Month: December 2019

Evening Prayer for Help

1 Answer me when I pray,

O God, my defender!

When I was in trouble, you helped me.

Be kind to me now and hear my prayer.

2 How long will you people insult me?

How long will you love what is worthless

and go after what is false?

3 Remember that theLordhas chosen the righteous for his own,

and he hears me when I call to him.

4 Tremble with fear and stop sinning;

think deeply about this,

when you lie in silence on your beds.

5 Offer the right sacrifices to theLord,

and put your trust in him.

6 There are many who pray:

“Give us more blessings, OLord.

Look on us with kindness!”

7 But the joy that you have given me

is more than they will ever have

with all their grain and wine.

8 When I lie down, I go to sleep in peace;

you alone, OLord, keep me perfectly safe.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/4-70b23f8a30aac8e4d264593fbb32b9df.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Protection

1 Listen to my words, OLord,

and hear my sighs.

2 Listen to my cry for help,

my God and king!

I pray to you, OLord;

3 you hear my voice in the morning;

at sunrise I offer my prayer

and wait for your answer.

4 You are not a God who is pleased with wrongdoing;

you allow no evil in your presence.

5 You cannot stand the sight of the proud;

you hate all wicked people.

6 You destroy all liars

and despise violent, deceitful people.

7 But because of your great love

I can come into your house;

I can worship in your holy Temple

and bow down to you in reverence.

8 Lord, I have so many enemies!

Lead me to do your will;

make your way plain for me to follow.

9 What my enemies say can never be trusted;

they only want to destroy.

Their words are flattering and smooth,

but full of deadly deceit.

10 Condemn and punish them, O God;

may their own plots cause their ruin.

Drive them out of your presence

because of their many sins

and their rebellion against you.

11 But all who find safety in you will rejoice;

they can always sing for joy.

Protect those who love you;

because of you they are truly happy.

12 You bless those who obey you,Lord;

your love protects them like a shield.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/5-e131cd30815abc23a36d07348fb7a24b.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble

1 Lord, don’t be angry and rebuke me!

Don’t punish me in your anger!

2 I am worn out, OLord; have pity on me!

Give me strength; I am completely exhausted

3 and my whole being is deeply troubled.

How long, OLord, will you wait to help me?

4 Come and save me,Lord;

in your mercy rescue me from death.

5 In the world of the dead you are not remembered;

no one can praise you there.

6 I am worn out with grief;

every night my bed is damp from my weeping;

my pillow is soaked with tears.

7 I can hardly see;

my eyes are so swollen

from the weeping caused by my enemies.

8 Keep away from me, you evil people!

TheLordhears my weeping;

9 he listens to my cry for help

and will answer my prayer.

10 My enemies will know the bitter shame of defeat;

in sudden confusion they will be driven away.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/6-53a55830d0cd9b243d8a76fa375bb7a2.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Justice

1 OLord, my God, I come to you for protection;

rescue me and save me from all who pursue me,

2 or else like a lion they will carry me off

where no one can save me,

and there they will tear me to pieces.

3-4 OLord, my God, if I have wronged anyone,

if I have betrayed a friend

or without cause done violence to my enemy—

if I have done any of these things—

5 then let my enemies pursue me and catch me,

let them cut me down and kill me

and leave me lifeless on the ground!

6 Rise in your anger, OLord!

Stand up against the fury of my enemies;

rouse yourself and help me!

Justice is what you demand,

7 so bring together all the peoples around you,

and rule over them from above.

8 You are the judge of all people.

Judge in my favor, OLord;

you know that I am innocent.

9 You are a righteous God

and judge our thoughts and desires.

Stop the wickedness of evildoers

and reward those who are good.

10 God is my protector;

he saves those who obey him.

11 God is a righteous judge

and always condemns the wicked.

12 If they do not change their ways,

God will sharpen his sword.

He bends his bow and makes it ready;

13 he takes up his deadly weapons

and aims his burning arrows.

14 See how wicked people think up evil;

they plan trouble and practice deception.

15 But in the traps they set for others,

they themselves get caught.

16 So they are punished by their own evil

and are hurt by their own violence.

17 I thank theLordfor his justice;

I sing praises to theLord, the Most High.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/7-a8c286907d495898b2de1c48e7b85a6f.mp3?version_id=68—

God’s Glory and Human Dignity

1 OLord, our Lord,

your greatness is seen in all the world!

Your praise reaches up to the heavens;

2 it is sung by children and babies.

You are safe and secure from all your enemies;

you stop anyone who opposes you.

3 When I look at the sky, which you have made,

at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places—

4 what are human beings, that you think of them;

mere mortals, that you care for them?

5 Yet you made them inferior only to yourself;

you crowned them with glory and honor.

6 You appointed them rulers over everything you made;

you placed them over all creation:

7 sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too;

8 the birds and the fish

and the creatures in the seas.

9 OLord, our Lord,

your greatness is seen in all the world!

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/8-4e9aedcc9e79713377436d3c07fbaa4e.mp3?version_id=68—

Thanksgiving to God for His Justice

1 I will praise you,Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done.

2 I will sing with joy because of you.

I will sing praise to you, Almighty God.

