Psalms 102:20

20 to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.”

Psalms 102:20 in Other Translations

KJV
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
ESV
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die,
NLT
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die.
MSG
20 He listened to the groans of the doomed, he opened the doors of their death cells."
CSB
20 to hear a prisoner's groaning, to set free those condemned to die,

Psalms 102:20 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 102:20

To hear the groanings of the prisoner
Not of a single person only, but of many, who lie in prisons in Popish countries, especially in the Inquisition; where they lie and groan, in darkness and misery, under dreadful tortures; their cries and groans the Lord hears; his heart yearns towards them; he looks with pity on them; and, because of the sighing of these poor and needy ones, he will arise in due time, and set them in safety from him that puffs at them: it is true also of such who are prisoners of sin, Satan, and the law; and, when sensible of it, groan under their bondage, and cry to the Lord for help, who hears them, and directs them, as prisoners of hope, to turn to Christ, their strong hold, ( Zechariah 9:11 Zechariah 9:12 ) ,

to loose those that are appointed to death;
delivered to death, as the Targum; delivered over to the secular power, in order to be put to death; who are arraigned and condemned as malefactors, and put into the condemned hole, in order for execution; these the Lord will loose, and save them from the death they are appointed to by men; for this is not to be understood of persons appointed by the Lord to death, either corporeal or eternal, from which none can be loosed, so appointed: in the original text the phrase is "children of death" F4; the same as "children of wrath", ( Ephesians 2:3 ) , that is, deserving of death, and under the sentence of it; as all men are in Adam, even the Lord's own people; and who are, in their own apprehension, as dead men, when awakened and convinced of their state by the Spirit of God; these Christ looses from the shackles and fetters of sin, from the bondage of the law, from the tyranny of Satan, and from fears of death, and puts them into the glorious liberty of the children of God.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (htwmt ynb) "filios mortis", Montanus, Vatablus, Musculus, Gejerus, Michaelis.

Psalms 102:20 In-Context

18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:
19 “The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD.

Cross References 1

  • 1. S Psalms 68:6; S Luke 4:19; Psalms 79:11
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