Psalm 102

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord.

FIRST VERSION (C.M.)

1        O Lord, unto my pray'r give ear,

                   my cry let come to thee;

2        And in the day of my distress

                   hide not thy face from me.

          Give ear to me; what time I call,

                   to answer me make haste:

3        For, as an hearth, my bones are burnt,

                   my days, like smoke, do waste.

4        My heart within me smitten is,

                   and it is withered

          Like very grass; so that I do

                   forget to eat my bread.

5        By reason of my groaning voice

                   my bones cleave to my skin.

6        Like pelican in wilderness

                   forsaken I have been:

          I like an owl in desert am,

                   that nightly there doth moan;

7        I watch, and like a sparrow am

                   on the housetop alone.

8        My bitter en'mies all the day

                   reproaches cast on me;

          And, being mad at me, with rage

                   against me sworn they be.

9        For why? I ashes eaten have

                   like bread, in sorrows deep;

          My drink I also mingled have

                   with tears that I did weep.

10      Thy wrath and indignation

                   did cause this grief and pain;

          For thou hast lift me up on high,

                   and cast me down again.

11      My days are like unto a shade,

                   which doth declining pass;

          And I am dry'd and withered,

                   ev'n like unto the grass.

12      But thou, Lord, everlasting art,

                   and thy remembrance shall

          Continually endure, and be

                   to generations all.

13      Thou shalt arise, and mercy have

                   upon thy Sion yet;

          The time to favour her is come,

                   the time that thou hast set.

14      For in her rubbish and her stones

                   thy servants pleasure take;

          Yea, they the very dust thereof

                   do favour for her sake.

15      So shall the heathen people fear

                   the Lord's most holy name;

          And all the kings on earth shall dread

                   thy glory and thy fame.

16      When Sion by the mighty Lord

                   built up again shall be,

          In glory then and majesty

                   to men appear shall he.

17      The prayer of the destitute

                   he surely will regard;

          Their prayer will he not despise,

                   by him it shall be heard.

18      For generations yet to come

                   this shall be on record:

          So shall the people that shall be

                   created praise the Lord.

19      He from his sanctuary's height

                   hath downward cast his eye;

          And from his glorious throne in heav'n

                   the Lord the earth did spy;

20      That of the mournful prisoner

                   the groanings he might hear,

          To set them free that unto death

                   by men appointed are:

21      That they in Sion may declare

                   the Lord's most holy name,

          And publish in Jerusalem

                   the praises of the same;

22      When as the people gather shall

                   in troops with one accord,

          When kingdoms shall assembled be

                   to serve the highest Lord.

23      My wonted strength and force he hath

                   abated in the way,

          And he my days hath shortened:

24               Thus therefore did I say,

          My God, in mid-time of my days

                   take thou me not away:

          From age to age eternally

                   thy years endure and stay.

25      The firm foundation of the earth

                   of old time thou hast laid;

          The heavens also are the work

                   which thine own hands have made.

26      Thou shalt for evermore endure,

                   but they shall perish all;

          Yea, ev'ry one of them wax old,

                   like to a garment, shall:

          Thou, as a vesture, shalt them change,

                   and they shall changed be:

27      But thou the same art, and thy years

                   are to eternity.

28      The children of thy servants shall

                   continually endure;

          And in thy sight, O Lord, their seed

                   shall be establish'd sure.