= Psalm 102 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Psalm_101|Previous]] | [[Psalm_103|Next]] ] == Psalm 102 1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee. 2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. 3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. 4 My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. 5 By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. 6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. 7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. 8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. 9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping. 10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. 11 My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. 12 But thou, O Lord, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. 13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. 14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. 15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. 16 When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. 17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. 18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. 19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; 20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; 21 To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; 22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. 23 He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days. 24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. 25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: 27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. 28 The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee. == Notes == Cross Reference == Concordance == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 A prayer for a poor man Israel, who is a poor people. when he enwraps himself when their soul is enwrapped in distress. ==== Verse 4 are dried up Heb. נחרו. The “nun” serves as a prefix, as: נַעֲשׂוּ, they were made, נִקְנוּ, they were acquired; and it is an expression of dryness, as (Job 30:30): “and my bones dried out (חרה) from the heat”; (Jer. 6:29), “the bellows is heated (נחר).” ==== Verse 7 Like a bird of Heb. לקאת. It is the name of a bird. Like an owl of the wasteland Heb. ככוס, the name of a bird, as (Lev. 11:17): “The owl (הכוס), the cormorant, and the night owl.” wasteland deserts. I was like a bird of the desert. So do we wander from our place to go into exile. ==== Verse 8 I pondered I pondered about myself, and behold I am like a lonely bird on a roof, sitting alone without a mate. lonely Heb. בודד, sitting alone. ==== Verse 9 those who scorn me Heb. מהוללי, those who scorn me, an expression of mockery. swear by me They saw my misfortune and they swear by me and say, “If it is not so, what happened to Israel should happen to me.” “So may the Lord do to me as to Israel.” ==== Verse 10 I mixed with weeping. I mixed with tears. ==== Verse 11 for You picked me up First You picked me up and now You cast me down from heaven to the earth, and if You had not picked me up first, my disgrace would not be so great. ==== Verse 12 Like a lengthening shadow At eventide, when the shadows lengthen, and when it becomes dark, they are not recognizable, but progressively disappear. ==== Verse 13 But You Who will be enthroned forever, and Who swore to us by Yourself, just as You exist, it is incumbent upon You to fulfill it. Therefore... ==== Verse 14 You will rise, You will have mercy on Zion for it is time to favor it For so You promised (Deut. 32:36): “When He sees that their power is gone,” and it is indeed gone. ==== Verse 15 For Your servants desired They loved even its stones and its earth. [According to] Midrash Aggadah, when Jeconiah and his exile left, they carried with them some of the stones and the earth of Jerusalem to build a synagogue for themselves there in Babylon. ==== Verse 16 And the nations will fear Your name when You save Your people. ==== Verse 18 He has turned to the prayer of those who cried out Heb. הערער, who cries out, as (Isa. 15:5): “a cry of destruction they will raise (יעוערו).” Another explanation: ערער means devastated and destroyed, as (below 137:7) “who say, ‘Raze it, raze it.’ “ ==== Verse 19 Let this be inscribed So will those who see the salvation say, “let this salvation be inscribed for the latest generation.” and a created people that became a new creature to emerge from slavery to freedom and from darkness to a great light. ==== Verse 20 looked...to earth to see the affliction of His people. ==== Verse 21 the dying Heb. תמותה, mortally ill, enmorindes in Old French (as above 79:11). ==== Verse 24 He has afflicted my strength on the way He returns to his original complaint, “for You picked me up and cast me down. My days are like a lengthening shadow.” My enemy afflicted my strength on the way. ==== Verse 25 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.” do not take me away in the middle of my days Do not take us away to destroy us from the earth in the hands of our enemies in the middle of our days. And what are our days? All the days of all generations, of Your years, You promised to keep us alive before You, as he says at the end of the psalm, “and Your years do not end...and their seed will be established before You.” ==== Verse 26 In the beginning Heb. לפנים, from the beginning. ==== Verse 27 like raiment You will turn them over like a person who turns his garment inside out to take it off. ==== Verse 28 But You are He Who stands and exists.