The Seven Penitential Psalms

The Seven Penitential Psalms

Psalm 6 - Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble

O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed.  And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O Lord—how long?

Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness.  For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?  I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears.  My eye has wasted away with grief; It has become old because of all my adversaries.

Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.  The Lord has heard my supplication, The Lord receives my prayer.  All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed.

Psalm 32 - Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!  How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.  You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.  Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you.  Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.  Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

Psalm 38 - Prayer of a Suffering Penitent

O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath, And chasten me not in Your burning anger.  For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me.  There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin.  For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.  My wounds grow foul and fester Because of my folly.  I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long.  For my loins are filled with burning, And there is no soundness in my flesh.  I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart.

Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You.  My heart throbs, my strength fails me; And the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.  My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; and my kinsmen stand afar off.  Those who seek my life lay snares for me; and those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, and they devise treachery all day long.

But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; and I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.  Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no arguments.  For I hope in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God.  For I said, “May they not rejoice over me, who, when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me.”  For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me.  For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.  But my enemies are vigorous and strong, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.  And those who repay evil for good, They oppose me, because I follow what is good.  Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me!   Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

Psalm 51 - A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon 

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.  Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.  Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.  Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.  Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.  O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise.  For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem.  Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.

Psalm 102 - A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint

Hear my prayer, O Lord!  And let my cry for help come to You.  Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly.  For my days have been consumed in smoke, And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.  My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.  Because of the loudness of my groaning My bones cling to my flesh.  I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places.  I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

My enemies have reproached me all day long; Those who deride me have used my name as a curse.  For I have eaten ashes like bread And mingled my drink with weeping Because of Your indignation and Your wrath, For You have lifted me up and cast me away.  My days are like a lengthened shadow, And I wither away like grass.

But You, O Lord, abide forever, And Your name to all generations.  You will arise and have compassion on Zion; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come. Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones And feel pity for her dust.  So the nations will fear the name of the Lord And all the kings of the earth Your glory.  For the Lord has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory.  He has regarded the prayer of the destitute And has not despised their prayer.

This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.  For He looked down from His holy height; From heaven the Lord gazed upon the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To set free those who were doomed to death, That men may tell of the name of the Lord in Zion And His praise in Jerusalem, When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

He has weakened my strength in the way; He has shortened my days.  I say, “O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days, Your years are throughout all generations.  “Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.  “Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.  “But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.  “The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You.”

Psalm 130 - Hope in the Lord's Forgiving Love

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.  Lord, hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications.  If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.  My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.  O Israel, hope in the Lord; For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.  And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

Psalm 143 - Prayer for Deliverance and Guidance

Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications!  Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!  And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous.  For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.  Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me.

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands.  I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.  Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.  Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.

Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.  For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me.  In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.  And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am Your servant.

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