Study Desk

Turn to me and be gracious to me,for I am alone and afflicted.

I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodnessin the land of the living.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.Therefore my heart celebrates,and I give thanks to him with my song.

Be gracious to me, Lord,because I am in distress;my eyes are worn out from frustration—my whole being as well.

I am ridiculed by all my adversariesand even by my neighbors.I am dreaded by my acquaintances;those who see me in the street run from me.

I am forgotten: gone from memorylike a dead person—like broken pottery.

In my alarm I said,“I am cut off from your sight.”But you heard the sound of my pleadingwhen I cried to you for help.

Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers,and assure me: “I am your deliverance.”

I have been young and now I am old,yet I have not seen the righteous abandonedor his children begging for bread.

I am bent over and brought very low;all day long I go around in mourning.

I am faint and severely crushed;I groan because of the anguish of my heart.

I am like a deaf person; I do not hear.I am like a speechless personwho does not open his mouth.

I am like a man who does not hearand has no arguments in his mouth.

For I am about to fall,and my pain is constantly with me.

So I confess my iniquity;I am anxious because of my sin.

“Lord, make me aware of my endand the number of my daysso that I will know how short-lived I am.

I am speechless; I do not open my mouthbecause of what you have done.

Remove your torment from me.Because of the force of your hand I am finished.

“Hear my prayer, Lord,and listen to my cry for help;do not be silent at my tears.For I am here with you as an alien,a temporary resident like all my ancestors.

Turn your angry gaze from meso that I may be cheered upbefore I die and am gone.”