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Psalms 86:1-17
Lord, hear me and answer me. I am poor and needy.Keep my life safe, because I am faithful to you. Save me, because I trust in you. You are my God.Lord, have mercy on me. I call out to you all day long.Bring joy to me. Lord, I put my trust in you.Lord, you are forgiving and good. You are full of love for all who call out to you.Lord, hear my prayer. Listen to my cry for mercy.When I’m in trouble, I will call out to you. And you will answer me.Lord, there’s no one like you among the gods. No one can do what you do.Lord, all the nations you have made will come and worship you. They will bring glory to you.You are great. You do wonderful things. You alone are God.Lord, teach me how you want me to live. Do this so that I will depend on you, my faithful God. Give me a heart that doesn’t want anything more than to worship you.Lord my God, I will praise you with all my heart. I will bring glory to you forever.Great is your love for me. You have kept me from going down into the place of the dead.God, proud people are attacking me. A gang of mean people is trying to kill me. They don’t care about you.But Lord, you are a God who is tender and kind. You are gracious. You are slow to get angry. You are faithful and full of love.Come to my aid and have mercy on me. Show your strength by helping me. Save me because I serve you just as my mother did.Prove your goodness to me. Then my enemies will see it and be put to shame. Lord, you have helped me and given me comfort.
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Psalms 7:1-17
Lord my God, I go to you for safety. Help me. Save me from all those who are chasing me.If you don’t, they will tear me apart as if they were lions. They will rip me to pieces so that no one can save me.Lord my God, suppose I have done something wrong. Suppose I am guilty.Or I have done evil to my friend. Or I have robbed my enemy without any reason.Then let my enemy chase me and catch me. Let him stomp me into the ground. Let him bury me in the dust.Lord, rise up in your anger. Rise up against the great anger of my enemies. My God, wake up. Command that the right thing be done.Let all the people of the earth gather around you. Rule over them from your throne in heaven.Lord, judge all people. Lord, show that I have done what is right. Most High God, remember that I am honest.God, you always do what is right. You look deep down inside the hearts and minds of people. Bring to an end the terrible things sinful people do. Make godly people safe.The Most High God is like a shield that keeps me safe. He saves those whose hearts are honest.God judges fairly. He shows his anger every day.If evil people don’t change their ways, God will sharpen his sword. He will get his bow ready to use.He has prepared his deadly weapons. He has made his flaming arrows ready.Whoever is full of evil plans trouble and ends up telling lies.Whoever digs a hole and shovels it out falls into the pit they have made.The trouble they cause comes back on them. The terrible things they do will happen to them.I will give thanks to the Lord because he does what is right. I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
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Psalms 90:1-17
Lord, from the very beginning you have been like a home to us.Before you created the whole world and the mountains were made, from the beginning to the end you are God.You turn human beings back to dust. You say to them,“ Return to dust.”To you a thousand years are like a day that has just gone by. They are like a few hours of the night.Yet you sweep people away, and they die. They are like new grass that grows in the morning.In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it’s all dried up.Your anger destroys us. Your burning anger terrifies us.You have put our sins right in front of you. You have placed our secret sins where you can see them clearly.You have been angry with us all of our days. We groan as we come to the end of our lives.We live to be about 70. Or we may live to be 80, if we stay healthy. But even our best days are filled with trouble and sorrow. The years quickly pass, and we are gone.If only we knew the power of your anger! It’s as great as the respect we should have for you.Teach us to realize how short our lives are. Then our hearts will become wise.Lord, please stop punishing us! How long will you keep it up? Be kind to us.Satisfy us with your faithful love every morning. Then we can sing for joy and be glad all our days.Make us glad for as many days as you have made us suffer. Give us joy for as many years as we’ve had trouble.Show us your mighty acts. Let our children see your glorious power.May the Lord our God always be pleased with us. Lord, make what we do succeed. Please make what we do succeed.
