Psalms 102
102
Prayer in Time of Distress
1The prayer of one afflicted and wasting away whose anguish is poured out before the Lord.
I
2Lord, hear my prayer;
let my cry come to you.
3Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress.#Ps 69:18; 143:7.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
4For my days vanish like smoke;#Ps 38:7–9.
my bones burn away as in a furnace.
5My heart is withered, dried up like grass,
too wasted to eat my food.
6From my loud groaning
I become just skin and bones.
7I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
8I lie awake and moan,
like a lone sparrow on the roof.
9All day long my enemies taunt me;
in their rage, they make my name a curse.#They make my name a curse: enemies use the psalmist’s name in phrases such as, “May you be as wretched as this person!”
10I eat ashes like bread,
mingle my drink with tears.#Ps 42:4; 80:6.
11Because of your furious wrath,
you lifted me up just to cast me down.
12#Ps 109:23; 144:4; Jb 8:9; 14:2; Eccl 6:12; Wis 2:5.My days are like a lengthening shadow;#Ps 90:5–6.
I wither like the grass.
II
13But you, Lord, are enthroned forever;
your renown is for all generations.#Ps 55:20; 90:2; 93:2; 135:13; 145:13; Lam 5:19; Heb 1:12.
14You will again show mercy to Zion;
now is the time for pity;
the appointed time has come.
15Its stones are dear to your servants;
its dust moves them to pity.
16The nations shall fear your name, Lord,
all the kings of the earth, your glory,#Is 59:19; 66:18.
17Once the Lord has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in glory,
18Heeding the plea of the lowly,
not scorning their prayer.
19Let this be written for the next generation,
for a people not yet born,
that they may praise the Lord:#Ps 22:31–32.
20#Both Ps 102:20–21 and Ps 102:22–23 depend on Ps 102:19.“The Lord looked down from the holy heights,
viewed the earth from heaven,#Ps 11:4; 14:2.
21To attend to the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.”#Ps 79:11.
22Then the Lord’s name will be declared on Zion,
his praise in Jerusalem,
23When peoples and kingdoms gather
to serve the Lord.#Is 60:3–4; Zec 2:15; 8:22.
III
24He has shattered my strength in mid-course,
has cut short my days.
25I plead, O my God,
do not take me in the midst of my days.#In the midst of my days: when the normal span of life is but half completed, cf. Is 38:10; Jer 17:11.#Ps 39:5; 90:10; Jb 14:5.
Your years last through all generations.
26Of old you laid the earth’s foundations;#Heb 1:10–12.
the heavens are the work of your hands.
27They perish, but you remain;
they all wear out like a garment;
Like clothing you change them and they are changed,
28but you are the same, your years have no end.
29May the children of your servants live on;
may their descendants live in your presence.#Ps 69:36–37.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Psalm 102
102
A Prayer of the afflicted; when he is overwhelmed {and} faint and pours out his complaint to God.
1 HEAR MY prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to You.
2 Hide not Your face from me in the day when I am in distress! Incline Your ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days consume away like smoke, and my bones burn like a firebrand or like a hearth.
4 My heart is smitten like grass and withered, so that [in absorption] I forget to eat my food.
5 By reason of my loud groaning [from suffering and trouble] my flesh cleaves to my bones.
6 I am like a melancholy pelican or vulture of the wilderness; I am like a [desolate] owl of the waste places.
7 I am sleepless and lie awake [mourning], like a bereaved sparrow alone on the housetop.
8 My adversaries taunt and reproach me all the day; and they who are angry with me use my name as a curse.
9 For I have eaten the ashes [in which I sat] as if they were bread and have mingled my drink with weeping
10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath, for You have taken me up and cast me away.
11 My days are like an evening shadow that stretches out and declines [with the sun]; and I am withered like grass.
12 But You, O Lord, are enthroned forever; and the fame of Your name endures to all generations.
13 You will arise and have mercy and loving-kindness for Zion, for it is time to have pity and compassion for her; yes, the set time has come [the moment designated]. [Ps. 12:5; 119:126.]
14 For Your servants take [melancholy] pleasure in the stones [of her ruins] and show pity for her dust.
15 So the nations shall fear and worshipfully revere the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Your glory. [Ps. 96:9.]
16 When the Lord builds up Zion, He will appear in His glory;
17 He will regard the plea of the destitute and will not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be recorded for the generation yet unborn, that a people yet to be created shall praise the Lord.
19 For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary, from heaven did the Lord behold the earth,
20 To hear the sighing and groaning of the prisoner, to loose those who are appointed to death,
21 So that men may declare the name of the Lord in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem
22 When peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to worship and serve the Lord.
23 He has afflicted and weakened my strength, humbling and bringing me low [with sorrow] in the way; He has shortened my days [aging me prematurely].
24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days, You Whose years continue throughout all generations.
25 At the beginning You existed and laid the foundations of the earth; the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 They shall perish, but You shall remain and endure; yes, all of them shall wear out and become old like a garment. Like clothing You shall change them, and they shall be changed and pass away.
27 But You remain the same, and Your years shall have no end. [Heb. 1:10-12.]
28 The children of Your servants shall dwell safely and continue, and their descendants shall be established before You.
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