Psalm 102

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to thee.

2 Turn not away thy face from me: in the day when I am afflicted, incline thine ear to me: in the day when I shall call upon thee, speedily hear me.

3 For my days have vanished like smoke, and my bones have been parched like a stick.

4 I am blighted like grass, and my heart is dried up; for I have forgotten to eat my bread.

5 By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bone has cleaved to my flesh.

6 I have become like a pelican of the wilderness;

7 I have become like an owl in a ruined house. I have watched, and am become as a sparrow dwelling alone on a roof.

8 All the day long mine enemies have reproached me; and they that praised me have sworn against me.

9 For I have eaten ashes as it were bread, and mingled my drink with weeping;

10 because of thine anger and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and dashed me down.

11 My days have declined like a shadow; and I am withered like grass.

12 But thou, Lord, endurest for ever, and thy memorial to generation and generation.

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

14 For thy servants have taken pleasure in her stones, and they shall pity her dust.

15 So the nations shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all kings thy glory.

16 For the Lord shall build up Sion, and shall appear in his glory.

17 He has had regard to the prayer of the lowly, and has not despised their petition.

18 Let this be written for another generation; and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord.

19 For he has looked out from the height of his sanctuary; the Lord looked upon the earth from heaven;

20 to hear the groaning of the fettered ones, to loosen the sons of the slain;

21 to proclaim the name of the Lord in Sion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

22 when the people are gathered together, and the kings, to serve the Lord.

23 He answered him in the way of his strength: tell me the fewness of my days.

24 Take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are through all generations.

25 In the beginning thou, O Lord, didst lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.

26 They shall perish, but thou remainest: and they all shall wax old as a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them, and they shall be changed.

27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

28 The children of thy servants shall dwell securely, and their seed shall prosper for ever.

Psalm 102 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 102

\\<>\\; Whether this psalm was written by David, under a prophetic spirit, concerning future times; or whether by one of the Babylonish captivity, as Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, or any other; either just at the close of it, or upon their return from it; since it is said that "the set time to favour Zion was come", is not certain: however, since Zion was a type of the Gospel church, it may be very well applied to Gospel times; and the rather, since some passages in it are cited by the apostle in Heb 1:10-12 as to be understood of Christ: see Ps 102:25-27. The Syriac version calls it, ``a prophecy concerning the new people, namely, the Gentiles in the faith:'' it is entitled, "a prayer of the afflicted", or "poor" {e}; which Austin understood of Christ, who became poor for our sakes, and was afflicted of God and men. Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it of the Jews suffering affliction in the Babylonish captivity; the former observes, that it was the opinion of some of their interpreters that this prayer was composed by some wise and understanding man that fell into the hand of his enemies. It may very well be applied to any afflicted person; all the people of God are more or less a poor and afflicted people; outwardly afflicted in body, in estate, and in their good name and character; inwardly with the corruptions of their own hearts, the temptations of Satan, and divine desertions; when it is a very proper time for prayer, Jas 5:13, and it is their privilege that they have a God of grace and mercy to pray unto, a throne of grace to come to at all times, a spirit of grace and supplication to assist them, and Christ their Advocate and High Priest, to present their petitions for them: and this everyone may do, "when he is overwhelmed"; pressed with the burden of sin, without a view of pardon, covered, as the word {f} signifies, with shame and sorrow for it; almost overset with, and ready to faint and sink under, afflictions, which like waves and billows roll over him; and at the same time is attended with much darkness and unbelieving frames of soul: "and poureth out his complaint before the Lord"; concerning his trials and afflictions, especially concerning the badness and haughtiness of his heart, the hardness of it, being so unaffected with providences, and under the word, and at the ordinances; concerning his leanness, barrenness, and unfruitfulness under the means of grace; his lukewarmness and indifference, his deadness and dulness in duty; his unbelief, distrust, and dejection of mind; as well as of the low estate of Zion, the little success of the Gospel, the few instances of conversion, and the unbecoming walk of many professors. Such a "complaint" as this, or "meditation" {g}, which he has thought of and digested in his mind; or all that is in his heart, as Aben Ezra observes, "he pours out" which denotes enlargement in prayer, the abundance of his heart, out of which his mouth speaketh; the fulness of his petition, as also freedom of expression it signifies a parrhsia, a telling all one's mind, speaking out with great liberty; laying it in an humble manner before the Lord, before whom all things are naked and open, and leaving it with him, in entire submission and resignation to his will, to do as seems good in his sight.