Psalms 102-104

Psalm 102

¹A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.

²Hide not thy face from me in the day of my distress: incline thine ear unto me; in the day when I call answer me speedily.

³For my days consume away like smoke, and my bones are burned as a firebrand.

⁴My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; for I forget to eat my bread.

⁵By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my flesh.

⁶I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places.

⁷I watch, and am become like a sparrow that is alone upon the housetop.

⁸Mine enemies reproach me all the day; they that are mad against me do curse by me.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.

¹⁰Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast taken me up, and cast me away.

¹¹My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

¹²But thou, O LORD, shalt abide for ever; and thy memorial unto all generations.

¹³Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for it is time to have pity upon her, yea, the set time is come.

¹⁴For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity upon her dust.

¹⁵So the nations shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory:

¹⁶For the LORD hath built up Zion, he hath appeared in his glory;

¹⁷He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute, and hath not despised their prayer.

¹⁸This shall be written for the generation to come: and a people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.

¹⁹For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;

²⁰To hear the sighing of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

²¹That men may declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

²²When the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

²³He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.

²⁴I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.

²⁵Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

²⁶They 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:

²⁷But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

²⁸The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

Psalm 103

¹A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

³Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

⁴Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies:

⁵Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle.

⁶The LORD executeth righteous acts, and judgments for all that are oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways unto Moses, his doings unto the children of Israel.

⁸The LORD is full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

⁹He will not always chide; neither will he keep his anger for ever.

¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us after our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

¹⁴For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

¹⁶For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

¹⁷But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

¹⁸To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his precepts to do them.

¹⁹The LORD hath established his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

²⁰Bless the LORD, ye angels of his: ye mighty in strength, that fulfill his word, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

²¹Bless the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

²²Bless the LORD, all ye his works, in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

Psalm 104

¹Bless the LORD O my soul, O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

²Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

³Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds his chariot; who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

⁴Who maketh winds his messengers; his ministers a flaming fire:

⁵Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved for ever.

⁶Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture; the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away;

⁸They went up by the mountains, they went down by the valleys, unto the place which thou hadst founded for them.

⁹Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

¹⁰He sendeth forth springs into the valleys; they run among the mountains:

¹¹They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst.

¹²By them the fowl of the heaven have their habitation, they sing among the branches.

¹³He watereth the mountains from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.

¹⁴He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man; that he may bring forth food out of the earth:

¹⁵And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread that strengtheneth man’s heart.

¹⁶The trees of the LORD are satisfied; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;

¹⁷Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the conies.

¹⁹He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

²⁰Thou makest darkness, and it is night; Wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.

²¹The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

²²The sun ariseth, they get them away, and lay them down in their dens.

²³Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.

²⁴O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

²⁵Yonder is the sea, great and wide, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.

²⁶There go the ships; there is leviathan, whom thou hast formed to take his pastime therein.

²⁷These wait all upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.

²⁸That thou givest unto them they gather; thou openest thine hand, they are satisfied with good.

²⁹Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath they die, and return to their dust.

³⁰Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground.

³¹Let the glory of the LORD endure for ever; let the LORD rejoice in his works:

³²Who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.

³³I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

³⁴Let my meditation be sweet unto him: I will rejoice in the LORD.

³⁵Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.