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You have caused my closest friends to shun me
    and made me hateful in their sight.
I am shut in with no means of escape,[a]
10     and my eyes grow dim[b] with my suffering.
[c]Every day I call out to you, O Lord,
    and spread out my hands to you.
11 Do you perform wonders[d] for the dead?
    Do the shades rise up and give you praise? Selah

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 88:9 Friends interpret the suffering of the suppliant as a punishment from God and remain aloof from him lest they also be struck with it.
  2. Psalm 88:10 Eyes grow dim: see note on Ps 6:8.
  3. Psalm 88:10 The psalmist prays to be saved in order to continue to praise the Lord for his wondrous deeds, for those in the grave can no longer do so (see notes on Pss 6:6; 9:2).
  4. Psalm 88:11 Wonders: see note on Ps 9:2. Rise up: i.e., a simple act of rising to give praise in the kingdom of the dead (see Isa 14:9)—not a bona fide resurrection from the dead.