To Be Kindly Disposed

When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” Jacob answered, “These are the children God has graciously given your servant.”

Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” So Jacob pressed him until he accepted.

When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother, the one you told me about?” Then he declared, “May God be gracious to you, my son.”

“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.

a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.

When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’”

David answered, “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let him live.’

But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.

Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’

How long, O men, will my honor be maligned? How long will you love vanity and seek after lies? Selah

My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?

that I may declare all Your praises—that within the gates of Daughter Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.

Turn to me and be gracious, for I am lonely and afflicted.

But I will walk with integrity; redeem me and be merciful to me.

Hear, O LORD, my voice when I call; be merciful and answer me.

You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.

The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are gracious and giving.

They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their children are a blessing.

My enemies say with malice: “When will he die and be forgotten?”

By this I know that You delight in me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

My enemies pursue me all day long, for many proudly assail me.

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me.

They return in the evening, snarling like dogs and prowling around the city.

that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.

So I said, “I am grieved that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I call to You all day long.

Turn to me and have mercy; grant Your strength to Your servant; save the son of Your maidservant.

For Your servants delight in her stones and take pity on her dust.

So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.

May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.

It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.

Remove me from the path of deceit and graciously grant me Your law.

I have sought Your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise.

Turn to me and show me mercy, as You do to those who love Your name.

As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until He shows us mercy.

Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.

He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who shows kindness to the poor.

Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.

Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.

The soul of the wicked man craves evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.

Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.

When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you.

O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.

O inhabitant of Lebanon, nestled in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs of anguish come upon you, agony like a woman in labor.”

The presence of the LORD has scattered them; He regards them no more. The priests are shown no honor; the elders find no favor.

Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

“But ask now for God’s favor. Will He be gracious? Since this has come from your hands, will He show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.