Opening Litany based on Psalm 31

Pastor: Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.

Congregation: My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.

Pastor: Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me.

Congregation: I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

Pastor: But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.

Congregation: Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love.