Psalm verses that ask God for help, grouped by how you need to ask, with the full text and a printable sheet.
A large part of the psalms is simply asking. Some requests are two words long. Others set out the trouble, the request and the reasons in careful order. The psalms ask for help often and without apology. They also include prayers that are still waiting, like Psalm 13 and Psalm 77. What they show is people calling, waiting, and later telling what happened.
The sections run from the shortest cries, to longer petition psalms, to verses for the day of trouble, and last to psalms about wonders and answered prayer. Tick the verses you want and print them as one sheet.
Cries for help that fit in a single breath.
Help, LORD; for the godly man ceases.For the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Two words open the psalm: Help, LORD. The reason follows at once: the godly and the faithful are disappearing.
Hear, LORD, and have mercy on me.LORD, be my helper.”
Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.
LORD, be my helper. The psalm quotes this as the prayer it made when things were bad, then says God turned mourning into dancing.
But don’t be far off, LORD.You are my help. Hurry to help me!
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
Don't be far off. You are my help. Hurry to help me. It comes from the psalm that begins my God, my God, why have you forsaken me.
Longer prayers that set out a request, the kind called petition or supplication psalms.
Hear, LORD, my prayer.Listen to the voice of my petitions.
Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
Listen to the voice of my petitions. Psalm 86 is headed a prayer, and it asks, gives reasons, and asks again all the way through.
I pour out my complaint before him.I tell him my troubles.
I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.
I pour out my complaint before him. I tell him my troubles. Complaint and request are poured out together.
LORD, in the morning you will hear my voice.In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Requests laid out in the morning, then watching for the answer. The verse describes a petition as something you wait on.
Hear my prayer, LORD.Listen to my petitions.In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
Listen to my petitions, and relieve me in your faithfulness. The next verse makes plain that the request rests on God's character, not the writer's merit.
For the day itself, when the trouble is here.
Call on me in the day of trouble.I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Call on me in the day of trouble. God is the speaker, and the verse sets out the whole exchange: call, deliverance, honor.
In the day of my trouble I will call on you,for you will answer me.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me. The writer expects an answer before it comes.
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble.May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,
The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble. This one is written to someone else, so it suits praying for another person.
Our help is in the LORD’s name,who made heaven and earth.
Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Our help is in the LORD's name, who made heaven and earth. It echoes Psalm 121:2 but says our instead of my.
For wanting God to act, and for thanking him when he has. None of these verses promises a particular outcome.
You are the God who does wonders.You have made your strength known among the peoples.
Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.
You are the God who does wonders. The writer reaches this line by remembering, after a night so troubled he could not speak.
But most certainly, God has listened.He has heard the voice of my prayer.
But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Most certainly God has listened. The line comes straight after the writer admits God would not have listened to cherished sin.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him,and saved him out of all his troubles.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him. The heading ties the psalm to the time David pretended to be insane before Abimelech.
In the day that I called, you answered me.You encouraged me with strength in my soul.
In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
In the day I called, you answered me. The answer described is strength in the soul, not the removal of the problem.
A petition psalm, also called a psalm of supplication, is one that asks. Many follow a pattern you can see in the text. They call on God, describe the trouble, make the request, give a reason, and often end with a promise to praise. Psalm 13 does all of this in six verses: how long, answer me, lest my enemy prevail, but I trust, I will sing. Psalm 86 and Psalm 143 are longer examples.
Psalm 121 asks the question directly: where does my help come from. Psalm 70 and Psalm 86 are direct prayers for help from God.
A psalm that asks God for something. Psalm 86:6 and Psalm 143:1 use the word petitions, and the King James Version renders both as supplications.
Psalm 77:14 calls God the one who does wonders, and Psalm 86:10 says he is great and does wondrous things. They praise God's power without promising a specific result.
Psalm 66:19 and 66:20 thank God for hearing and not turning away prayer. Psalm 116 opens with I love the LORD, because he listens to my voice.
Psalm 50:15 has God saying call on me in the day of trouble. Psalm 86:7 answers from the other side: in the day of my trouble I will call on you.
Psalms of DeliverancePsalms about PrayerPsalms for Anxiety, Worry and StressPsalms of LamentPsalms of HopePsalm Verses for Protection