Prayer for Mercy
15
u Look down from heaven,
And see v from Your habitation, holy and glorious.
Where are Your zeal and Your strength,
The yearning w of Your heart and Your mercies toward me?
Are they restrained?
16
x Doubtless You are our Father,
Though Abraham y was ignorant of us,
And Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O LORD, are our Father;
Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
17
O LORD, why have You z made us stray from Your ways,
And hardened our heart from Your fear?
Return for Your servants' sake,
The tribes of Your inheritance.
18
a Your holy people have possessed it but a little while;
b Our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary.
19
We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled,
Those who were never called by Your name.
1
Oh, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your a presence -
2
As fire burns 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 b You did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence.
4
For since the beginning of the world
c Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
5
You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned -
d In these ways we continue;
And we need to be saved.
6
But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all e our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all f fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
7
And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have consumed us because of our iniquities.
8
But now, O LORD,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our g potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.
9
Do not be furious, O LORD,
Nor remember iniquity forever;
Indeed, please look - we all are Your people!
10
Your holy cities are a wilderness,
Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11
Our holy and beautiful temple,
Where our fathers praised You,
Is burned up with fire;
And all h our pleasant things are laid waste.
12
i Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O LORD?
j Will You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?
-
Cross References
Deuteronomy 26:15
'Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, "a land flowing with milk and honey."'
Psalms 80:14
Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine
-
Cross References
Psalms 33:14
From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth.
-
Cross References
Jeremiah 31:20
Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.
Hosea 11:8
How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim? My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred.
-
Cross References
Deuteronomy 32:6
Do you thus deal with the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought you? Has He not made you and established you?
-
Cross References
Job 14:21
His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.
-
Cross References
Isaiah 6:9
And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.
Isaiah 6:10
"Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed."
John 12:40
"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."
-
Cross References
Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
-
Cross References
Psalms 74:3 - 7
Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations. The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
Isaiah 64:11
Our holy and beautiful temple, Where our fathers praised You, Is burned up with fire; And all our pleasant things are laid waste.
-
Cross References
Exodus 19:18
Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, becaus...
Psalms 18:9
He bowed the heavens also, and came down With d...
Psalms 144:5
Bow down Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; T...
Micah 1:3
For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place...
Micah 1:4
The mountains will melt under Him, And the vall...
Habakkuk 3:13
You went forth for the salvation of Your people...
-
Cross References
Exodus 34:10
And He said: "Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.
-
Cross References
Psalms 31:19
Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!
-
Cross References
Malachi 3:6
For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.
-
Cross References
Philippians 3:9
And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
-
Cross References
Psalms 90:5
You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
Psalms 90:6
In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.
Isaiah 1:30
For you shall be as a terebinth whose leaf fades, And as a garden that has no water.
-
Cross References
Isaiah 29:16
Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, "He did not make me"? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?
Isaiah 45:9
Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?
Jeremiah 18:6
O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the LORD. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!
Romans 9:20
But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?
Romans 9:21
Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
-
Cross References
Ezekiel 24:21
Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.
-
Cross References
Isaiah 42:14
I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once.
-
Cross References
Psalms 83:1
Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, And do not be still, O God!
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.