Psalm 102

Psalm 102

A prayer by someone who is suffering, when he is weary and pours out his troubles in the Lord’s presence. 

¹O Lord, hear my prayer, 

and let my cry for help come to you. 

²Do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble. 

Turn your ear toward me. 

Answer me quickly when I call. 

³My days disappear like smoke. 

My bones burn like hot coals. 

⁴My heart is beaten down and withered like grass 

because I have forgotten about eating. 

⁵I am nothing but skin and bones 

because of my loud groans. 

⁶I am like a desert owl, 

like an owl living in the ruins. 

⁷I lie awake. 

I am like a lonely bird on a rooftop. 

⁸All day long my enemies insult me. 

Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse. 

⁹I eat ashes like bread 

and my tears are mixed with my drink 

¹⁰because of your hostility and anger, 

because you have picked me up and thrown me away. 

¹¹My days are like a shadow that is getting longer, 

and I wither away like grass. 

¹²But you, O Lord, remain forever. 

You are remembered throughout every generation. 

¹³You will rise and have compassion on Zion, 

because it is time to grant a favor to it. 

Indeed, the appointed time has come. 

¹⁴Your servants value Zion’s stones, 

and they pity its rubble. 

¹⁵The nations will fear the Lord’s name. 

All the kings of the earth will fear your glory. 

¹⁶When the Lord builds Zion, 

he will appear in his glory. 

¹⁷He will turn his attention to the prayers 

of those who have been abandoned. 

He will not despise their prayers. 

¹⁸This will be written down for a future generation 

so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord: 

¹⁹“The Lord looked down from his holy place high above. 

From heaven he looked at the earth. 

²⁰He heard the groans of the prisoners 

and set free those who were condemned to death. 

²¹The Lord’s name is announced in Zion 

and his praise in Jerusalem 

²²when nations and kingdoms gather 

to worship the Lord.” 

²³He has weakened my strength along the way. 

He has reduced ⸤the number of⸥ my days. 

²⁴I said, “My God, don’t take me now in the middle of my life. 

Your years ⸤continue on⸥ throughout every generation. 

²⁵Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth. 

Even the heavens are the works of your hands. 

²⁶They will come to an end, but you will still go on. 

They will all wear out like clothing. 

You will change them like clothes, 

and they will be thrown away. 

²⁷But you remain the same, and your life will never end. 

²⁸The children of your servants will go on living ⸤here⸥. 

Their descendants will be secure in your presence.”