A Cry of Distress
Study note
The psalmist begs God to hear his prayer. His days vanish like smoke, his bones burn, and his heart is withered. He is like a lonely bird on a rooftop. His enemies mock him. He eats ashes like bread and mixes his drink with tears.
1 Lord, hear what I am praying. Let my desperate cry reach your ears. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
2 Please do not look away from me when everything is falling apart. Lean in and listen. Whenever I call, answer me right away. 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 My days are disappearing like smoke curling into the air. My bones feel like they are burning from the inside. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
4 My heart has been beaten down and dried out like dead grass. I am so low that I even forget to eat. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 My groaning is so loud and constant that my skin clings to my bones. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.
6 I am like a lonely desert bird or an owl sitting among the rubble. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I cannot sleep. I sit alone like a single bird perched on a rooftop. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
8 My enemies throw insults at me all day long. The people who mock me use my name as a way to curse others. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.
9 Ashes are my food, and my tears drip right into my cup, For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
10 all because of your anger. You picked me up only to throw me aside. Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
11 My days stretch out like an evening shadow about to vanish. I am drying up like grass in the heat. My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
God Will Restore Zion
Study note
In contrast to the psalmist's fading life, God endures forever. He will rise and have compassion on Zion. Nations will fear the name of the Lord. God looks down from heaven and hears the groaning of prisoners.
12 But you, Lord, sit on your throne forever. People will remember your name in every generation that ever comes. But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
13 You will get up and show tender care to Zion, because now is the time to be kind to her. The moment you picked has arrived. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
14 Your servants love even the broken stones of that city. They feel tenderness for her very dust. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
15 Every nation will stand in awe of the Lord's name. Every king on earth will respect his glory. So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
16 When the Lord rebuilds Zion, he will show up there in all his glory. When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
17 He will pay attention to the prayers of people who have nothing. He will not brush aside what they are asking for. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
18 Write this down so that a generation far in the future can read it. Then people who do not even exist yet will praise the Lord. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
19 From way up in his sanctuary, he looked down. From heaven itself, the Lord gazed at the earth, For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
20 listening to the cries of those locked in chains and setting free the people who were sentenced to die, To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
21 so that the Lord's name will be announced in Zion and his praise will ring out in Jerusalem, To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
22 This will happen when people from every land come together. They will worship the Lord. When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
God Is Eternal
Study note
The psalmist's strength is broken, but God's years have no end. Long ago God laid the foundations of the earth. They will wear out like clothing, but God remains the same. His servants' children will live securely in his presence.
23 He drained my strength while I was still young. He cut my life short before I was done. He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
24 I cried out, "My God, do not take me away when my life is only half over! Your years stretch on through every generation." I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
25 A long time ago, you set the earth in place, and you built the heavens with your own hands. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 Those things will eventually fall apart, but you will still be here. They will all wear out the way old clothes do. You will swap them out like someone changing an outfit, and they will be tossed aside. 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 you never change. Your years will never run out. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
28 The children of your servants will always live safely near you, and their grandchildren will stand secure in your presence. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.