Always may a person revere Heaven in solitude,^[1] lit. seclusion 
to contemplate Truth and articulate truth in their mind,
to arise and say:^[2] Cf. Eliyahu Rabbah, parshah 19. Others translate this instruction as follows: “Man should always fear Heaven in seclusion, and confess the truth, and speak truth in his heart, and arise and say:” 

Master of all worlds!^[3] Cf. Bavli Yoma 87b 
Not in the merit of our righteousness do we dare cast our pleas before you,
rather, upon your abounding compassion we rely.^[4] Daniel 9:18 partial. 

What are we? What are our lives?^[5] Cf. Yoma 87b 
What is our loving-kindness? What is our righteousness?
What is our strength? What is our power?
What can we say before you, YHVH our elo’ah?
Before you, are not the Giants insubstantial?^[6] Cf. Genesis 6:4 
the celebrities inconsequential?^[7] ibid. 
the know-it-alls without understanding?^[8] Cf. Ecclesiastes 2:12-16 
the savants without perspective?
since all our striving is empty and void^[9] Genesis 1:2 
and our lives are ephemeral before you.
as it is written in your sacred scripture:
the pre-eminence of human over non-human animals does not exist since all [our lives] are fleeting.^[10] Ecclesiastes 3:19 

Nevertheless, we are your people, the children of your covenant:
the children of Avraham your beloved, to whom you made a promise on Har Moriah.
the seed of Yitsḥak his only one, who was bound upon your mizbeaḥ.
the witness of Yaakov, your first-born,
who from the love that you lavished on him
and the joy that you took nachas in,
you named Yisra’el and Yeshurun,

Therefore, we are obligated to give thanks to you, to praise and extol you,
to bring praise and thanksgiving to your Name.^[11] Cf. “Nishmat Kol Ḥai”: לְהוֹדוֹת לְהַלֵּל לְשַׁבֵּחַ לְפָאֵר לְרוֹמֵם לְהַדֵּר לְבָרֵךְ 
we are obligated to declare before you, every day at dusk and dawn,
Listen, Yisrael, YHVH is your elo’ah, YHVH is one.^[12] Deuteronomy 6:4 

Happy are we! How goodly is our portion, how pleasant our lot, how beautiful our heritage!
Happy are we when we rise and when we rest, every day always, dusk and dawn [declaring]:
Listen, Yisrael, YHVH is your elo’ah, YHVH is one.^[13] Deuteronomy 6:4 

You are from before the creation of the Cosmos,
and you remain after its formation
You are in Olam HaZeh (this world),
and you will be in Olam HaBah (the world that is coming).
You are the First
and you are the Last.
Sanctify your great and hallowed name in your Cosmos,
and through your divine intervention, may you raise and uphold our horn.
Blessed is the one who hallows their Name before the multitudes!^[14] See ראבי״ה ח״א – מסכת ברכות סימן קמו 

You are YHVH our elo’ah in the sky above and upon the earth below^[15] Deuteronomy 4:39, Joshua 2:11, 1 Kings 8:23  and in the realms beyond the sky.
You are the First and you are the Last, and besides you there are no elohim (divine powers).
From the four corners of the earth, restore the homeless of our people who placed their trust in you,
Let all know that you alone are Majesty over all the kingdoms of the world.
You fashioned the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is within them.
Who among all the works of your hands, celestial or terrestrial, would dare ask,
“What are you doing?”
Heavenly father, fulfill for us the promise given us by your seer:^[16] Cf. Eliyahu Rabbah, parshah 19 
“At that time I will bring you in, and at that time I will gather you
and single you out for renown and praise among all the peoples of the earth,
when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, says YHVH.”^[17] Zephaniah 3:20 

As it is said, “You alone are YHVH.
You made the heavens, the highest heavens, and all their host,
the earth and everything upon it,
the seas and everything in them.
You keep them all alive, and the host of heaven prostrate themselves before you.”^[18] Nehemiah 9:6 

You are YHVH Elohim, who chose Avram,
who brought him out of Ur Kaśdim and named him Avraham.^[19] Nehemiah 9:7 
But you are the same, and your years never end.^[20] Psalms 102:28 

YHVH reigns,^[21] Psalms 10:16  YHVH has reigned,^[22] Psalms 93:1, et al  YHVH shall reign in the Cosmos forever.^[23] Exodus 15:18 in Shir HaYam 
YHVH reigns, YHVH has reigned, YHVH shall reign in the Cosmos forever.
Blessed is YHVH in the Cosmos, amen and amen.

Talmud Bavli Yoma 87b

And where in the Yom Kippur prayers does one say the confession? An individual says it after his Amida prayer, and the prayer leader says it in the middle of the Amida prayer. The Gemara asks: What does one say; what is the liturgy of the confession? Rav said: One says the prayer that begins: “You know the mysteries of the universe,” in accordance with the standard liturgy. And Shmuel said that the prayer begins with: “From the depths of the heart.” And Levi said that it begins: “And in your Torah it is written, saying,” and one then recites the forgiveness achieved by Yom Kippur as stated in the Torah. Rabbi Yoḥanan said that it begins: “Master of the Universe” (Ribon HaOlamim).

The Gemara relates: Ulla bar Rav went down to lead the ne’ila prayer before Rava, who was in the synagogue. He opened the prayer with: “You have chosen us,” and he concluded with: “What are we, what are our lives?” And Rava praised him. Rav Huna, son of Rav Natan, said: And an individual says it after his Amida prayer. The individual says the confession after his Amida prayer, not within the Amida prayer as the prayer leader does.

Eliyahu Rabbah, Parshah 19

In another comment on “That faint for hunger” (Lam. 2:19), “hunger is taken to allude to hunger for words of Torah, as it is said, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine to the land, not a famine of bread.. but of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11). [When he seeks to satisfy his hunger for words of Torah], a man, it is said, should study Torah with fear and reverence, with trepidation and awe. Let him look at himself and become aware that in a little while he will die. Let him lift his eyes to heaven and say: Who created the stars in the firmament and gave to each one its place, to each one its way and its course? How many towers did the kingdom of Rome build, but Who smote them and toppled them to the ground? Who kicked at the first tower, ^[24] the tower of Babel, significance of toppled towers in Gen. 11 – note Isa. 30:25 , so that the top of it landed in one spot and its bulk in another spot with twenty-one miles between the two? Upon such deeds as these, [O Israel], “thy heart shall muse in awe: Where is He that weighed [the stars], where is He that counted the towers” (Isa. 33:18). In musing thus, a man will feel awe of heaven at all times, will acknowledge the truth [of Torah] and will speak its truth in his heart. He will rise early each and every day and say: Sovereign of all worlds! Not because of our righteous acts do we lay our supplications before You, but because of Your abundant mercies, etc., [for as you promised], “At that time I will bring you in, and at that time will I gather you; for I will make you be a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord” (Zeph. 3.20).