A Prayer for God's Continued Mercy

861 Hear, Yahweh, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul, for I am godly.
You, my God, save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Be merciful to me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to the soul of your servant,
for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive;
abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you. 6 Hear, Yahweh, my prayer.
Listen to the voice of my petitions. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call on you,
for you will answer me.

8 There is no one like you among the gods, Lord,
nor any deeds like your deeds. 9 All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord.
They shall glorify your name. 10 For you are great, and do wondrous things.
You are God alone. 11 Teach me your way, Yahweh.
I will walk in your truth.
Make my heart undivided to fear your name. 12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart.
I will glorify your name forevermore. 13 For your loving kindness is great toward me.
You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol. 14 God, the proud have risen up against me.
A company of violent men have sought after my soul,
and they don’t hold regard for you before them. 15 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. 16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me!
Give your strength to your servant.
Save the son of your handmaid. 17 Show me a sign of your goodness,
that those who hate me may see it, and be shamed,
because you, Yahweh, have helped me, and comforted me.

The Privileges of Dwelling in Zion

871 His foundation is in the holy mountains. 2 Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah.

4 I will record Rahab [1] and Babylon among those who acknowledge me.
Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia:
“This one was born there.” 5 Yes, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one was born in her;”
the Most High himself will establish her. 6 Yahweh will count, when he writes up the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah. 7 Those who sing as well as those who dance say,
“All my springs are in you.”

A Prayer for Deliverance from Death

881 Yahweh, the God of my salvation,
I have cried day and night before you. 2 Let my prayer enter into your presence.
Turn your ear to my cry. 3 For my soul is full of troubles.
My life draws near to Sheol. 4 I am counted among those who go down into the pit.
I am like a man who has no help, 5 set apart among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more.
They are cut off from your hand. 6 You have laid me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavily on me.
You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah. 8 You have taken my friends from me.
You have made me an abomination to them.
I am confined, and I can’t escape. 9 My eyes are dim from grief.
I have called on you daily, Yahweh.
I have spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you show wonders to the dead?
Do the dead rise up and praise you? Selah. 11 Is your loving kindness declared in the grave?
Or your faithfulness in Destruction? 12 Are your wonders made known in the dark?
Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13 But to you, Yahweh, I have cried.
In the morning, my prayer comes before you. 14 Yahweh, why do you reject my soul?
Why do you hide your face from me? 15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up.
While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted. 16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me.
Your terrors have cut me off. 17 They came around me like water all day long.
They completely engulfed me. 18 You have put lover and friend far from me,
and my friends into darkness.

God's Covenant with David

891 I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever.
With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. 2 I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever.
You established the heavens.
Your faithfulness is in them.” 3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David, my servant, 4 ‘I will establish your seed forever,
and build up your throne to all generations.’” Selah.

5 The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh;
your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh?
Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh, 7 a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones,
to be feared above all those who are around him? 8 Yahweh, God of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you?
Yah, your faithfulness is around you. 9 You rule the pride of the sea.
When its waves rise up, you calm them. 10 You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain.
You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. 11 The heavens are yours.
The earth also is yours;
the world and its fullness.
You have founded them. 12 The north and the south, you have created them.
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name. 13 You have a mighty arm.
Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loving kindness and truth go before your face.

15 Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you.
They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh. 16 In your name they rejoice all day.
In your righteousness, they are exalted. 17 For you are the glory of their strength.
In your favor, our horn will be exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to Yahweh;
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Then you spoke in vision to your saints,
and said, “I have bestowed strength on the warrior.
I have exalted a young man from the people. 20 I have found David, my servant.
I have anointed him with my holy oil, 21 with whom my hand shall be established.
My arm will also strengthen him. 22 No enemy will tax him.
No wicked man will oppress him. 23 I will beat down his adversaries before him,
and strike those who hate him. 24 But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him.
In my name, his horn will be exalted. 25 I will set his hand also on the sea,
and his right hand on the rivers. 26 He will call to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation!’ 27 I will also appoint him my firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 I will keep my loving kindness for him forevermore.
My covenant will stand firm with him. 29 I will also make his seed endure forever,
and his throne as the days of heaven. 30 If his children forsake my law,
and don’t walk in my ordinances; 31 if they break my statutes,
and don’t keep my commandments; 32 then I will punish their sin with the rod,
and their iniquity with stripes. 33 But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him,
nor allow my faithfulness to fail. 34 I will not break my covenant,
nor alter what my lips have uttered. 35 Once have I sworn by my holiness,
I will not lie to David. 36 His seed will endure forever,
his throne like the sun before me. 37 It will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah.

38 But you have rejected and spurned.
You have been angry with your anointed. 39 You have renounced the covenant of your servant.
You have defiled his crown in the dust. 40 You have broken down all his hedges.
You have brought his strongholds to ruin. 41 All who pass by the way rob him.
He has become a reproach to his neighbors. 42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries.
You have made all of his enemies rejoice. 43 Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword,
and haven’t supported him in battle. 44 You have ended his splendor,
and thrown his throne down to the ground. 45 You have shortened the days of his youth.
You have covered him with shame. Selah. 46 How long, Yahweh?
Will you hide yourself forever?
Will your wrath burn like fire? 47 Remember how short my time is!
For what vanity have you created all the children of men! 48 What man is he who shall live and not see death,
who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. 49 Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses,
which you swore to David in your faithfulness? 50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants,
how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples, 51 With which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh,
with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one. 52 Blessed be Yahweh forevermore.
Amen, and Amen.

BOOK IV