Psalms · psalm 102 of 150
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Psalm 102 is the prayer of an afflicted man who pours out his complaint before the Lord: his days vanish like smoke, he is alone like a bird on the housetop and he eats ashes like bread. But he looks to the Lord, who reigns forever, who will rise and have compassion on Zion and hear the destitute. It ends with the certainty that heaven and earth will pass away but God remains the same.
The title is one of the longest in the Psalms: a prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Christian tradition has counted it among the seven penitential psalms, though it confesses no specific sin. It is in Book IV. It moves from personal pain to hope for Zion and to the eternity of God.
The psalmist begins with a plea: Lord, hear my prayer, do not hide your face from me, incline your ear on the day I call. Then he describes his suffering: his days vanish like smoke and his bones burn like a furnace. His heart is struck down like grass and he forgets to eat. Because of his groaning his bones cling to his skin. He is like an owl of the wilderness and like a lonely bird on the housetop. His enemies taunt him all day, he eats ashes like bread and mingles his drink with tears, because he feels God's indignation.
In verse 12 the contrast appears: but you, O Lord, are enthroned forever. From there hope arises for Zion: God will rise and have pity on her, for the appointed time has come. The nations will fear his name, the Lord will build up Zion and he will regard the prayer of the destitute. This will be written for a generation to come, and a people yet to be created will praise the Lord.
Verses 23 and 24 return to personal lament: the Lord has broken his strength and shortened his days, and he begs not to be taken away in the midst of his days. But God endures through all generations. The heavens and the earth are his work, and they will perish like a worn garment; God remains, and his years have no end. The children of his servants will dwell secure.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The afflicted man asks the Lord to hear his prayer, not hide his face and answer quickly on the day he calls. He comes with all his distress, not hiding his pain.
After describing his suffering, the psalmist says the Lord is enthroned forever and that his renown endures to all generations. God's eternity is his anchor when everything else vanishes.
The Lord regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their plea. The afflicted person's hope is not in his own strength but in the fact that God hears the one who has no one else.
God laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are his work; they will perish, but he remains, and his years have no end. Hebrews 1:10-12 applies these words to Christ, the eternal Son.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: They vanish like smoke, and his bones burn like a furnace. — Psalm 102:3
Answer: To the owl of the wilderness and to a lonely bird on the housetop. — Psalm 102:6-7
Answer: Ashes, and he mingles his drink with tears. — Psalm 102:9
Answer: That he is enthroned forever and will rise and have pity on Zion. — Psalm 102:12-13
Answer: The destitute, whose plea he does not despise. — Psalm 102:17
Answer: The heavens will perish like a garment, but God remains and his years have no end. — Psalm 102:26-27
Psalm 102 is honest about pain. It does not hide weariness, loneliness or fear, and it puts them before God. In a small group it can help someone going through a long illness, a bereavement or a crisis, because it lets us speak of what hurts without pretending. Praying with the words of the psalm is a way not to be alone in our complaint.
But the psalm does not stay in complaint. It turns to look at God and at the hope of his work among his people. For Christians, that permanence of God is found in Christ, who according to Hebrews 1:10-12 is the eternal Lord who does not change. That gives an anchor to someone who feels that everything is changing and fading.
Psalm 102 ends with the assurance that God remains and that the children of his servants will live secure. Psalm 103, by David, answers with broad praise: bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits.
Ancient Christian tradition groups seven psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143) as prayers of repentance and petition. Psalm 102 does not confess a specific sin, but it speaks of God's indignation and of suffering, and so it was included in the group.
Hebrews 1:10-12 quotes verses 25-27 and applies them to the Son. It says that he laid the foundation of the earth, that the heavens are the work of his hands and that he remains, which supports the teaching that Jesus is the eternal Lord.