3 My enemies turn back when you appear;

they fall down and die.

4 You are fair and honest in your judgments,

and you have judged in my favor.

5 You have condemned the heathen

and destroyed the wicked;

they will be remembered no more.

6 Our enemies are finished forever;

you have destroyed their cities,

and they are completely forgotten.

7 But theLordis king forever;

he has set up his throne for judgment.

8 He rules the world with righteousness;

he judges the nations with justice.

9 TheLordis a refuge for the oppressed,

a place of safety in times of trouble.

10 Those who know you,Lord, will trust you;

you do not abandon anyone who comes to you.

11 Sing praise to theLord, who rules in Zion!

Tell every nation what he has done!

12 God remembers those who suffer;

he does not forget their cry,

and he punishes those who wrong them.

13 Be merciful to me, OLord!

See the sufferings my enemies cause me!

Rescue me from death, OLord,

14 that I may stand before the people of Jerusalem

and tell them all the things for which I praise you.

I will rejoice because you saved me.

15 The heathen have dug a pit and fallen in;

they have been caught in their own trap.

16 TheLordhas revealed himself by his righteous judgments,

and the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.

17 Death is the destiny of all the wicked,

of all those who reject God.

18 The needy will not always be neglected;

the hope of the poor will not be crushed forever.

19 Come,Lord! Do not let anyone defy you!

Bring the heathen before you

and pronounce judgment on them.

20 Make them afraid, OLord;

make them know that they are only mortal beings.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/9-18d35e919defe728f52a8c4e266dc10e.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Justice

1 Why are you so far away, OLord?

Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?

2 The wicked are proud and persecute the poor;

catch them in the traps they have made.

3 The wicked are proud of their evil desires;

the greedy curse and reject theLord.

4 The wicked do not care about theLord;

in their pride they think that God doesn’t matter.

5 The wicked succeed in everything.

They cannot understand God’s judgments;

they sneer at their enemies.

6 They say to themselves, “We will never fail;

we will never be in trouble.”

7 Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats;

they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.

8 They hide themselves in the villages,

waiting to murder innocent people.

They spy on their helpless victims;

9 they wait in their hiding place like lions.

They lie in wait for the poor;

they catch them in their traps and drag them away.

10 The helpless victims lie crushed;

brute strength has defeated them.

11 The wicked say to themselves, “God doesn’t care!

He has closed his eyes and will never see me!”

12 OLord, punish those wicked people!

Remember those who are suffering!

13 How can the wicked despise God

and say to themselves, “He will not punish me”?

14 But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering

and are always ready to help.

The helpless commit themselves to you;

you have always helped the needy.

15 Break the power of wicked and evil people;

punish them for the wrong they have done

until they do it no more.

16 TheLordis king forever and ever.

Those who worship other gods

will vanish from his land.

17 You will listen, OLord, to the prayers of the lowly;

you will give them courage.

18 You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans;

you will judge in their favor,

so that mortal men may cause terror no more.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/10-d4dd08cef0a17870ced087c5c87589c2.mp3?version_id=68—

Confidence in the Lord

1 I trust in theLordfor safety.

How foolish of you to say to me,

“Fly away like a bird to the mountains,

2 because the wicked have drawn their bows and aimed their arrows

to shoot from the shadows at good people.

3 There is nothing a good person can do

when everything falls apart.”

4 TheLordis in his holy temple;

he has his throne in heaven.

He watches people everywhere

and knows what they are doing.

5 He examines the good and the wicked alike;

the lawless he hates with all his heart.

6 He sends down flaming coalsand burning sulfur on the wicked;

he punishes them with scorching winds.

7 TheLordis righteous and loves good deeds;

those who do them will live in his presence.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/11-0c0cdf57b794dfd9286950dedd79d286.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Help

1 Help us,Lord!

There is not a good person left;

honest people can no longer be found.

2 All of them lie to one another;

they deceive each other with flattery.

3 Silence those flattering tongues, OLord!

Close those boastful mouths that say,

4 “With our words we get what we want.

We will say what we wish,

and no one can stop us.”

5 “But now I will come,” says theLord,

“because the needy are oppressed

and the persecuted groan in pain.

I will give them the security they long for.”

6 The promises of theLordcan be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver

refined seven times in the furnace.

7-8 The wicked are everywhere,

and everyone praises what is evil.

Keep us always safe, OLord,

and preserve us from such people.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/12-f0e56dcc2acd6635b57a29272256f521.mp3?version_id=68—

A Prayer for Help

1 How much longer will you forget me,Lord? Forever?

How much longer will you hide yourself from me?

2 How long must I endure trouble?

How long will sorrow fill my heart day and night?

How long will my enemies triumph over me?

3 Look at me, OLordmy God, and answer me.

Restore my strength; don’t let me die.

4 Don’t let my enemies say, “We have defeated him.”

Don’t let them gloat over my downfall.

5 I rely on your constant love;

I will be glad, because you will rescue me.

6 I will sing to you, OLord,

because you have been good to me.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/363/32k/PSA/13-be76878b24ddbe9c486d92a515b34c37.mp3?version_id=68—