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Psalm 102

A prayer of an oppressed person, when weak and pouring out grief to the Lord.

102 Lord, hear my prayer!
    Let my cry reach you!
Don’t hide your face from me
    in my time of trouble!
Listen to me!
    Answer me quickly as I cry out!
Because my days disappear like smoke,
    my bones are burned up as if in an oven;
    my heart is smashed like dried-up grass.
    I even forget to eat my food
    because of my intense groans.
    My bones are protruding from my skin.
I’m like some wild owl—
    like some screech owl in the desert.
I lie awake all night.
    I’m all alone like a bird on a roof.
All day long my enemies make fun of me;
    those who mock me curse using my name!
I’ve been eating ashes instead of bread.
    I’ve been mixing tears into my drinks
10         because of your anger and wrath,
        because you picked me up and threw me away.
11 My days are like a shadow soon gone.
    I’m dried up like dead grass.

12 But you, Lord, rule forever!
    Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!
13 You will stand up—
        you’ll have compassion on Zion
        because it is time to have mercy on her—
    the time set for that has now come!
14 Your servants cherish Zion’s stones;
    they show mercy even to her dirt.
15 The nations will honor the Lord’s name;
    all the earth’s rulers will honor your glory
16     because the Lord will rebuild Zion;
    he will be seen there in his glory.
17 God will turn to the prayer of the impoverished;
    he won’t despise their prayers.

18 Let this be written down for the next generation
    so that people not yet created will praise the Lord:
19     The Lord looked down from his holy summit,
        surveyed the earth from heaven,
20         to hear the prisoners’ groans,
        to set free those condemned to death,
21         that the Lord’s name may be declared in Zion
        and his praise declared in Jerusalem,
22         when all people are gathered together—
        all kingdoms—to serve the Lord.

23 God broke my strength in midstride,
    cutting my days short.
24 I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the prime of life—
    your years go on from one generation to the next!
25 You laid the earth’s foundations long ago;
    the skies are your handiwork.
26 These things will pass away, but you will last.
    All of these things will wear out like clothing;
    you change them like clothes, and they pass on.
27 But you are the one!
    Your years never end!
28 Let your servants’ children live safe;
    let your servants’ descendants live secure in your presence.”

Psalm 103

Of David.

103 Let my whole being[a] bless the Lord!
    Let everything inside me bless his holy name!
Let my whole being bless the Lord
    and never forget all his good deeds:
    how God forgives all your sins,
    heals all your sickness,
    saves your life from the pit,
    crowns you with faithful love and compassion,
    and satisfies you with plenty of good things
        so that your youth is made fresh like an eagle’s.

The Lord works righteousness;
    does justice for all who are oppressed.
God made his ways known to Moses;
    made his deeds known to the Israelites.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
    very patient, and full of faithful love.
God won’t always play the judge;
    he won’t be angry forever.
10 He doesn’t deal with us according to our sin
    or repay us according to our wrongdoing,
11     because as high as heaven is above the earth,
    that’s how large God’s faithful love is for those who honor him.
12 As far as east is from west—
    that’s how far God has removed our sin from us.
13 Like a parent feels compassion for their children—
    that’s how the Lord feels compassion for those who honor him.
14 Because God knows how we’re made,
    God remembers we’re just dust.

15 The days of a human life are like grass:
    they bloom like a wildflower;
16     but when the wind blows through it, it’s gone;
    even the ground where it stood doesn’t remember it.
17 But the Lord’s faithful love is from forever ago to forever from now
        for those who honor him.
    And God’s righteousness reaches to the grandchildren
18         of those who keep his covenant
        and remember to keep his commands.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

20 You divine messengers,
    bless the Lord!
You who are mighty in power and keep his word,
        who obey everything he says,
    bless him!
21 All you heavenly forces,
    bless the Lord!
All you who serve him and do his will,
    bless him!
22 All God’s creatures,
    bless the Lord!
Everywhere, throughout his kingdom,
        let my whole being
    bless the Lord!

Psalm 104

104 Let my whole being[b] bless the Lord!
    Lord my God, how fantastic you are!
    You are clothed in glory and grandeur!
You wear light like a robe;
    you open the skies like a curtain.
You build your lofty house on the waters;
    you make the clouds your chariot,
    going around on the wings of the wind.
You make the winds your messengers;
    you make fire and flame your ministers.
You established the earth on its foundations
    so that it will never ever fall.
You covered it with the watery deep like a piece of clothing;
    the waters were higher than the mountains!
But at your rebuke they ran away;
    they fled in fear at the sound of your thunder.
They flowed over the mountains,
    streaming down the valleys
    to the place you established for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross
    so they’ll never again cover the earth.

10 You put gushing springs into dry riverbeds.
    They flow between the mountains,
11         providing water for every wild animal—
        the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Overhead, the birds in the sky make their home,
    chirping loudly in the trees.
13 From your lofty house, you water the mountains.
    The earth is filled full by the fruit of what you’ve done.
14 You make grass grow for cattle;
    you make plants for human farming
        in order to get food from the ground,
15         and wine, which cheers people’s hearts,
        along with oil, which makes the face shine,
        and bread, which sustains the human heart.
16 The Lord’s trees are well watered—
    the cedars of Lebanon, which God planted,
17     where the birds make their nests,
    where the stork has a home in the cypresses.
18 The high mountains belong to the mountain goats;
    the ridges are the refuge of badgers.
19 God made the moon for the seasons,
    and the sun too, which knows when to set.
20 You bring on the darkness and it is night,
    when every forest animal prowls.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they gather together
    and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go off to their work,
    to do their work until evening.

24 Lord, you have done so many things!
    You made them all so wisely!
The earth is full of your creations!
25 And then there’s the sea, wide and deep,
    with its countless creatures—
    living things both small and large.
26 There go the ships on it,
    and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it!
27 All your creations wait for you
    to give them their food on time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled completely full!
29 But when you hide your face, they are terrified;
    when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to dust.
30 When you let loose your breath, they are created,
    and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.

31 Let the Lord’s glory last forever!
    Let the Lord rejoice in all he has made!
32 He has only to look at the earth, and it shakes.
    God just touches the mountains, and they erupt in smoke.

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I’m still alive.
34 Let my praise be pleasing to him;
    I’m rejoicing in the Lord!
35 Let sinners be wiped clean from the earth;
    let the wicked be no more.
But let my whole being bless the Lord!
    Praise the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 103:1 Or soul; also in 103:2, 22
  2. Psalm 104:1 Or soul; also in 104:35

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