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Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

 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 struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
⁶ I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl^[a] of the waste places;
⁷ I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
⁸ All the day 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 taken me up and thrown me down.
¹¹ My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

¹² But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
¹³ You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
¹⁴ For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
¹⁵ Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory;
¹⁷ he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created 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 that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
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, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
you whose years endure
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 remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
²⁷     but you are the same, and your years have no end.
²⁸ The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 102:6 The precise identity of these birds is uncertain

Cross references:

1. Psalm 102:1 : Ps. 61:2
2. Psalm 102:1 : Ps. 142:2
3. Psalm 102:1 : Ps. 39:12
4. Psalm 102:1 : Ps. 18:6; Ex. 2:23; 1 Sam. 9:16
5. Psalm 102:2 : See Ps. 27:9
6. Psalm 102:2 : See Ps. 18:6
7. Psalm 102:2 : See Ps. 31:2
8. Psalm 102:2 : See Ps. 69:17
9. Psalm 102:2 : Ps. 56:9
10. Psalm 102:3 : [James 4:14]; See Ps. 37:20
11. Psalm 102:3 : Job 30:30; Lam. 1:13; See Ps. 31:10
12. Psalm 102:4 : Ps. 121:6
13. Psalm 102:4 : Ps. 37:2; Isa. 40:7; [James 1:10, 11]
14. Psalm 102:4 : [1 Sam. 1:7; 2 Sam. 12:17; 1 Kgs. 21:4; Job 33:20]
15. Psalm 102:5 : See Job 19:20
16. Psalm 102:6 : Isa. 34:11; Zeph. 2:14; [Job 30:29]
17. Psalm 102:7 : Ps. 77:4
18. Psalm 102:8 : [Acts 26:11]
19. Psalm 102:8 : Isa. 65:15; Jer. 29:22
20. Psalm 102:9 : See Ps. 42:3
21. Psalm 102:10 : Ezek. 3:12, 14
22. Psalm 102:10 : Ps. 51:11
23. Psalm 102:11 : Ps. 109:23; 144:4; Job 8:9
24. Psalm 102:11 : [See ver. 4 above]; Ps. 37:2; Isa. 40:7; [James 1:10, 11]
25. Psalm 102:12 : ver. 26; See Ps. 9:7
26. Psalm 102:12 : Ps. 135:13; Ex. 3:15
27. Psalm 102:13 : Ps. 68:1
28. Psalm 102:13 : Isa. 60:10; Zech. 1:12
29. Psalm 102:13 : Ps. 75:2; Jer. 29:10; Dan. 9:2; [Isa. 40:2]
30. Psalm 102:14 : Neh. 4:2; [Lam. 4:1]
31. Psalm 102:15 : 1 Kgs. 8:43; Isa. 59:19
32. Psalm 102:15 : Ps. 138:4; Isa. 60:3
33. Psalm 102:16 : Ps. 147:2
34. Psalm 102:16 : Isa. 60:1, 2
35. Psalm 102:17 : Neh. 1:6, 11
36. Psalm 102:18 : [Deut. 31:19; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:1]
37. Psalm 102:18 : Ps. 48:13; See Ps. 78:4, 6
38. Psalm 102:18 : See Ps. 22:31; [Isa. 43:21]
39. Psalm 102:19 : See Ps. 11:4
40. Psalm 102:20 : Ps. 79:11
41. Psalm 102:20 : Ps. 79:11
42. Psalm 102:21 : See Ps. 22:22
43. Psalm 102:22 : [Isa. 45:14]; See Ps. 22:27
44. Psalm 102:23 : Ps. 89:45
45. Psalm 102:24 : [Isa. 38:10]
46. Psalm 102:24 : Ps. 90:2; Job 36:26; Hab. 1:12
47. Psalm 102:25 : Gen. 1:1; 2:1; Cited Heb. 1:10
48. Psalm 102:25 : See Ps. 96:5
49. Psalm 102:26 : Isa. 34:4; 51:6; Matt. 24:35; 2 Pet. 3:7, 10, 12; Rev. 20:11; 21:1; Cited Heb. 1:11, 12
50. Psalm 102:26 : ver. 12
51. Psalm 102:27 : Isa. 41:4; 48:12; Mal. 3:6; [Heb. 13:8; James 1:17]
52. Psalm 102:28 : See Ps. 69:36
53. Psalm 102:28 : Ps. 37:29
54. Psalm 102:28 : Ps. 112:2