1 Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, And let my cry come unto thee.
2 Hide not thy face from me in the day of my distress: Incline thine ear unto me; In the day when I call answer me speedily.
3 For my days consume away like smoke, And my bones are burned as a firebrand.
4 My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; For I forget to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning My bones cleave to my flesh.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places.
7 I watch, and am become like a sparrow That is alone upon the house-top.
8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; They that are mad against me do curse by me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping,
10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: For thou hast taken me up, and cast me away.
11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass.
12 But thou, O Jehovah, wilt abide for ever; And thy memorial name unto all generations.
13 Thou wilt arise, and have mercy upon Zion; For it is time to have pity upon her, Yea, the set time is come.
14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, And have pity upon her dust.
15 So the nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, And all the kings of the earth thy glory.
16 For Jehovah hath built up Zion; He hath appeared in his glory.
17 He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute, And hath not despised their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come; And a people which shall be created shall praise Jehovah.
19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; From heaven did Jehovah behold the earth;
20 To hear the sighing of the prisoner; To loose those that are appointed to death;
21 That men may declare the name of Jehovah in Zion, And his praise in Jerusalem;
22 When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah.
23 He weakened my strength in the way; He shortened my days.
24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: Thy years are throughout all generations.
25 Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
27 But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end.
28 The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee.
You Must Hear the Gospel
Romans 10:17
You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)
You Must Believe
Hebrews 11:6
You must believe and have faith in God because “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)
You Must Repent
Acts 3:19
You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called “Sinner’s Prayer” that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)
You Must Confess
Romans 10:9
You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus “Lord of your life.” Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just “accept Jesus as your personal savior.” We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)
You Must Be Baptized
Acts 2:38
Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!
You Must Be Faithful Unto Death
Revelation 2:10
Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God’s grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God’s grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)