PSALM 102

Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.

A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and †pours out his complaint before the Lord.

1 aHear my prayer, O Lord!

And let my cry for help bcome to You.

2 aDo not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress;

bIncline Your ear to me;

In the day when I call aanswer me quickly.

3 For my days ahave been 1consumed in smoke,

And my bbones have been scorched like a hearth.

4 My heart ahas been smitten like 1grass and has bwithered away,

Indeed, I cforget to eat my bread.

5 Because of the 1loudness of my groaning

My abones 2cling to my flesh.

6 I 1resemble a apelican of the wilderness;

I have become like an owl of the waste places.

7 I alie awake,

I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

8 My enemies ahave reproached me all day long;

Those who 1bderide me 2have used my name as a ccurse.

9 For I have eaten ashes like bread

And amingled my drink with weeping

10 aBecause of Your indignation and Your wrath,

For You have blifted me up and cast me away.

11 My days are like a 1alengthened shadow,

And 2I bwither away like 3grass.

12 But You, O Lord, 1aabide forever,

And Your 2bname to all generations.

13 You will aarise and have bcompassion on Zion;

For cit is time to be gracious to her,

For the dappointed time has come.

14 Surely Your servants 1find pleasure in her stones

And feel pity for her dust.

15 1So the 2anations will fear the name of the Lord

And ball the kings of the earth Your glory.

16 For the Lord has abuilt up Zion;

He has bappeared in His glory.

17 He has aregarded the prayer of the 1destitute

And has not despised their prayer.

18 1This will be awritten for the bgeneration to come,

2That ca people yet to be created 3may praise 4the Lord.

19 For He alooked down from His holy height;

bFrom heaven the Lord gazed 1upon the earth,

20 To hear the agroaning of the prisoner,

To bset free 1those who were doomed to death,

21 That men may atell of the name of the Lord in Zion

And His praise in Jerusalem,

22 When athe peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

23 He has weakened my strength in the way;

He has ashortened my days.

24 I say, “O my God, ado not take me away in the 1midst of my days,

Your byears are throughout all generations.

25 “Of old You afounded the earth,

And the bheavens are the work of Your hands.

26 “1Even they will aperish, but You endure;

And all of them will wear out like a garment;

Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.

27 “But You are 1athe same,

And Your years will not come to an end.

28 “The achildren of Your servants will continue,

And their 1bdescendants will be established before You.”

PSALM 103

Praise for the Lord’s Mercies.

A Psalm of David.

1 aBless the Lord, O my soul,

And all that is within me, bless His bholy name.

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And aforget none of His benefits;

3 Who apardons all your iniquities,

Who bheals all your diseases;

4 Who aredeems your life from the pit,

Who bcrowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

5 Who asatisfies your 1years with good things,

So that your youth is brenewed like the eagle.

6 The Lord aperforms 1righteous deeds

And judgments for all who are boppressed.

7 He amade known His ways to Moses,

His bacts to the sons of Israel.

8 The Lord is acompassionate and gracious,

bSlow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

9 He awill not always strive with us,

Nor will He bkeep His anger forever.

10 He has anot dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high aas the heavens are above the earth,

So great is His lovingkindness toward those who 1fear Him.

12 As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He aremoved our transgressions from us.

13 Just aas a father has compassion on his children,

So the Lord has compassion on those who 1fear Him.

14 For aHe Himself knows 1our frame;

He bis mindful that we are but cdust.

15 As for man, his days are alike grass;

As a bflower of the field, so he flourishes.

16 When the awind has passed over it, it is no more,

And its bplace acknowledges it no longer.

17 But the alovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who 1fear Him,

And His 2righteousness bto children’s children,

18 To athose who keep His covenant

And remember His precepts to do them.

19 The Lord has established His athrone in the heavens,

And His 1bsovereignty rules over 2all.

20 Bless the Lord, you aHis angels,

bMighty in strength, who cperform His word,

dObeying the voice of His word!

21 Bless the Lord, all you aHis hosts,

You bwho serve Him, doing His will.

22 Bless the Lord, aall you works of His,

In all places of His dominion;

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

PSALM 104

The Lord’s Care over All His Works.

1 aBless the Lord, O my soul!

O Lord my God, You are very great;

You are bclothed with splendor and majesty,

2 Covering Yourself with alight as with a cloak,

bStretching out heaven like a tent curtain.

3 1He alays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;

1He makes the bclouds His chariot;

1He walks upon the cwings of the wind;

4 1He makes 2athe winds His messengers,

3Flaming bfire His ministers.

5 He aestablished the earth upon its foundations,

So that it will not 1totter forever and ever.

6 You acovered it with the deep as with a garment;

The waters were standing above the mountains.

7 At Your arebuke they fled,

At the bsound of Your thunder they hurried away.

8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank down

To the aplace which You established for them.

9 You set a aboundary that they may not pass over,

So that they will not return to cover the earth.

10 1He sends forth asprings in the valleys;

They flow between the mountains;

11 They agive drink to every beast of the field;

The bwild donkeys quench their thirst.

12 1Beside them the birds of the heavens adwell;

They 2lift up their voices among the branches.

13 1He awaters the mountains from His upper chambers;

bThe earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.

14 1He causes the agrass to grow for the 2cattle,

And bvegetation for the 3labor of man,

So that 4he may bring forth 5food cfrom the earth,

15 And awine which makes man’s heart glad,

bSo that he may make his face glisten with oil,

And 1food which csustains man’s heart.

16 The trees of the Lord 1drink their fill,

The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,

17 Where the abirds build their nests,

And the bstork, whose home is the 1fir trees.

18 The high mountains are for the awild goats;

The bcliffs are a refuge for the 1cshephanim.

19 He made the moon afor the seasons;

The bsun knows the place of its setting.

20 You aappoint darkness and it becomes night,

In which all the bbeasts of the forest 1prowl about.

21 The ayoung lions roar after their prey

1And bseek their food from God.

22 When the sun rises they withdraw

And lie down in their adens.

23 Man goes forth to ahis work

And to his labor until evening.

24 O Lord, how amany are Your works!

1In bwisdom You have made them all;

The cearth is full of Your 2possessions.

25 1There is the asea, great and 2broad,

In which are swarms without number,

Animals both small and great.

26 There the aships move along,

And 1bLeviathan, which You have formed to sport in it.

27 They all await for You

To bgive them their food in 1due season.

28 You give to them, they gather it up;

You aopen Your hand, they are satisfied with good.

29 You ahide Your face, they are dismayed;

You btake away their 1spirit, they expire

And creturn to their dust.

30 You send forth Your 1aSpirit, they are created;

And You renew the face of the ground.

31 Let the aglory of the Lord endure forever;

Let the Lord bbe glad in His works;

32 1He alooks at the earth, and it btrembles;

He ctouches the mountains, and they smoke.

33 1I will sing to the Lord 2aas long as I live;

1I will bsing praise to my God 3while I have my being.

34 Let my ameditation be pleasing to Him;

As for me, I shall bbe glad in the Lord.

35 Let sinners be aconsumed from the earth

And let the bwicked be no more.

cBless the Lord, O my soul.

1dPraise 2the Lord!