Psalms102

¹A Prayer of one afflicted , when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Hear my prayer , O Lord; let my cry come to you!

²Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress ! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call !

³For my days pass away like smoke , and my bones burn like a furnace .

⁴My heart is struck down like grass and has withered ; I forget to eat my bread .

⁵Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh .

⁶I am like a desert owl of the wilderness , like an owl of the waste places ;

⁷I lie awake ; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop .

⁸All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse .

⁹For I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink ,

¹⁰because of your indignation and anger ; for you have taken me up and thrown me down .

¹¹My days are like an evening shadow ; I wither away like grass .

¹²But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever ; you are remembered throughout all generations .

¹³You will arise and have pity on Zion ; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come .

¹⁴For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust .

¹⁵Nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory .

¹⁶For the Lord builds up Zion ; he appears in his glory ;

¹⁷he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer .

¹⁸Let this be recorded for a generation to come , so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:

¹⁹that he looked down from his holy height ; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth ,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners , to set free those who were doomed to die ,

²¹that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise ,

²²when peoples gather together , and kingdoms , to worship the Lord.

²³He has broken my strength in midcourse ; he has shortened my days .

²⁴O my God , I say , take me not away in the midst of my days — you whose years endure throughout all generations !

²⁵Of old you laid the foundation of the earth , and the heavens are the work of your hands .

²⁶They will perish , but you will remain ; they will all wear out like a garment . You will change them like a robe , and they will pass away ,

²⁷but you are the same, and your years have no end .

²⁸The children of your servants shall dwell secure ; their offspring shall be established before you.