Psalms 102
1 Yahweh, listen to what I am praying; hear me while I cry out to you!
A Prayer of the man who is in trouble, when he is overcome, and puts his grief before the Lord. Give ear to my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you.
2 Do not (turn away/hide yourself) from me when I (have troubles/am distressed)! Listen to me, and answer me quickly now, when I am calling out to you!
Let not your face be veiled from me in the day of my trouble; give ear to me, and let my cry be answered quickly.
3 My life is ending, like smoke that disappears [SIM]; I have [a high fever which] burns my body like a fire burns [SIM].
My days are wasted like smoke, and my bones are burned up as in a fire.
4 [I feel like] I am drying up like grass [SIM] that has been beaten/trampled down, and I no longer have a desire to eat food.
My heart is broken; it has become dry and dead like grass, so that I give no thought to food.
5 I groan loudly, and my bones can be seen under my skin [because I have become very thin].
Because of the voice of my sorrow, my flesh is wasted to the bone.
6 I am like a [lonely and despised] vulture in the desert, like an owl by itself in the abandoned ruins [of a building/city].
I am like a bird living by itself in the waste places; like the night-bird in a waste of sand.
7 I lie awake [at night]; [because there is no one to comfort me], I am like a lonely bird [sitting] on a housetop [SIM].
I keep watch like a bird by itself on the house-top.
8 All during the day my enemies insult me; those who make fun of me mention my name [and say, “May you be like him”] when they curse people.
My haters say evil of me all day; those who are violent against me make use of my name as a curse.
9 Because you are very angry [DOU] with me, now [I sit in] ashes [while I am suffering greatly]; and those ashes [fall on] the bread/food that I eat, and what I drink has my tears mixed with it. [It is as though] you have picked me up and thrown me away!
I have had dust for bread and my drink has been mixed with weeping:
Because of your passion and your wrath, for I have been lifted up and then made low by you.
11 My time to remain alive is like an evening shadow [that will soon be gone] [SIM]. I am withering like grass withers [in the hot sun].
My days are like a shade which is stretched out; I am dry like the grass.
12 But Yahweh, you are our king who rules [MTY] forever; people who are not yet born will remember you.
But you, O Lord, are eternal; and your name will never come to an end.
13 You will arise and be merciful to [the people of] [MTY] Jerusalem; it is now time for you to do that; this is the time for you to be kind to them.
You will again get up and have mercy on Zion: for the time has come for her to be comforted.
14 Even though (the city has been destroyed/our enemies have destroyed our city), we who serve you still love the stones that [were formerly] in the city walls; because now there is rubble everywhere, we, your people, are very sad when we see it.
For your servants take pleasure in her stones, looking with love on her dust.
15 Yahweh, [some day the people of other] nations will revere you [MTY]; all the kings on earth will see that you are very glorious/great.
So the nations will give honour to the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will be in fear of his glory:
16 You will rebuild Jerusalem, and you will appear there with your glory/brightness.
When the Lord has put up the walls of Zion, and has been been in his glory;
17 You will listen to the prayers of your people who are homeless, and you will (not ignore them/do what they request) [LIT] when they plead with you to help them.
When he has given ear to the prayer of the poor, and has not put his request on one side.
18 Yahweh, [I want to] write these words in order that people in future years [will know what] you have done, in order that people who are not born yet will praise you.
This will be put in writing for the coming generation, and the people of the future will give praise to the Lord.
19 They will know that you looked down from your holy/sacred place in heaven [DOU] and saw [what was happening on] the earth.
For from his holy place the Lord has seen, looking down on the earth from heaven;
20 They will know that you hear prisoners groaning and that you will set free those who have been told, “You will be executed.”
Hearing the cry of the prisoner, making free those for whom death is ordered;
21 As a result, people in Jerusalem will praise you [DOU] for what you [have done]
So that they may give out the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
22 when many people [from other people-groups] and [those who are citizens of other] kingdoms gather to worship you.
When the peoples are come together, and the kingdoms, to give worship to the Lord.
23 [But now] you have caused me to become weak while I am still young; [I think that] I will (not live much longer/ very long/soon die).
He has taken my strength from me in the way; he has made short my days.
24 I say to you, “My God, do not cause me to die now, before I become old! You live forever!
I will say, O my God, take me not away before my time; your years go on through all generations:
25 You created the world long ago, and you made (the heavens/everything in the sky) with your own hands.
In the past you put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 The earth and the heavens/sky will disappear, but you will remain. They will wear out like clothes wear out. You will get rid of them like [people get rid of] old clothes, and they will no longer exist,
They will come to an end, but you will still go on; they all will become old like a coat, and like a robe they will be changed:
27 but you are [not like the things that you created], [because you are] always the same; you never die.
But you are the unchanging One, and your years will have no end.
28 [Some day] our children will live safely [in Jerusalem], and their descendants will be protected in your presence.”
The children of your servants will have a safe resting-place, and their seed will be ever before you.
