Scripture teaches us to recognize and confess our many sins and our wickedness. We should not ignore or hide them before the face of God. Instead, we come to confess them with a humble, sorrow-filled and obedient heart.
Almighty and most merciful Father, We have sinned and strayed from your ways like lost sheep, We have all too often followed the desires of our own hearts and offended your holy laws. We have not done those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. There is no health in us. Have mercy on us miserable offenders, O Lord. Spare all of us, O God, who confess our failings. Restore the sorry, according to your promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Most merciful Father, grant for his sake that we may hereafter live a righteous life, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
The almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, wants repentance and life instead of a sinner's death. He has pronounced to his penitent people the forgiveness of sin through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. He pardons all who truly repent and believe his holy good news. Let us ask him to give us true repentance and his Holy Spirit so that those good things we try to do now and in the future might be pure and holy. We long for his eternal joy through Jesus Christ our Lord.
112:1 Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.
He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
The wicked man sees it and is angry;
he gnashes his teeth and melts away;
the desire of the wicked will perish! (ESV)
My joy is gone; grief is upon me;
my heart is sick within me.
Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people
from the length and breadth of the land:
“Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King not in her?”
“Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images
and with their foreign idols?”
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.”
For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded;
I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
not been restored?
9:1 Oh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Oh that I had in the desert
a travelers’ lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
a company of treacherous men.
They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, declares the LORD.
Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.
Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Behold, I will refine them and test them,
for what else can I do, because of my people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
“I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,
because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
both the birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a lair of jackals,
and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
(ESV)
O God, all our desires for holiness, all our wisdom and all our good works come from you. Give us that peace that the world cannot give so that we might be free to follow your commands and free from the fear of our enemies to rest in the quietness of your protection. We ask this through the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Lighten our worries and our burdens, O Lord. Still our hearts and quiet our thoughts. We know that you have promised to give your beloved sleep, and so we place our trust in you to defend us from all the perils and dangers of this and every night. We ask this through the love of your only Son our Savior Jesus Christ.
Give everyone a chance to pray to God what's on their heart.