L. C. L. Brenton can be found here. Both translations are in the public domain. In the Septuagint, this psalm is numbered Psalm 87. #HebrewEnglishGreek (A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.) 1 O God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: 2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; 3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. 4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. 8 Thou 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. 9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: , I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee. 10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. 11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? 12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13 But unto thee have I cried, O ; and in the morning shall my prayer prevent thee. 14 , why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me? 15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. 16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off. 17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together. 18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

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in Hebrew and English - Mechon-mamre Text of Psalm 88 according to the 1928 Psalter A song; a psalm of the Korahites. For the leader; according to Mahalath. For singing; a maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. LORD, the God of my salvation, I call out by day; at night I cry aloud in your presence. text and footnotes, usccb.org United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Psalm 88 – A Desperate Prayer from Deep Affliction text and detailed commentary, enduringword.com Psalm 88:1 introduction and text, biblestudytools.com Psalm 88 / Refrain: You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Church of England Psalm 88 biblegateway.com Hymns for Psalm 88 hymnary.org