Psalms 102 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Psalm 102

Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.

102:1   Hear my prayer, O LORD;
  let my cry come to you!
2   Do not hide your face from me
    in the day of my distress!
  Incline your ear to me;
    answer me speedily in the day when I call!
3   For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.
4   My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
    I forget to eat my bread.
5   Because of my loud groaning
    my bones cling to my flesh.
6   I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like an owl¹ of the waste places;
7   I lie awake;
    I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
8   All the day my enemies taunt me;
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9   For I eat ashes like bread
    and mingle tears with my drink,
10   because of your indignation and anger;
    for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
11   My days are like an evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.
12   But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
    you are remembered throughout all generations.
13   You will arise and have pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    the appointed time has come.
14   For your servants hold her stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.
15   Nations will fear the name of the LORD,
    and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16   For the LORD builds up Zion;
    he appears in his glory;
17   he regards the prayer of the destitute
    and does not despise their prayer.
18   Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
19   that he looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
20   to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,
21   that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
22   when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
23   He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.
24   “O my God,” I say, “take me not away
    in the midst of my days—
  you whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”
25   Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26   They will perish, but you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
  You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27     but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28   The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
    their offspring shall be established before you.

Footnotes

[1] 102:6 The precise identity of these birds is uncertain

Commentary

Knowing God's faithfulness in times of affliction.

v1-2: A prayer to God in times of trouble; distress can be something real in our lives, and so these prayers for help are necessary.

v3-7: Human frailty motivates us to depend upon God. This includes the brevity of life, as well as enduring suffering. This also includes emotional suffering ("my heart is blighted") which has physical effects.

v8-11: The psalmist's sufferings also point us to Christ;

in His ordinary human life;
attacks from enemies;
bearing the wrath of God in our place;
having a shortened life.

v12-17: God is faithful to His own. Our confidence is first in God who will endure forever. His promises here are to those who belong to Him.

The words here describe God as builder; compare Matt 16.18, where Christ speaks of building His church. The building of God is the place where His glory will be manifest (Is 60.1-2).

v18: The testimony to later generations, for God is eternal. There is also a prophecy here of the church, a people not yet created.

v19-22: Blessing upon Jerusalem; freedom instead of bondage, life instead of death. Through His works, His Name is declared, and many are attracted to worship Him.

v23-28: Our security is the eternal God. The psalmist brings these words in a time of weakness. Yet he looks to creation, which will wear out like a garment, which God will put away like a change of clothes; in contrast, God is eternal.

In Heb 1.10-12, verses 25-27 are addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is equally the eternal God.