A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.

For the music director. A Psalm of David, when ^[a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

¹⁷ So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his pleas, and for ^[a]Your sake, Lord, ^(A)let Your face shine on Your ^(B)desolate sanctuary. ¹⁸ My God, ^(C)incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and ^(D)see our desolations and the city which is ^(E)called by Your name; for we are not ^[b](F)presenting our pleas before You based on ^[c]any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion. ¹⁹ Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, my God, ^(G)do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

²⁴ being justified as a gift ^(A)by His grace through ^(B)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as ^(C)a ^[a]propitiation ^[b](D)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, ^[c]because in God’s merciful ^(E)restraint He ^(F)let the sins previously committed go unpunished;