Psalms 102

General context

The speaker asks the Lord to hear his prayer, not hide his face in the day of trouble, and answer speedily. His days are consumed like smoke, his bones burned as an hearth, his heart smitten and withered like grass so that he forgets to eat; his bones cleave to his skin from groaning. He is like a pelican of the wilderness, an owl of the desert, a sparrow alone on the house top. His enemies reproach him all day and those mad against him are sworn against him. He has eaten ashes like bread and mingled his drink with weeping because of God's indignation and wrath, for God has lifted him up and cast him down; his days are like a declining shadow. But the Lord shall endure for ever; he shall arise and have mercy on Zion, for the set time is come, and his servants take pleasure in her stones. The heathen shall fear the Lord's name when he builds up Zion and appears in his glory; he will regard the prayer of the destitute. This shall be written for the generation to come, for he has looked down from his sanctuary to hear the groaning of the prisoner and loose those appointed to death, so that his name is declared in Zion when the people and kingdoms gather. The speaker says God weakened his strength and shortened his days, and asks not to be taken away in the midst of them; God's years are throughout all generations. Of old he laid the earth's foundation and the heavens are his handiwork; they shall perish and wax old like a garment and be changed, but he is the same and his years have no end. The children of his servants shall continue and their seed be established before him.

Cited passages: Psalms 102:1, Psalms 102:2, Psalms 102:3, Psalms 102:4, Psalms 102:5, Psalms 102:6, Psalms 102:7, Psalms 102:8, Psalms 102:9, Psalms 102:10, Psalms 102:11, Psalms 102:12, Psalms 102:13, Psalms 102:14, Psalms 102:16, Psalms 102:17, Psalms 102:18, Psalms 102:20, Psalms 102:22, Psalms 102:23, Psalms 102:24, Psalms 102:25, Psalms 102:26, Psalms 102:27, Psalms 102:28

Psalms 102 (KJV)

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Historical context

This source prints no superscription; the psalm begins with Hear my prayer, O Lord. The speaker is a single I whose trouble is described in bodily terms, smoke, burned bones, a withered heart, bones cleaving to skin, and through birds, a pelican, an owl and a lone sparrow; he also names enemies who reproach him and God's indignation as the cause, for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. No illness, enemy or event is named. Zion and Jerusalem are the only places named, Jerusalem once in verse 21; her stones and dust are spoken of as things the servants favour, and the Lord is expected to build up Zion, which the psalm treats as still to come, at a set time it does not date. Verses 18 to 22 speak of a generation to come, a people which shall be created, prisoners and those appointed to death, and kingdoms gathering, without saying who they are. The speaker's own shortened days in verses 23 and 24 return after the Zion section. There is no Selah. Hebrews 1:10 to 12 quotes verses 25 to 27 with small differences of wording: Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, they shall perish; but thou remainest, and thy years shall not fail.

Cited passages: Psalms 102:10, Psalms 102:6, Psalms 102:13, Psalms 102:14, Psalms 102:21, Psalms 102:18, Psalms 102:20, Psalms 102:23, Hebrews 1:10, Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12

Literary context

The psalm sets two measures of time against each other. The speaker's days are smoke, a declining shadow and withered grass, and he asks not to be taken in the midst of them; the Lord's years are throughout all generations and have no end. Withered like grass is used twice, in verses 4 and 11, framing the complaint, and But thou in verse 12 turns the poem from the self to the Lord. The middle section widens from one sufferer to Zion, the destitute, the prisoner and a generation to come, and it is the only part that looks forward with certainty: shalt arise, shall build up, shall be written. Then the complaint returns in verse 23 in the same terms as before, shortened days, and is answered not by a change in the speaker but by the heavens being changed like a garment while God stays the same. The last verse shifts to the children of thy servants, so the psalm's hope is placed in a seed rather than in the speaker's own years.

Cited passages: Psalms 102:3, Psalms 102:11, Psalms 102:4, Psalms 102:12, Psalms 102:13, Psalms 102:16, Psalms 102:18, Psalms 102:26, Psalms 102:27, Psalms 102:28

Key moments

1. Hear my prayer (Psalms 102:1). The speaker asks that his cry come before the Lord.
2. Pelican, owl, sparrow (Psalms 102:6). The speaker compares himself to lone birds of the wilderness and desert.
3. Lifted up and cast down (Psalms 102:10). The speaker attributes his ashes and weeping to God's indignation.
4. The set time for Zion (Psalms 102:13). The Lord is expected to arise and have mercy on Zion.
5. The prisoner's groaning (Psalms 102:20). The Lord looks down from heaven to hear prisoners and loose the condemned.
6. Not in the midst of my days (Psalms 102:24). The speaker asks not to be taken away early, against God's endless years.
7. Thou art the same (Psalms 102:27). Heaven and earth wear out like a garment, but God's years have no end.

For reflection

The speaker asks not to be taken away in the midst of his days, and the psalm answers with the Lord's endless years and the seed of his servants. Is that an answer to the request, or a different kind of comfort than the one asked for?