Psalm 102

PSALM 102

Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.

A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and ^†pours out his complaint before the Lord.

^1aHear my prayer, O Lord!

And let my cry for help ^bcome to You.

^2aDo not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;

^bIncline Your ear to me;

In the day when I call answer me quickly.

³For my days ^ahave been ¹consumed in smoke,

And my ^bbones have been scorched like a hearth.

⁴My heart ^ahas been smitten like ¹grass and has ^bwithered away,

Indeed, I ^cforget to eat my bread.

⁵Because of the ¹loudness of my groaning

My ^abones ²cling to my flesh.

⁶I ¹resemble a ^apelican of the wilderness;

I have become like an owl of the waste places.

⁷I ^alie awake,

I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

⁸My enemies ^ahave reproached me all day long;

Those who ^1bderide me ²have used my name as a ^ccurse.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread

And ^amingled my drink with weeping

^10aBecause of Your indignation and Your wrath,

For You have ^blifted me up and cast me away.

¹¹My days are like a ^1alengthened shadow,

And ²I ^bwither away like ³grass.

¹²But You, O Lord, ^1aabide forever,

And Your ^2bname to all generations.

¹³You will ^aarise and have ^bcompassion on Zion;

For ^cit is time to be gracious to her,

For the ^dappointed time has come.

¹⁴Surely Your servants ¹find pleasure in her stones

And feel pity for her dust.

¹⁵¹So the ^2anations will fear the name of the Lord

And ^ball the kings of the earth Your glory.

¹⁶For the Lord has ^abuilt up Zion;

He has ^bappeared in His glory.

¹⁷He has ^aregarded the prayer of the ¹destitute

And has not despised their prayer.

¹⁸¹This will be ^awritten for the ^bgeneration to come,

²That ^ca people yet to be created ³may praise ⁴the Lord.

¹⁹For He ^alooked down from His holy height;

^bFrom heaven the Lord gazed ¹upon the earth,

²⁰To hear the ^agroaning of the prisoner,

To ^bset free ¹those who were doomed to death,

²¹That men may ^atell of the name of the Lord in Zion

And His praise in Jerusalem,

²²When ^athe peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

²³He has weakened my strength in the way;

He has ^ashortened my days.

²⁴I say, “O my God, ^ado not take me away in the ¹midst of my days,

Your ^byears are throughout all generations.

²⁵“Of old You ^afounded the earth,

And the ^bheavens are the work of Your hands.

²⁶“¹Even they will ^aperish, but You endure;

And all of them will wear out like a garment;

Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.

²⁷“But You are ^1athe same,

And Your years will not come to an end.

²⁸“The ^achildren of Your servants will continue,

And their ^1bdescendants will be established before You.”