³ For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
    I am like those who have no help,
⁵ like those forsaken among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.
⁶ You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves.Selah

⁸ You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
⁹     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call on you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the shades rise up to praise you?Selah
¹¹ Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
¹² Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³ But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ O Lord, why do you cast me off?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
¹⁵ Wretched and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.^[a]
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dread assaults destroy me.
¹⁷ They surround me like a flood all day long;
    from all sides they close in on me.
¹⁸ You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me;
    my companions are in darkness.

⁴ These things I remember,
    as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,^[a]
    and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
    a multitude keeping festival.
⁵ Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my help ⁶ and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    at the thunder of your cataracts;
all your waves and your billows
    have gone over me.
⁸ By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
    and at night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God, my rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
    because the enemy oppresses me?”
¹⁰ As with a deadly wound in my body,
    my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹ Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my help and my God.

⁴ For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil will not sojourn with you.
⁵ The boastful will not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
⁶ You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.

⁷ But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house,
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in awe of you.
⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.

⁹ For there is no truth in their mouths;
    their hearts are destruction;
their throats are open graves;
    they flatter with their tongues.
¹⁰ Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of their many transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
    so that those who love your name may exult in you.
¹² For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you cover them with favor as with a shield.

⁵ My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,^[a]
    and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
⁶ when I think of you on my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
⁷ for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
⁸ My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

⁹ But those who seek to destroy my life
    shall go down into the depths of the earth;
¹⁰ they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
    they shall be prey for jackals.
¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God;
    all who swear by him shall exult,
    for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven…

³ If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
    Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But there is forgiveness with you,
    so that you may be revered.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
⁶ my soul waits for the Lord
    more than those who watch for the morning,
    more than those who watch for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
⁸ It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.

³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
⁴ those who say, “With our tongues we will prevail;
    our lips are our own—who is our master?”

⁵ “Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan,
    I will now rise up,” says the Lord;
    “I will place them in the safety for which they long.”
⁶ The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure,
    silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

⁷ You, O Lord, will protect us;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
⁸ On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among humankind.

Prayer

Eternal God, we rejoice today for the gift of life, which we have received by your grace, and the new life you give in Jesus Christ.  Especially we thank you for the love of our families…
the affection of our friends…
strength and abilities to serve your purpose today…
this community in which we live…
opportunities to give as we have received…
(offer other prayers of thanksgiving)
God of Grace, we offer our prayers for the needs of others and commit ourselves to serve them even as we have been served in Jesus Christ.  Especially we pray for those closest to us, families, friends, and neighbors…
refugees and homeless men, women, and children…
the outcast and the persecuted…
those from whom we are estranged…
the church in Africa…
(offer other prayers of intercession).

AMEN.