Psalm 102

First Version (c.M.)

[Recommended tunes: v 1-11 Martyrs, Dundee; v 12-22 St Lawrence; v 23-28 St Anne]

8,6,8,6

A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord.

¹O Lord, unto my pray'r give ear,

my cry let come to thee;

²And in the day of my distress

hide not thy face from me.

Give ear to me; what time I call,

to answer me make haste:

³For, as an hearth, my bones are burnt,

my days, like smoke, do waste.

⁴My heart within me smitten is,

and it is withered

Like very grass; so that I do

forget to eat my bread.

⁵By reason of my groaning voice

my bones cleave to my skin.

⁶Like pelican in wilderness

forsaken I have been:

I like an owl in desert am,

that nightly there doth moan;

⁷I watch, and like a sparrow am

on the house-top alone.

⁸My bitter en'mies all the day

reproaches cast on me;

And, being mad at me, with rage

against me sworn they be.

⁹For why? I ashes eaten have

like bread, in sorrows deep;

My drink I also mingled have

with tears that I did weep.

¹⁰Thy wrath and indignation

did cause this grief and pain;

For thou hast lift me up on high,

and cast me down again.

¹¹My days are like unto a shade,

which doth declining pass;

And I am dry'd and withered,

ev'n like unto the grass.

¹²But thou, Lord, everlasting art,

and thy remembrance shall

Continually endure, and be

to generations all.

¹³Thou shalt arise, and mercy have

upon thy Sion yet;

The time to favour her is come,

the time that thou hast set.

¹⁴For in her rubbish and her stones

thy servants pleasure take;

Yea, they the very dust thereof

do favour for her sake.

¹⁵So shall the heathen people fear

the Lord's most holy name;

And all the kings on earth shall dread

thy glory and thy fame.

¹⁶When Sion by the mighty Lord

built up again shall be,

In glory then and majesty

to men appear shall he.

¹⁷The prayer of the destitute

he surely will regard;

Their prayer will he not despise,

by him it shall be heard.

¹⁸For generations yet to come

this shall be on record:

So shall the people that shall be

created praise the Lord.

¹⁹He from his sanctuary's height

hath downward cast his eye;

And from his glorious throne in heav'n

the Lord the earth did spy;

²⁰That of the mournful prisoner

the groanings he might hear,

To set them free that unto death

by men appointed are:

²¹That they in Sion may declare

the Lord's most holy name,

And publish in Jerusalem

the praises of the same;

²²When as the people gather shall

in troops with one accord,

When kingdoms shall assembled be

to serve the highest Lord.

²³My wonted strength and force he hath

abated in the way,

And he my days hath shortened:

²⁴Thus therefore did I say,

My God, in mid-time of my days

take thou me not away:

From age to age eternally

thy years endure and stay.

²⁵The firm foundation of the earth

of old time thou hast laid;

The heavens also are the work

which thine own hands have made.

²⁶Thou shalt for evermore endure,

but they shall perish all;

Yea, ev'ry one of them wax old,

like to a garment, shall:

Thou, as a vesture, shalt them change,

and they shall changed be:

²⁷But thou the same art, and thy years

are to eternity.

²⁸The children of thy servants shall

continually endure;

And in thy sight, O Lord, their seed

shall be establish'd sure.

Second Version (l.M.)

[Recommended tunes: v 1-12 Saxony, Soldau, Finnart; v 13-22 Wareham, , Herongate; v 23-28 Hereford, Rockingham, Tallis’ Canon]

8,8,8,8

¹Lord, hear my pray'r, and let my cry

Have speedy access unto thee;

²In day of my calamity

O hide not thou thy face from me.

Hear when I call to thee; that day

An answer speedily return:

³My days, like smoke, consume away,

And, as an hearth, my bones do burn.

⁴My heart is wounded very sore,

And withered, like grass doth fade:

I am forgetful grown therefore

To take and eat my daily bread.

⁵By reason of my smart within,

And voice of my most grievous groans,

My flesh consumed is, my skin,

All parch'd, doth cleave unto my bones.

⁶The pelican of wilderness,

The owl in desert, I do match;

⁷And, sparrow-like, companionless,

Upon the house's top, I watch.

⁸I all day long am made a scorn,

Reproach'd by my malicious foes:

The madmen are against me sworn,

The men against me that arose.

⁹For I have ashes eaten up,

To me as if they had been bread;

And with my drink I in my cup

Of bitter tears a mixture made.

¹⁰Because thy wrath was not appeas'd,

And dreadful indignation:

Therefore it was that thou me rais'd,

And thou again didst cast me down.

¹¹My days are like a shade alway,

Which doth declining swiftly pass;

And I am withered away,

Much like unto the fading grass.

¹²But thou, O Lord, shalt still endure,

From change and all mutation free,

And to all generations sure

Shall thy remembrance ever be.

¹³Thou shalt arise, and mercy yet

Thou to mount Sion shalt extend:

Her time for favour which was set,

Behold, is now come to an end.

¹⁴Thy saints take pleasure in her stones,

Her very dust to them is dear.

¹⁵All heathen lands and kingly thrones

On earth thy glorious name shall fear.

¹⁶God in his glory shall appear,

When Sion he builds and repairs.

¹⁷He shall regard and lend his ear

Unto the needy's humble pray'rs:

Th' afflicted's pray'r he will not scorn.

¹⁸All times this shall be on record:

And generations yet unborn

Shall praise and magnify the Lord.

¹⁹He from his holy place look'd down,

The earth he view'd from heav'n on high;

²⁰To hear the pris'ner's mourning groan,

And free them that are doom'd to die;

²¹That Sion, and Jerus'lem too,

His name and praise may well record,

²²When people and the kingdoms do

Assemble all to praise the Lord.

²³My strength he weaken'd in the way,

My days of life he shortened.

²⁴My God, O take me not away

In mid-time of my days, I said:

Thy years throughout all ages last.

²⁵Of old thou hast established

The earth's foundation firm and fast:

Thy mighty hands the heav'ns have made.

²⁶They perish shall, as garments do,

But thou shalt evermore endure;

As vestures, thou shalt change them so;

And they shall all be changed sure:

²⁷But from all changes thou art free;

Thy endless years do last for aye.

²⁸Thy servants, and their seed who be,

Establish'd shall before thee stay.

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The Psalms in Metre