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Prayer for Mercy and Help

^1 (F1)Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and ^(C1)come down,
That the mountains would ^(C2)quake at Your presence—

^2 (F1)As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the ^(C1)nations may tremble at Your presence!

³ When You did ^(C1)awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

⁴ For from days of old ^(C1)they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one who ^(C2)waits for Him.

⁵ You ^(C1)meet him who rejoices in ^(C2)doing righteousness,
Who ^(C3)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, ^(C4)You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in ^(F1)our sins for a long time;
Yet shall we be saved?

⁶ For all of us have become like one who is ^(C1)unclean,
And all our ^(C2)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us ^(C3)wither like a leaf,
And our ^(C4)wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.

⁷ There is ^(C1)no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself to take hold of You;
For You have ^(C2)hidden Your face from us
And have ^(F1)surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.

⁸ But now, LORD, ^(C1)You are our Father;
We are the ^(C2)clay, and You our potter,
And all of us are the ^(C3)work of Your hand.

⁹ Do not be ^(C1)angry beyond measure, LORD,
^(C2)Nor remember wrongdoing forever.
Behold, please look, all of us are ^(C3)Your people.

¹⁰ Your ^(C1)holy cities have become a ^(C2)wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.

¹¹ Our holy and beautiful ^(C1)house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And ^(C2)all our precious things have become a ruin.

¹² Will You ^(C1)restrain Yourself at these things, LORD?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?