102
The Lord’s Eternal Love
A Prayer of the afflicted, ⚓when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
1Hear my prayer, O Lord,
And let my cry come to You.
2⚓Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble;
Incline Your ear to me;
In the day that I call, answer me speedily.
3For my days are ⚓consumed like smoke,
And my bones are burned like a hearth.
4My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
So that I forget to eat my bread.
5Because of the sound of my groaning
My bones cling to my skin.
6I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I am like an owl of the desert.
7I lie awake,
And am like a sparrow alone on the housetop.
8My enemies reproach me all day long;
Those who deride me swear an oath against me.
9For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And mingled my drink with weeping,
10Because of Your indignation and Your wrath;
For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
11My days are like a shadow that lengthens,
And I wither away like grass.
12But You, O Lord, shall endure forever,
And the remembrance of Your name to all generations.
13You will arise and have mercy on Zion;
For the time to favor her,
Yes, the set time, has come.
14For Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
And show favor to her dust.
15So the nations shall ⚓fear the name of the Lord,
And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16For the Lord shall build up Zion;
⚓He shall appear in His glory.
17⚓He shall regard the prayer of the destitute,
And shall not despise their prayer.
18This will be ⚓written for the generation to come,
That ⚓a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
19For He ⚓looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the Lord viewed the earth,
20⚓To hear the groaning of the prisoner,
To release those appointed to death,
21To ⚓declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
And His praise in Jerusalem,
22⚓When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
23He weakened my strength in the way;
He ⚓shortened my days.
24⚓I said, “O my God,
Do not take me away in the midst of my days;
⚓Your years are throughout all generations.
25⚓Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26⚓They will perish, but You will endure;
Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
27But ⚓You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
28⚓The children of Your servants will continue,
And their descendants will be established before You.”