Comfort from the Word – Day 8

₄“LORD, how long will I live?

When will I die?

Tell me how soon my life will end.”

₅How short you have made my life!

In your sight my lifetime seems nothing.

Indeed every living being is no more than a puff of wind,

₆no more than a shadow.

All they do is for nothing;

they gather wealth, but don't know who will get it.

₇What, then, can I hope for, Lord?

I put my hope in you.

₁I love the LORD, because he hears me;

he listens to my prayers.

₂He listens to me

every time I call to him.

₃The danger of death was all round me;

the horrors of the grave closed in on me;

I was filled with fear and anxiety.

₄Then I called to the LORD,

“I beg you, LORD, save me!”

₅The LORD is merciful and good;

our God is compassionate.

₆The LORD protects the helpless;

when I was in danger, he saved me.

₁Listen to me, LORD, and answer me,

for I am helpless and weak.

₂Save me from death, because I am loyal to you;

save me, for I am your servant and I trust in you.

₃You are my God, so be merciful to me;

I pray to you all day long.

₄Make your servant glad, O Lord,

because my prayers go up to you.

₅You are good to us and forgiving,

full of constant love for all who pray to you.

₆Listen, LORD, to my prayer;

hear my cries for help.

₇I call to you in times of trouble,

because you answer my prayers.

₈There is no god like you, O Lord,

not one has done what you have done.

₉All the nations that you have created

will come and bow down to you;

they will praise your greatness.

₁₀You are mighty and do wonderful things;

you alone are God.

₁₁Teach me, LORD, what you want me to do,

and I will obey you faithfully;

teach me to serve you with complete devotion.

₁₂I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God;

I will proclaim your greatness for ever.

₁₃How great is your constant love for me!

You have saved me from the grave itself.

₁LORD God, my saviour, I cry out all day,

and at night I come before you.

₂Hear my prayer;

listen to my cry for help!

₃So many troubles have fallen on me

that I am close to death.

₄I am like all others who are about to die;

all my strength is gone.

₅I am abandoned among the dead;

I am like the slain lying in their graves,

those you have forgotten completely,

who are beyond your help.

₆You have thrown me into the depths of the tomb,

into the darkest and deepest pit.

₇Your anger lies heavy on me,

and I am crushed beneath its waves.

₈You have caused my friends to abandon me;

you have made me repulsive to them.

I am closed in and cannot escape;

₉my eyes are weak from suffering.

LORD, every day I call to you

and lift my hands to you in prayer.

₁₀Do you perform miracles for the dead?

Do they rise up and praise you?

₁₁Is your constant love spoken of in the grave

or your faithfulness in the place of destruction?

₁₂Are your miracles seen in that place of darkness

or your goodness in the land of the forgotten?

₁₃LORD, I call to you for help;

every morning I pray to you.

₁₄Why do you reject me, LORD?

Why do you turn away from me?

₁₅Ever since I was young, I have suffered and been near death;

I am worn out from the burden of your punishments.

₁₆Your furious anger crushes me;

your terrible attacks destroy me.

₁₇All day long they surround me like a flood;

they close in on me from every side.

₁₈You have made even my closest friends abandon me,

and darkness is my only companion.

₁Listen to my prayer, O LORD,

and hear my cry for help!

₂When I am in trouble,

don't turn away from me!

Listen to me,

and answer me quickly when I call!

₃My life is disappearing like smoke;

my body is burning like fire.

₄I am beaten down like dry grass;

I have lost my desire for food.

₅I groan aloud;

I am nothing but skin and bones.

₆I am like a wild bird in the desert,

like an owl in abandoned ruins.

₇I lie awake;

I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.

₈All day long my enemies insult me;

those who mock me use my name in cursing.

_9-10Because of your anger and fury,

ashes are my food,

and my tears are mixed with my drink.

You picked me up and threw me away.

₁₁My life is like the evening shadows;

I am like dry grass.

₁₂But you, O LORD, are king for ever;

all generations will remember you.

₁₃You will rise and take pity on Zion;

the time has come to have mercy on her;

this is the right time.

₁₄Your servants love her,

even though she is destroyed;

they have pity on her,

even though she is in ruins.

₁₅The nations will fear the LORD;

all the kings of the earth will fear his power.

₁₆When the LORD rebuilds Zion,

he will reveal his greatness.

₁₇He will hear his forsaken people

and listen to their prayer.

₁₈Write down for the coming generation what the LORD has done,

so that people not yet born will praise him.

₁₉The LORD looked down from his holy place on high,

he looked down from heaven to earth.

₂₀He heard the groans of prisoners

and set free those who were condemned to die.

₂₁And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion,

and he will be praised in Jerusalem

₂₂when nations and kingdoms come together

and worship the LORD.

₂₃The LORD has made me weak while I am still young;

he has shortened my life.

₂₄O God, do not take me away now

before I grow old.

O LORD, you live for ever;

₂₅long ago you created the earth,

and with your own hands you made the heavens.

₂₆They will disappear, but you will remain;

they will all wear out like clothes.

You will discard them like clothes,

and they will vanish.

₂₇But you are always the same,

and your life never ends.

₂₈Our children will live in safety,

and under your protection

their descendants will be secure.

₁I call to the LORD for help;

I plead with him.

₂I bring him all my complaints;

I tell him all my troubles.

₃When I am ready to give up,

he knows what I should do.

In the path where I walk,

my enemies have hidden a trap for me.

₄When I look beside me,

I see that there is no one to help me,

no one to protect me.

No one cares for me.

₅LORD, I cry to you for help;

you, LORD, are my protector;

you are all I want in this life.

₆Listen to my cry for help,

for I am sunk in despair.

Save me from my enemies;

they are too strong for me.

₇Set me free from my distress;

then in the assembly of your people I will praise you

because of your goodness to me.