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

First Version (C.M.)

8,6,8,6

^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.