Have mercy, Lord

I never realized that music could hurt until I heard this.  Bach wrote St. Matthew's Passion based on Matthew's retelling of the death of our Lord.  In the oratorio, this aria is immediately after Peter's denial of our Lord.  It's a cry of pain from a heart that realizes the need for mercy.  I can't stop listening to it.  The beauty, the cry of desperation...  It keeps drawing me back again and again.  I need that mercy too.  All of us do.  This world needs God's mercy, it is only of His mercy that we are not consumed.

I particularly love this version.  The singer isn't performing here.  You can tell it is coming straight from her heart.  She too is pleading for mercy.  Have mercy, Lord.

Erbarme dich,
Mein Gott, um meiner Zähren willen!
Schaue hier,
Herz und Auge weint vor dir
Bitterlich.

Have mercy Lord,
My God, because of this my weeping!
Look thou here,
Heart and eyes now weep for thee
Bitterly.