1 Save me, O God; For the waters are come in unto my soul.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: They that would cut me off, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: That which I took not away I have to restore.
5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; And my sins are not hid from thee.
6 Let not them that wait for thee be put to shame through me, O Lord Jehovah of hosts: Let not those that seek thee be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; Shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother's children.
9 For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me.
10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, That was to my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword unto them.
12 They that sit in the gate talk of me; And I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Jehovah, in an acceptable time: O God, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness, Answer me in the truth of thy salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the waterflood overwhelm me, Neither let the deep shallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth upon me.
16 Answer me, O Jehovah; for thy lovingkindness is good: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies turn thou unto me.
17 And hide not thy face from thy servant; For I am in distress; answer me speedily.
18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: Ransom me because of mine enemies.
19 Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: Mine adversaries are all before thee.
20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall for my food; And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table before them become a snare; And when they are in peace, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; And make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, And let the fierceness of thine anger overtake them.
25 Let their habitation be desolate; Let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; And they tell of the sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded.
27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity; And let them not come into thy righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life, And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful: Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 And it will please Jehovah better than an ox, Or a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32 The meek have seen it, and are glad: Ye that seek after God, let your heart live.
33 For Jehovah heareth the needy, And despiseth not his prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him, The seas, and everything that moveth therein.
35 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah; And they shall abide there, and have it in possession.
36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; And they that love his name shall dwell therein.
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)