Psalm 6

Do not reprove me in your anger, Lord,
nor punish me in your wrath.
Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are trembling.
In utter terror is my soul – and you, Lord, how long…?
Turn, Lord, save my life; in your mercy rescue me.
For who among the dead remembers you?

Who praises you in Sheol?
I am wearied with sighing;
all night long tears drench my bed;
my couch is soaked with weeping.
My eyes are dimmed with sorrow,
worn out because of all my foes.
Away from me, all who do evil!

The Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my prayer;
the Lord takes up my plea.
My foes will be terrified and disgraced;
all will fall back in sudden shame.

Amen.

Psalm 32

Happy the sinner whose fault is removed,
whose sin is forgiven.
Happy those to whom the LORD imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no deceit.

As long as I kept silent, my bones wasted away;
I groaned all the day.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength withered as in dry summer heat.

Then I declared my sin to you;
my guilt I did not hide.
I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.

Thus should all your faithful pray
in time of distress.
Though flood waters threaten,
they will never reach them.

You are my shelter; from distress you keep me;
with safety you ring me round.
I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk,
give you counsel and watch over you.

Do not be senseless like horses or mules;
with bit and bridle their temper is curbed,
else they will not come to you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.

Amen.

Psalm 38

Lord, punish me no more in your anger;
in your wrath do not chastise me!
Your arrows have sunk deep in me;
your hand has come down upon me.

My flesh is afflicted because of your anger;
my frame aches because of my sin.
My iniquities overwhelm me,
a burden beyond my strength.

Foul and festering are my sores
because of my folly.
I am stooped and deeply bowed;
all day I go about mourning.

My loins burn with fever;
my flesh is afflicted.
I am numb and utterly crushed;
I wail with anguish of heart.

My Lord, my deepest yearning is before you;
my groaning is not hidden from you.
My heart shudders, my strength forsakes me;
the very light of my eyes has failed.

Friends and companions shun my pain;
my neighbors stand far off.
Those who seek my life lay snares for me;
they seek my misfortune, they speak of ruin;
they plot treachery all the day.

But I am like the deaf, hearing nothing,
like the dumb, saying nothing,
Like someone who does not hear,
who has no answer ready.

Lord, I wait for you;
O Lord, my God, answer me.
For I fear they will gloat,
exult over me if I stumble.

I am very near to falling;
my pain is with me always.
I acknowledge my guilt
and grieve over my sin.

But many are my foes without cause,
a multitude of enemies without reason,
Repaying me evil for good,
harassing me for pursuing good.

Forsake me not, O Lord;
my God, be not far from me!
Come quickly to help me,
my Lord and my salvation!

Amen.

Psalm 51: Miseréré

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy;
and according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies:
blot out my iniquity.

Wash me from my iniquity; and cleanse me of my sin.
For I acknowledge my iniquity,
and my sin is always before me.

Against Thee alone have I sinned and done evil in Thy sight;
that Thou may be justified in Thy sentence
and may overcome when judged.

For behold, I was conceived in sin,
and in sin my mother conceived me;
For behold, Thou has loved truth,
and the uncertain and hidden things
of Thy wisdom Thou hast shown me.

Thou shall sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed,
Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness,
and the bones Thou has crushed shall rejoice.

Turn away Thy face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Cast me not from Thy presence,
and take not Thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,
and strengthen me with Thy spirit.

I will teach the unjust Thy ways,
and the wicked shall be converted to Thee.
Deliver me from blood guilt, O God,
the God of my salvation,
and my tongue shall extol Thy justice.

Thou shall open my lips, O Lord,
and my mouth shall declare Thy praise.

For if Thou did desire sacrifice, I would have indeed given it,
with a burnt offering Thou art not pleased.
A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit,
a contrite and humbled heart, O God,
Thou shall not despise.

Deal favorably, O Lord, in Thy good will with Sion
that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
Then shalt Thou accept the sacrifice of justice,
oblations and whole burnt offerings,
then shall they lay calves upon Thy altar.

Amen.

Psalm 102

O Lord, listen to my prayer
and let my cry for help reach you.
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Turn you rear towards me
and answer me quickly when I call.

For my days are vanishing like smoke,
my bones burn away like a fire.
My heart is withered like the grass.
I forget to eat my bread.
I cry with all my strength
and my skin clings to my bones.

I have become like a pelican in the wilderness,
like an owl in desolate places.
I like awake and I moan
like some lonely bird on a roof.
All day long my foes revile me;
those who hate me use my name as a curse.

The bread I eat is ashes;
my drink is mingled with tears.
In your anger, Lord, and your fury
you have lifted me up and thrown me down.
My days are like a passing shadow
and I wither away like the grass.

But you, O Lord, will endure for ever
and your name from age to age.
You will arise and have mercy on Zion:
for this is the time to have mercy;
yes, the time appointed has come
for your servants love her very stones,
are moved with pity even for her dust

The nations shall fear the name of the Lord
and all the earth's kings your glory,
when the Lord shall build up Zion again
and appear in all his glory.
Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless;
he will not despise their prayers.

Let this be written for ages to come
that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord;
for the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high.
He looked down from heaven to the earth
that he might hear the groans of the prisoners
and free those condemned to die.

The sons of your servants shall dwell untroubled
and their race shall endure before you
that the name of the Lord may be proclaimed in Zion
and his praise in the heart of Jerusalem,
when peoples and kingdoms are gathered together
to pay their homage to the Lord.

He has broken my strength in mid-course;
he has shortened the days of my life.
I say to God: "Do not take me away
before my days are complete,
you, whose days last from age to age.

Long ago you founded the earth
and the heavens are the works of your hands.
They will perish but you will remain.
They will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like clothes that are changed.
But you neither change, nor have an end."

Amen.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I call to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my cry!
May your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

If you, Lord, mark our sins,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness
and so you are revered.

I wait with longing for the Lord,
my soul waits for his word.
My soul looks for the Lord
more than sentinels for daybreak.
More than sentinels for daybreak,
let Israel look for the Lord.

For with the Lord is kindness,
with him is full redemption,
And God will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

Amen.

Psalm 143

LORD, hear my prayer;
in your faithfulness listen to my pleading;
answer me in your justice.
Do not enter into judgment with your servant;
before you no living being can be just.

The enemy has pursued me;
they have crushed my life to the ground.
They have left me in darkness
like those long dead.
My spirit is faint within me;
my heart is dismayed.

I remember the days of old;
I ponder all your deeds;
the works of your hands I recall.
I stretch out my hands to you;
I thirst for you like a parched land.

Hasten to answer me, LORD;
for my spirit fails me.
Do not hide your face from me,
lest I become like those descending to the pit.

At dawn let me hear of your kindness,
for in you I trust.
Show me the path I should walk,
for to you I entrust my life.

Rescue me, LORD, from my foes,
for in you I hope.

Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your kind spirit guide me
on ground that is level.

For your name's sake, LORD, give me life;
in your justice lead me out of distress.
In your kindness put an end to my foes;
destroy all who attack me, for I am your servant.

Amen.