Save me, O God, because the floods
Come in upon my soul;
I sink in depths where none can stand;
Deep waters, o’er me roll.

My constant calling wearies me,
My throat is parched and dried,
My eyes grow dim while for my God
Still waiting I abide.

O God, my folly and my sin
Thy holy eye can see;
Yet save from shame, Lord God of hosts,
Thy saints that wait on Thee.

Forbid, O God, our covenant God,
That those who seek Thy face
Should see Thy servant put to shame
And share in my disgrace.

It is for Thee I am reproached,
For Thee I suffer shame,
Until my brethren know me not,
And hated is my name.

It is my zeal for Thine abode
That has consumed my life;
Reproached by those reproaching Thee,
I suffer in the strife.

I wept, with fasting bowed my soul,
Yet that was made my shame;
When I in sackcloth clothed myself,
Their byword I became.

The men who sit within the gate
With slander do me wrong,
And they who linger at their cups
Make me their jest and song.

Save me, O God, the swelling floods
Break in upon my soul;
I sink, and sorrows o’er my head
Like mighty waters roll.

I cry till all my voice be gone,
In tears I waste the day:
My God, behold my longing eyes,
And shorten Thy delay.

They hate my soul without a cause,
And still their number grows
More than the hairs around my head,
And mighty are my foes.

’Twas then I paid that dreadful debt
That men could never pay,
And gave those honors to Thy law
Which sinners took away.

Thus in the great Messiah’s name,
The royal prophet mourns;
Thus he awakes our hearts to grief,
And gives us joy by turns.

Now shall the saints rejoice, and find
Salvation in My Name;
For I have borne their heavy load
Of sorrow, pain, and shame.

Grief, like a garment, clothed Me round,
And sackcloth was My dress,
While I procured for naked souls
A robe of righteousness.

Amongst My brethren and the Jews
I like a stranger stood,
And bore their vile reproach, to bring
The Gentiles near to God.

I came in sinful mortals’ stead,
To do My Father’s will;
Yet when I cleansed My Father’s house,
They scandalized My zeal.

My fasting and My holy groans
Were made the drunkard’s song;
But God, from His celestial throne,
Heard My complaining tongue.

He saved Me from the dreadful deep,
Nor let My soul be drowned;
He raised and fixed My sinking feet
On well-established ground.

’Twas in a most accepted hour
My prayer arose on high;
And for My sake my God shall hear
The dying sinner’s cry.

O God, our words cannot express
The pain we feel this day.
Enraged, uncertain, we confess
Our need to bow and pray.

We grieve for all who lost their lives…
And for each injured one.
We pray for children, husbands, wives
Whose grief has just begun.

O Lord, we’re called to offer prayer
For all our leaders, too.
May they, amid such great despair,
Be wise in all they do.

We trust your mercy and your grace;
In you we will not fear!
May peace and justice now embrace!
Be with your people here!

To bless the earth, God sendeth
From His abundant store
The waters of the springtime,
Enriching it once more.
The seed by Him provided
Is sown o’er hill and plain,
And with the gentle showers
Doth bless the springing grain.

The year with good He crownest,
The earth His mercy fills,
The wilderness is fruitful,
And joyful are the hills;
With corn the vales are covered,
The flocks in pastures graze;
All nature joins in singing
A joyful song of praise.

In full assurance of Thy grace
To Thee my prayers ascend
In Thine abounding love and truth,
O God, salvation send.

Preserve my sinking soul, I pray,
From tides of hatred save;
Let not the waters overflow,
Redeem me from the grave.

Because Thy mercy, Lord, is good,
O answer me in grace,
And in the riches of Thy love
O turn to me Thy face.

Hide not Thy face from my distress,
A speedy answer send;
Draw near to me, my soul redeem,
From all my foes defend.

Well known to Thee is my reproach,
My shame and my disgrace,
The adversaries of my soul
Are all before Thy face.

My heart is broken by reproach,
My soul is full of grief;
I looked in vain for comforters,
For pity and relief.

They gave me bitter gall for food,
And taunting words they spake,
They gave me vinegar to drink,
My burning thirst to slake.

Their peace and plenty be their snare,
In blindness let them grope;
Thine indignation on them pour,
And desolate their hope.

Because they proudly persecute
Those whom Thou, Lord, dost smite,
Let them be blotted from Thy book
And banished from Thy sight.

Our Jesus walks where the wrecks wash in,
All bruised and sore from the sea of sin;
As each comes in on the rushing tide,
He gently calls from the dark seaside.

Refrain

O sinner tossed on the turbid foam,
To Christ then come and His harbor home,
He waits just now on the peaceful shore,
To heal your wounds and your soul restore.

Just as He did there in Galilee,
He walks today by the foaming sea;
That He may heal all the sick and sore,
When roughly dashed on the friendly shore.

Refrain

He loves to walk where the wrecks wash in,
That long have tossed on the sea of sin;
Who call to Him with their failing breath,
To rescue them from the sea of death.

Refrain

O God, who metest in Thine hand
The waters of the mighty sea,
And barrest ocean with the sand
By Thy perpetual decree:

What time the floods lift up their voice
And break in anger on the shore,
When deep to deep calls with the noise
Of waterspouts and billows’ roar;

When they who to the sea go down,
And in the waters ply their toil,
Are lifted on the surge’s crown,
And plunged where seething eddies boil;

Rule then, O Lord, the ocean’s wrath,
And bind the tempest with Thy will;
Tread, as of old, the water’s path
And speak Thy bidding, “Peace, be still.”

So with Thy mercies ever new
Thy servants set from peril free,
And bring them, Pilot wise and true,
Within the port where they would be.

Thy lovingkindness, Lord, is good and free,
In tender mercy turn Thou unto me;
Hide not Thy face from me in my distress,
In mercy hear my prayer, Thy servant bless.

Needy and sorrowful, to Thee I cry;
Let Thy salvation set my soul on high;
Then I will sing and praise Thy holy Name,
My thankful song Thy mercy shall proclaim.

With joy the meek shall see my soul restored;
Your heart shall live, ye saints that seek the Lord;
He helps the needy and regards their cries,
Those in distress the Lord will not despise.

Let Heav’n above His grace and glory tell,
Let earth and sea and all that in them dwell;
Salvation to His people God will give,
And they that love His Name with Him shall live.