Psalm 102

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

¹Hear my prayer, Lord;

let my cry for help come to you.

²Do not hide your face from me

when I am in distress.

Turn your ear to me;

when I call, answer me quickly.

³For my days vanish like smoke;

my bones burn like glowing embers.

⁴My heart is blighted and withered like grass;

I forget to eat my food.

⁵In my distress I groan aloud

and am reduced to skin and bones.

⁶I am like a desert owl,

like an owl among the ruins.

⁷I lie awake; I have become

like a bird alone on a roof.

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me;

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

⁹For I eat ashes as my food

and mingle my drink with tears

¹⁰because of your great wrath,

for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.

¹¹My days are like the evening shadow;

I wither away like grass.

¹²But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;

your renown endures through all generations.

¹³You will arise and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to show favor to her;

the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For her stones are dear to your servants;

her very dust moves them to pity.

¹⁵The nations will fear the name of the Lord,

all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

¹⁶For the Lord will rebuild Zion

and appear in his glory.

¹⁷He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;

he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸Let this be written for a future generation,

that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:

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

from heaven he viewed the earth,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners

and release those condemned to death.”

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

and his praise in Jerusalem

²²when the peoples and the kingdoms

assemble to worship the Lord.

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

he cut short my days.

²⁴So I said:

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

your years go on through all generations.

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

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them

and they will be discarded.

²⁷But you remain the same,

and your years will never end.

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

their descendants will be established before you.”