Let us go up at once to Bethel. Then I will make an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherever I went.”
But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul.
In your distress when all these things happen to you in the latter days, if you return to the Lord your God and obey him
(for he is a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot forget the covenant with your ancestors that he confirmed by oath to them.
In my distress I called to the Lord;
I called to my God.
From his heavenly temple he heard my voice;
he listened to my cry for help.
Because of their distress, they turned back to the Lord God of Israel. They sought him and he responded to them.
“Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Give us help against the enemy,
for any help men might offer is futile.
In my time of trouble I cry out to you,
for you will answer me.
None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord!
Your exploits are incomparable!
When he calls out to me, I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him honor.
This is what comforts me in my trouble,
for your promise revives me.
The wicked person earns deceitful wages,
but the one who sows righteousness reaps a genuine reward.
If you faint in the day of trouble,
your strength is small!
For you are a protector for the poor,
a protector for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm,
a shade from the heat.
Though the breath of tyrants is like a winter rainstorm,
Then I said,
“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.
You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble.
Nations from all over the earth
will come to you and say,
‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods –
worthless idols that could not help them at all.
We have behaved corruptly against you, not obeying the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded your servant Moses.
Please recall the word you commanded your servant Moses: ‘If you act unfaithfully, I will scatter you among the nations.
who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.