Psalm 102

A prayer of one afflicted, when faint and pleading before the LORD.
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.

Daily Prayer (based on Psalm 102:2)

O Lord, when I'm going through hard times, what I need most of all is the assurance of Your presence. The cry of my heart is "Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress." Oh, to be sure I want you to relieve my distress, to answer my prayers, to make my life better, to solve the problems that are too big for me. But more than all of this, what I need is the comfort and encouragement of Your "face," Your presence in my life.

If I know that You are there, Lord, then I can keep on going. If I know that You're with me, then I'm not afraid. Better than Your answers is Your presence.

Postscript

Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Exposition of Psalm 102:2

Do not seem as if thou didst not see me, or wouldst not own me. Smile now at any rate. Reserve thy frowns for other times when I can bear them better, if, indeed, I can ever bear them; but now in my heavy distress, favour me with looks of compassion. Incline thine ear unto me. Bow thy greatness to my weakness. If because of sin thy face is turned away, at least let me have a side view of thee, lend me thine ear if I may not see thine eye. Turn thyself to me again if, my sin has turned thee away, give to thine ear an inclination to my prayers.

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Except for the Scripture text, all material of The Daily Psalm Copyright © 2006 by Mark D. Roberts

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The Scripture text used in The Daily Psalm is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved