Psalm 102a

A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.

1 Hear my prayer,f Lord;

let my cry for helpg come to you.

2 Do not hide your faceh from me

when I am in distress.

Turn your eari to me;

when I call, answer me quickly.

3 For my days vanish like smoke;j

my bonesk burn like glowing embers.

4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;l

I forget to eat my food.m

5 In my distress I groan aloudn

and am reduced to skin and bones.

6 I am like a desert owl,o

like an owl among the ruins.

7 I lie awake;p I have become

like a bird aloneq on a roof.

8 All day long my enemiesr taunt me;s

those who rail against me use my name as a curse.t

9 For I eat ashesu as my food

and mingle my drink with tearsv

10 because of your great wrath,w

for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.

11 My days are like the evening shadow;x

I withery away like grass.

12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;z

your renown enduresa through all generations.b

13 You will arisec and have compassiond on Zion,

for it is timee to show favorf to her;

the appointed timeg has come.

14 For her stones are dear to your servants;

her very dust moves them to pity.

15 The nations will fearh the name of the Lord,

all the kingsi of the earth will revere your glory.

16 For the Lord will rebuild Zionj

and appear in his glory.k

17 He will respond to the prayerl of the destitute;

he will not despise their plea.

18 Let this be writtenm for a future generation,

that a people not yet createdn may praise the Lord:

19 “The Lord looked downo from his sanctuary on high,

from heaven he viewed the earth,

20 to hear the groans of the prisonersp

and release those condemned to death.”

21 So the name of the Lord will be declaredq in Zion

and his praiser in Jerusalem

22 when the peoples and the kingdoms

assemble to worships the Lord.

23 In the course of my lifeb he broke my strength;

he cut short my days.t

24 So I said:

“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;

your years go onu through all generations.

25 In the beginningv you laid the foundations of the earth,

and the heavensw are the work of your hands.x

26 They will perish,y but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them

and they will be discarded.

27 But you remain the same,z

and your years will never end.a

28 The children of your servantsb will live in your presence;

their descendantsc will be established before you.”