• Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.

  • 1 Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, And do not punish me in Your burning anger.
  • 2 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me.
  • 3 There is no healthy part in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
  • 4 For my guilty deeds have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
  • 5 My wounds grow foul and fester Because of my foolishness.
  • 6 I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go in mourning all day long.
  • 7 For my sides are filled with burning, And there is no healthy part in my flesh.
  • 8 I feel faint and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart.
  • 9 Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.
  • 10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; And the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.
  • 11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand far away.
  • 12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me; And those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, And they plot deception all day long.
  • 13 But I, like a person who is deaf, do not hear; And I am like a person who cannot speak, who does not open his mouth.
  • 14 Yes, I am like a person who does not hear, And in whose mouth are no arguments.
  • 15 For I wait for You, Lord; You will answer, Lord my God.
  • 16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, would exalt themselves over me.”
  • 17 For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me.
  • 18 For I admit my guilt; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.
  • 19 But my enemies are vigorous and strong, And those who wrongfully hate me are many.
  • 20 And those who repay evil for good, They become my enemies, because I follow what is good.
  • 21 Do not abandon me, Lord; My God, do not be far from me!
  • 22 Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation!