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Psalms 102

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A Prayer of the Afflicted and Overwhelmed 1–11

1
Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, And let my cry come unto thee. ​
2
Hide 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.
3
For my days consume away like smoke, And my bones are burned as a firebrand. ​
4
My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; For I forget to eat my bread.
5
By reason of the voice of my groaning My bones cleave to my flesh.
6
I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places. ​
7
I watch, and am become like a sparrow That is alone upon the house-top.
8
Mine enemies reproach me all the day; They that are mad against me do curse by 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 taken me up, and cast me away. ​
11
My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass.

God's Eternal Reign and Promise to Zion 12–22

12
But thou, O Jehovah, wilt abide for ever; And thy memorial name unto all generations. ​
13
Thou wilt arise, and have mercy upon Zion; For it is time to have pity upon her, Yea, the set time is come. ​
14
For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, And have pity upon her dust. ​
15
So the nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, And all the kings of the earth thy glory. ​
16
For Jehovah hath built up Zion; He hath appeared in his glory.
17
He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute, And hath not despised their prayer.
18
This shall be written for the generation to come; And a people which shall be created shall praise Jehovah. ​
19
For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; From heaven did Jehovah behold the earth;
20
To hear the sighing of the prisoner; To loose those that are appointed to death; ​
21
That men may declare the name of Jehovah in Zion, And his praise in Jerusalem;
22
When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah. ​

The Psalmist Recalls Mortality and God's Eternity 23–28

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 didst thou lay 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. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 102

Verse 1

A Prayer of the afflicted — Tephillah, prayer, is the psalm's own title; the 'afflicted' (ani) is the bowed, lowly one. 'Overwhelmed' (atap) is to be shrouded or faint. The same pouring out is in Ps 142:2, 'I poured out my complaint before him', and Ps 142:3, 'my spirit was overwhelmed within me'.

Verse 3

consumed like smoke — 'Consumed' is kalah, to come to an end; the days vanish as 'smoke' (ashan). 'Hearth' is moqed, a burning fire, so the bones are 'burned' (charar, to glow) as in Job 30:30, 'my bones are burned with heat'. James 4:14 likewise calls life 'a vapour'.

Verse 6

a pelican of the wilderness — Qaath, the pelican or cormorant, paired with the 'owl' (kos) of the 'desert' (chorbah, a waste place). Such birds hold desolated places in Isa 34:11, 'the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it'. Job says likewise, 'a companion to owls' (Job 30:29).

Verse 9

eaten ashes like bread — Epher, ashes, take the place of bread, and 'weeping' (bekhi) is mixed into the drink. The same figure stands in Ps 42:3, 'My tears have been my meat day and night', and Ps 80:5, 'Thou feedest them with the bread of tears'.

Verse 10

lifted me up, and cast me down — The cause is named: 'indignation' (zaam) and 'wrath' (qetseph), both the LORD's. Both the raising and the casting down are his act, as in Ps 147:6. Ps 90:7 gives the same reading of affliction: 'we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled'.

Verse 12

thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever — Yashab, to sit or dwell, so enthroned and abiding, set against the declining shadow of v.11. 'Remembrance' (zeker) is the memorial of his name, as in Ps 135:13, 'thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations'. Lam 5:19 is close: 'Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever'.

Verse 13

the set time — Moed, an appointed time, fixed beforehand. 'Favour' is chanan, to stoop in kindness, and 'have mercy' is racham, to show compassion. The fixed hour of the LORD is the pattern of Gal 4:4, 'when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son'.

Verse 14

take pleasure in her stones — 'Take pleasure' is ratsah, to accept gladly; 'favour' is chanan, the verb of 'to favour her' in v.13, so the servants share the LORD's own regard for Zion. Her 'stones' and 'dust' are those of a ruin, like Jerusalem 'on heaps' (Ps 79:1).

Verse 15

the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD — Goy, the nations, with 'all the kings of the earth', fear his 'name' and 'glory' (kabod) once Zion is built (v.16). Compare Ps 138:4, 'All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD', and Isa 60:3, 'the Gentiles shall come to thy light'.

Verse 18

the people which shall be created — Bara, the verb of creating, here for a people yet unborn who will praise the LORD. 'Written' (katab) is for the 'generation to come', as in Ps 78:6. Paul gives the principle: 'whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning' (Rom 15:4).

Verse 20

loose those that are appointed to death — Literally sons of death (ben, temuthah): those marked for execution. 'Loose' is pathach, to open, and the 'groaning' is anaqah. Ps 79:11 prays in the same terms, 'preserve thou those that are appointed to die', and Ps 146:7 says, 'The LORD looseth the prisoners'.

Verse 22

the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms — Peoples (am) and kingdoms (mamlakah) assemble 'to serve' (abad) the LORD in Zion (v.21). The same hope is in Ps 72:11, 'all nations shall serve him', and Zech 8:20–23, where many peoples and cities come to seek the LORD.

Verse 23

He weakened my strength in the way — 'Weakened' is anah, to humble or afflict; 'shortened' is qatsar, to cut off, also the verb for reaping. The 'way' (derek) is the course of life. Ps 89:47 voices the same lament, 'Remember how short my time is'. Verse 24 turns it into the prayer, 'take me not away in the midst of my days'.

Verse 25

laid the foundation of the earth — Yasad, to found. The Letter to the Hebrews applies vv.25–27 to the Son: 'Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands' (Heb 1:10). Creation is the ground of the plea in v.24.

Verse 26

as a vesture shalt thou change them — 'Perish' is abad, 'wax old' is balah, and 'change' is chalaph, used twice, of the heavens as worn clothing. Heb 1:12 quotes it, 'as a vesture shalt thou fold them up'. Isa 51:6 agrees, 'the earth shall wax old like a garment'.

Verse 27

thou art the same — This is set against the changing heavens of v.26. 'Years' (shanah) 'shall have no end' (tamam, to be completed). Heb 1:12 quotes it, 'thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail'. Mal 3:6 states it of the LORD, 'I am the LORD, I change not'.

Verse 28

The children of thy servants shall continue — 'Continue' is shakan, to dwell or abide; 'established' is kun, to set firmly, 'before thee'. Because the LORD endures (vv.12, 27), the 'seed' of his servants is secure, as in Ps 69:36, 'The seed also of his servants shall inherit it'.