Listen to my prayer, O Lord. Open your ear to my cry for help. Do not be deaf to my tears, for I am a foreign resident with you, a stranger like all my ancestors.
I will remember these things as I pour out my soul: how I used to walk with the crowd and lead it in a procession to God’s house. ⌞I sang⌟ songs of joy and thanksgiving while crowds of people celebrated a festival.
After a long time passed, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites still groaned because they were slaves. So they cried out, and their cries for help went up to God.
During his life on earth, Jesus prayed to God, who could save him from death. He prayed and pleaded with loud crying and tears, and he was heard because of his devotion to God.
“About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the territory of Benjamin. Anoint him to be ruler of my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines because I’ve seen my people’s ⌞suffering⌟ and their cry has come to me.”
