Psalm 102 – A Prayer for Pity and for the Restoration of Zion

102 The prayer: for a weary and suffering person who pours out their grief to the Lord.

102 Hear my prayer, O Lord;

let my cry for help come to you.

2 Hide not your face from me

in the day of my distress.

Incline your ear to me:

when I call, answer me speedily.

3 For my days pass away like smoke:

my bones are burned through as with fire.

4 My heart is scorched, withered like grass;

I forget to eat my bread.

5 By reason of my loud groaning,

my flesh clings to my bones.

6 Like a desert-owl of the wilderness,

like an owl among ruins am I.

7 I make my sleepless lament

like a bird on the house-top alone.

8 All the day wild foes revile me,

using my name for a curse.

9 For ashes have been my bread,

and tears have been mixed with my cup.

10 Because of your passionate anger,

you did raise me, then hurl me to the ground.

11 My days come to an end, shadows lengthen,

I wither like grass.

12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever,

your fame endures to all generations.

13 You will arise and have pity on Zion;

it’s time to be gracious; her hour has come.

14 For even her stones are dear to your servants,

even the dust of her ruins they look on with love.

15 Then the nations will revere the name of the Lord

and all the kings of the earth his glory,

16 when the Lord shall have built up Zion,

and revealed himself in his glory,

17 in response to the prayer of the destitute,

whose prayer he will not despise.

18 Let this be recorded for ages to come,

that the Lord may be praised by a people yet unborn.

19 For he shall look down from his holy height,

from the heavens the Lord will gaze on the earth,

20 to hear the groans of the prisoner,

to free those who are doomed to die;

21 that people may recount the Lord’s fame in Zion,

and the praise of him in Jerusalem,

22 when the nations are gathered together,

and the kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

23 He has broken my strength on the way,

he has shortened my days.

24 I will say, ‘My God, take me not hence

in the midst of my days.

‘Your years endure age after age.

25 Of old you have founded the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26 They shall perish; but you do stand.

They shall all wax old like a garment,

and change as a robe you will change them.

27 But you are the same, your years are endless.

28 The children of your servants abide,

evermore shall their seed be before you.’