Psalm 102 -- Divine Conversation between Father and Son Part 1 of 4

I have always been jealous of the two unnamed disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus that special day following His resurrection. The Bible says concerning what Jesus did during that wonderful time of fellowship they had with Him, the risen Lord--

Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

It is good for us as Christians to pray to God and ask Him by His Holy Spirit to open to our understanding all the scriptures concerning Christ in the Old Testament.

One of the greatest blessings of my Christian life has been seeing Christ in the Psalms. I attribute this to the Holy Spirit opening them to my heart that way.

The first time this happened to me was when I was reading Psalm 102 many years ago, as a fairly young Christian. In those days, I had just discovered the Septuagint Bible, and I would read in it from time to time. While the Septuagint is not looked upon by modern scholars and exegetes as a reliable translation, it was the Bible that many of the Jewish folk of Jesus' day used. I like it for the simple reason that it does speak plainly of the Redeemer. So much of our current translations, accurate to the Hebrew as they may be, lose the flavor and passion of real speech. They seem formalized to abstraction, and the passionate point of God's word is often muted and neutralized. Be all this as it may, it was the Septuagint text (English translation) which brought the words of Psalm 102 alive in my heart.

Psalm 102 is fairly long, but I'm going to post it here for easy reference. I'm using the New American Standard, and I'm dividing it into four sections, according to the voice of the speaker, either first person--"I", second person--"you", or third person--"he".

Psalm 102 opens in the first person--the psalmist is using the word "I".

Psalm 102:1 A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly.
3 For my days have been consumed in smoke, And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.
4 My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the loudness of my groaning My bones cling to my flesh.
6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places.
7 I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.
8 My enemies have reproached me all day long; Those who deride me have used my name as a curse.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread And mingled my drink with weeping
10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath, For You have lifted me up and cast me away.
11 My days are like a lengthened shadow, And I wither away like grass.
 
The psalm switches to second person--"you"--in verse 12.

12 But You, O LORD, abide forever, And Your name to all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come.
14 Surely Your servants find pleasure in her stones And feel pity for her dust.
15 So the nations will fear the name of the LORD And all the kings of the earth Your glory.

 Verses 16 through 22 are in third person, as though a narrator were speaking--"he, his".

16 For the LORD has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory.
17 He has regarded the prayer of the destitute And has not despised their prayer.
18 This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
19 For He looked down from His holy height; From heaven the LORD gazed upon the earth,
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To set free those who were doomed to death,
21 That men may tell of the name of the LORD in Zion And His praise in Jerusalem,
22 When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

Verses 23 and 24a are in first person again--"I, my".

23 He has weakened my strength in the way; He has shortened my days.
24a I say, "O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days,

Verse 24b returns to second person, which remains to the end of the psalm--"you, your".

24b Your years are throughout all generations.
25 "Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
26 "Even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.
27 "But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.
28 "The children of Your servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before You."

Explanation of Psalm 102

The introduction to the whole psalm says--

1a A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.

Here we learn that the psalmist is praying to the Lord. He is afflicted, faint, and he is pouring out--passionately--his complaint.

1b Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to You.

In the second half of verse 1 above, the prayer begins. We see the psalmist crying to the Lord for help. Both occurrences of "Lord" in this first verse are the Hebrew word for Jehovah, the personal God of the Israelites.

2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly.

In verse 2, the psalmist identifies the time frame of his prayer as "the day of my distress". It is a calamitous day, a singular day, a certain day. It's the day when the psalmist calls upon the Lord and needs help quickly. Delayed help will be no help, for the psalmist is at a crisis point.

Verses 3-11 describe further the distress of the psalmist. It is a physical distress and an emotional distress brought about by the physical.

3 For my days have been consumed in smoke, And my bones have been scorched like a hearth.

The imagery of verse 3 is that of burning, destruction. The psalmist's life is being destroyed before his eyes, and his bones have the great pain of fire in them.

4 My heart has been smitten like grass and has withered away, Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.

Verse 4 speaks of the psalmist's heart, which is also being destroyed like grass in the heat of a very hot day. Although bread seems to be available to the psalmist, his distress and suffering are so great that he has forgotten to eat it. The Septuagint uses an explanatory conjunction between heart and bread. "My heart is dried up; for I have forgotten to eat my bread."

5 Because of the loudness of my groaning My bones cling to my flesh.

In verse 5, the psalmist is groaning so loudly and vehemently that his bones are clinging to his flesh. Anyone who happened to see the psalmist at this time would see his bones sticking out from inside his flesh. Because the psalmist had not been eating regularly, his body is most likely very thin, which would add to the effect of the visible tension that is causing his bones to cling to his flesh.

6 I resemble a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places.

In verse 6, the psalmist sees himself as being alone in a remote and wasted place. He has no friends with him. Further, the birds that the psalmist names are birds of prey or carrion eaters. Leviticus 11:13 names them as an abomination. So, even if the psalmist had friends who wanted to be with him at this time, they could not minister to him by touch without breaking the Law.

7 I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

Verse 7 adds sleepless watchfulness to the list of his ailments, with the loneliness directly named.

8 My enemies have reproached me all day long; Those who deride me have used my name as a curse.

In verse 8, the psalmist tells us that indeed he is not alone. Some translations (KJV and others) use present tense, "My enemies curse me all the day long; those who rave against me have sworn against me." (Green)

9 For I have eaten ashes like bread And mingled my drink with weeping

Verse 9 takes the psalmist back to the burning motif with which he began in verse 3. Ashes, produced by fire, are his food. These ashes might signify repentance, or mourning, but definitely humiliation and shame. Ashes for food do not make the heart glad, nor are they nourishing. Ashes for food do not signify the freedom of joy in the Lord's presence, but the opposite.

10 Because of Your indignation and Your wrath, For You have lifted me up and cast me away.

Verse 10 reveals the cause of the psalmist's suffering--it is the indignation and wrath of God Himself. Indignation means intense anger. Wrath signifies God's intense displeasure concerning the the actions of someone. God has "lifted" the psalmist "up" and cast him away from Himself.

"Lifted me up" is interesting. In Genesis 7:17 the waters of the flood, symbolic of God's wrath upon the entire sinful human race, "lifted up" the ark above the waters, symbolic of God's grace displayed on the cross. Although it is a different verb entirely, Moses "lifted up" the serpent in the wilderness (John 3:14), and in the same verse, Jesus said that He Himself must be "lifted up".

The same is with "cast me away". Although the verbs in the original are not the same as each other, the thought is very close, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)


11 My days are like a lengthened shadow, And I wither away like grass.

Verse 11 summarizes the psalmist's thought that his life is ebbing away and soon to reach its end.

To be continued