Psalm 102

LORD, listen to my prayer,

And hear my cry for aid.

Hide not your face from me,

For I am so afraid.

Incline your ear to me in need;

And, when I call, be swift to heed.

Like smoke my days are gone;

My bones are burned away.

My appetite is lost;

My heart is parched like hay.

Because of my incessant groans

I am no more than skin and bones.

I’m like a desert owl,

An owl midst tumbled stone,

Or bird upon a roof—

I lie awake, alone.

My foes revile me all day long;

My haters mock my name in song.

For ashes are my food;

I weep incessantly

Because in your great wrath

You have abandoned me.

My days like evening shadows pass;

I wither like the sun-dried grass.

But you, O LORD, are set

For ever on your throne;

Through each succeeding age

Endures your great renown.

You will arise in mighty power;

On Zion mercy you will shower.

The set time now has come

To bless Jerusalem.

Her stones your saints hold dear;

Her dust is mourned by them.

Nations will fear your name, O LORD;

All kings on earth your praise record.

For God will yet appear

In glorious might to reign;

The LORD in grace will build

Jerusalem again.

The prayers of the poor he’ll heed;

He will not spurn their cry of need.

Let this be written down

To teach a future race,

So people yet unborn

May magnify his grace:

That from his holy place above

The LORD looked down in tender love.

From heav’n he viewed the earth

Observing all mankind,

To hear the groans of those

In prison cells confined,

And to deliver from on high

A multitude condemned to die.

In Zion will be praised

The LORD’s exalted name;

His praises will be sung

Within Jerusalem,

When peoples and their kingdoms throng

To serve the LORD with cheerful song.

He took my strength away

By his almighty power;

He shortened grievously

My life’s allotted hour.

I said, “O take me not away,

My God, at noontide of my day.

“Your days and years go on

Through every age of man.

The earth’s foundation strong

You laid when time began.

The heavens came at your command,

Created by your mighty hand.

“The earth and heavens will fail,

But you alone remain.

Like garments they will age,

While you on high will reign.

Like clothing you will change them all;

Like clothes discarded they will fall.

“But you endure always;

Your years will never cease.

Your servants’ children too

Will know your reign of peace.

Their offspring, their succeeding race,

Will ever stand before your face.”