Prayer for Mercy and Help
1 Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down, That the mountains would quake at Your presence—
2 As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of one who waits for Him.
5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in our sins for a long time; Yet shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.
8 But now, Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter, And all of us are the work of Your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord, Nor remember wrongdoing forever. Behold, please look, all of us are Your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful house, Where our fathers praised You, Has been burned by fire; And all our precious things have become a ruin.
12 Will You restrain Yourself at these things, Lord? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?