Psalm 102

[1] Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to you.
[2] Do 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.

[3] For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
[4] My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
I am too wasted to eat my bread.
[5] Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my skin.
[6] I am like an owl of the wilderness,
like a little owl of the waste places.
[7] I lie awake;
I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
[8] All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
[9] For I eat ashes like bread,
and mingle tears with my drink,
[10] because of your indignation and anger;
for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.
[11] My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

[12] But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
your name endures to all generations.
[13] You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to favor it;
the appointed time has come.
[14] For your servants hold its stones dear,
and have pity on its dust.
[15] The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
[16] For the LORD will build up Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
[17] He will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and will not despise their prayer.
[18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD:
[19] that he looked down from his holy height,
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
[20] to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die;
[21] so that the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,
and his praise in Jerusalem,
[22] when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.

[23] He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.
[24] "O my God," I say, "do not take me away
at the mid-point of my life,
you whose years endure
throughout all generations."

[25] Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
[26] They will perish, but you endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away;
[27] but you are the same, and your years have no end.
[28] The children of your servants shall live secure;
their offspring shall be established in your presence.