1 A prayer of the afflicted, when he shall be in distresse, and pour forth his meditation before the Lord. O Lord, heare my prayer, and let my crye come vnto thee. 2 Hide not thy face from me in the time of my trouble: incline thine eares vnto me: when I call, make haste to heare me. 3 For my dayes are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burnt like an herthe. 4 Mine heart is smitten and withereth like grasse, because I forgate to eate my bread. 5 For the voyce of my groning my bones doe cleaue to my skinne. 6 I am like a pelicane of the wildernesse: I am like an owle of the deserts. 7 I watch and am as a sparrowe alone vpon the house top. 8 Mine enemies reuile me dayly, and they that rage against me, haue sworne against me. 9 Surely I haue eaten asshes as bread, and mingled my drinke with weeping, 10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast heaued me vp, and cast me downe. 11 My dayes are like a shadowe that fadeth, and I am withered like grasse. 12 But thou, O Lord, doest remaine for euer, and thy remembrance from generation to generation. 13 Thou wilt arise and haue mercy vpon Zion: for the time to haue mercie thereon, for the appointed time is come. 14 For thy seruants delite in the stones thereof, and haue pitie on the dust thereof. 15 Then the heathen shall feare the Name of the Lord, and all the Kings of the earth thy glory, 16 When the Lord shall build vp Zion, and shall appeare in his glory, 17 And shall turne vnto the prayer of the desolate, and not despise their prayer. 18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people, which shalbe created, shall prayse the Lord. 19 For he hath looked downe from the height of his Sanctuarie: out of the heauen did the Lord beholde the earth, 20 That he might heare the mourning of the prisoner, and deliuer the children of death: 21 That they may declare the Name of the Lord in Zion, and his prayse in Ierusalem, 22 When the people shalbe gathered together, and the kingdomes to serue the Lord. 23 He abated my strength in the way, and shortened my dayes. 24 And I sayd, O my God, take me not away in the middes of my dayes: thy yeeres endure from generation to generation. 25 Thou hast aforetime layde the foundation of the earth, and the heauens are the worke of thine hands. 26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: euen they all shall waxe olde as doeth a garment: as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. 27 But thou art the same, and thy yeeres shall not fayle. 28 The children of thy seruants shall continue, and their seede shall stand fast in thy sight.
Psalm 102 Geneva Bible (1599)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (2)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
- Original 16th-century spelling.
Cross references (28)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Psalm 18:6; Psalm 130:1–2; Exodus 2:23; Psalm 61:2; Psalm 142:2–3
- 2 Psalm 69:17; Psalm 27:9; Isaiah 8:17; Psalm 70:1; Psalm 88:2–18
- 3 James 4:14; Psalm 31:10; Lamentations 1:13; Job 30:30; Psalm 37:20
- 4 Isaiah 40:7; Psalm 37:2; Ezra 10:6; Acts 9:9; Matthew 26:37–38
- 5 Job 19:20; Proverbs 17:22; Lamentations 4:8; Psalm 32:3–4; Psalm 38:8–10
- 6 Zephaniah 2:14; Isaiah 38:14; Revelation 18:2; Isaiah 34:11–15; Job 30:29–30
- 7 Psalm 77:4; Lamentations 3:28–30; Mark 14:33–37; Psalm 130:6; Job 7:13–16
- 8 Acts 26:11; Romans 15:3; Psalm 69:9–10; Acts 23:12–35; Isaiah 65:15
- 9 Psalm 42:3; Job 3:24; Isaiah 44:20; Psalm 80:5; Lamentations 3:48–49
- 10 Psalm 38:3; 2 Corinthians 4:9; Lamentations 1:18; Psalm 90:7–9; Romans 3:19
- 11 Job 14:2; Psalm 109:23; Psalm 144:4; 1 Peter 1:24; James 4:14
- 12 Psalm 135:13; Lamentations 5:19; Exodus 3:15; Hebrews 13:8; Psalm 9:7
- 13 Galatians 4:4; Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 60:1; Psalm 44:26; Psalm 69:35–36
- 14 Nehemiah 4:2; Ezra 1:5; Nehemiah 2:17; Nehemiah 1:3; Nehemiah 4:10
- 15 1 Kings 8:43; Psalm 138:4; Isaiah 60:3–22; Zechariah 8:20–23; Revelation 11:15
- 16 Isaiah 60:1–2; Jeremiah 33:7; Psalm 147:2; Isaiah 2:2–3; Jeremiah 31:4
- 17 Nehemiah 1:6; Psalm 22:24; Psalm 72:12; Psalm 9:18; Jeremiah 29:11–14
- 18 Romans 15:4; Psalm 22:30–31; Isaiah 43:21; Psalm 78:4–6; 1 Peter 2:9–10
- 19 Deuteronomy 26:15; Psalm 14:2; Hebrews 9:23–24; 1 Kings 8:43; 2 Chronicles 16:9
- 20 Psalm 79:11; Psalm 146:7; Isaiah 61:1–3; Exodus 3:7; Zechariah 9:9–12
- 21 Psalm 22:22; Isaiah 51:11; 1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 3:21; Psalm 79:13
- 22 Zechariah 8:20–23; Matthew 24:14; Isaiah 49:22–23; Isaiah 60:3–22; Psalm 22:27
- 23 Revelation 11:2–19; Psalm 89:38–47; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12; Job 21:21; 2 Timothy 3:1–17
- 24 Habakkuk 1:12; Psalm 39:13; Isaiah 38:10–22; Psalm 102:12; Revelation 1:8
- 25 Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11; Jeremiah 32:17; Hebrews 1:10–12; Hebrews 3:3–4
- 26 Isaiah 51:6; Matthew 24:35; Luke 21:33; Isaiah 34:4; Revelation 20:11
- 27 Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17; Malachi 3:6; Revelation 1:8; Psalm 90:4
- 28 Psalm 69:35–36; Psalm 45:16–17; Isaiah 66:22; Psalm 89:4; Psalm 90:16–17
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
In this Psalm, we ought to seek in the whole body of it what we find in the first verse: "Mercy and judgment will I sing unto Thee, O Lord" (ver. 1).
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established for ever;" pointing out plainly what things they are that pass away, and who it is that doth endure for ever--God, together with His servants.
So, then, by a humble piety we return to Thee; and thou purgest us from our evil customs, and art merciful unto the sins of those who confess unto Thee, and dost "hear the groaning of the prisoner," and dost loosen us from those fetters which we have forged for ourselves, if we lift not up against Thee the horns …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
On this account also one hath said, "My days have failed like smoke." He indeed was referring to their shortness of duration, and to their unsubstantial nature, but I would say that we should take what is said, not in this sense alone, but also as to their turbid character.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Hear David the Prophet saying, Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands; they shall perish, but Thou remainest.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)