Psalm 102:25 "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.
Hebrews 1:10 And, "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands;
11 they will perish, but You remain; and they all will become old like a garment,
12 and like a mantle you will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end."
Where is Christ in Psalm 102 itself? One thing is clear--we know with certainty that He is in verses 25 through 27. We know this because Hebrews 1 tells us. And, in these verses Hebrews tells us that God is directly addressing Christ. Psalm 102:25-27 is written in second person. The writer to the Hebrews is quoting from the Septuagint version, "You, Lord, in the beginning..."
Moving forward in our explanation, two characters are clearly evident in Psalm 102. Character one is the person I have been naming as "the psalmist". His is the first person voice. The second character is God. The psalmist addresses God by using the second person--You. In Psalm 102, God's nature is clearly distinct and different from that of the distressed psalmist.
When we read the psalm straight through as literature, those are the only two characters we find--God and the psalmist.
Additionally, the writer of the psalm, the one who penned the words onto paper, is anonymous. Because scholars do not know who wrote the psalm, the writer is invisible to us and not relevant to our understanding of the psalm.)
So, God and the psalmist are the only two well-defined characters in the psalm. But, Hebrews tells us that Christ is a character in the Psalm, because God is addressing Christ directly. Therefore, I conclude that the first person voice of the psalmist is the voice of Christ, from start to finish. I see in the entire psalm a holy conversation, a prayer in which both the pray-er--Christ--and Him to whom the prayer is addressed--God--speak back and forth to each other. The occasion might be Christ's prayer in the Garden, perhaps even the cross itself. The two voices are prophetic first and second person throughout, with the exception of the third person of verses 16 to 22 mentioned above.
It's frightening to say these things, because the ground on which we tread is holy ground, and we do not wish to profane it by our mere presence. But Jesus in his human nature is the most humble human being ever to live, and I hope, pray, and believe that the Holy Spirit bids us enter in to this most holy place within the veil; otherwise, why would this psalm be in the Bible?
I'm going to post the psalm again, with the actual scripture in italics, but narrating it very briefly as it unfolds--the narrated parts are in brackets. This is just to get you started. Please read the entire psalm again many times over, without interruption, no notes, just the Holy Spirit ministering to your heart. This is the New American Standard Bible, except where noted:
Psalm 102
[Introduction:]
1a A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
[The voice of Christ in his full humanity--perhaps face down in the garden sweating blood, perhaps on the cross:]
1b 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 voice of God the Father, or perhaps the Holy Spirit, ministering to Christ in his discouraged, suffering humanity. It is the voice of comfort, reminding Christ of who He is eternally. It's an animated voice of strength, reminding the man Jesus of His identity as Lord and Savior, head of Zion. It's the voice of encouragement, pointing the suffering Man to the future outcome. When read this way, both God and Christ share the same name, Jehovah:]
12 But You, O LORD, abide forever, And Your name to all generations.
13 You will arise [see Mark 8:31; Luke 18:33; John 11:23; and 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16 for the same Greek verb used in the same way] 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.
[Narrator, or the voice of God continuing, describing the incarnation--its motives and outcome:]
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.
[Christ the suffering man]
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,
[Septuagint]
[narrator:]
23a He answered him in the way of his strength:
[Christ:]
tell me the fewness of my days.
24a Take me not away in the midst of my days:
[God replying:]
NASB 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."
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Further thoughts and application:
When read this way, it is not hard to see and understand why the inspired writer to the Hebrews attributed verses 25 through 27 to God addressing Christ.
Further, reading the whole psalm as a divine conversation in two parts in no way compromises the exact text. One needs neither to add words to the text, nor to subtract them. Also, there is no concept, word, or line in the psalm, when read as a conversation, that contradicts any other portion of scripture. It's in complete agreement with all other parts of scripture.
When I first read Psalm 102, I knew nothing. I did not read it as a scholar. I simply read the psalm from start to finish. I read the psalm with my heart, not my head. Reading the psalm from start to finish in simple ignorance, without great learning, the psalm opened up to me in the way I just described. In the years since, everything I have come to know about scripture confirms for me that initial understanding.
This article was mostly written with my head. Over the years, I couldn't help but notice that not much is said concerning this psalm. So, I wrote it with my head, feeling that I had to "prove" scripturally the validity of what my heart saw in that first reading, and continues to see today. I'm writing it down, because this psalm is so very, very precious.
Further, our own walk is helped. We are encouraged in our travails, just as Christ was encouraged in His.
I have two other reasons for writing this article. The first is simple to explain. I want my children to have a written record of my heart. There may come a day in their lives when they would want to know, a day when I am gone and will be unable to tell them.
The second reason is that I want to encourage others to read, read, and read again their Bibles. Certain passages of scripture don't always open up to us the first or second time they are read. Frequently, it is after many readings that particular passages unfold in our hearts.
As I explained in the blog article titled, "How I Do Bible Study", posted on August 9, 2010, something happened to me in early 2009. I was reading through the entire psalter for the third complete time, when I heard the psalms speak extremely loudly and clearly to my own heart. During this period, I became absolutely convinced of the character and nature of God--God is good, and He loves His people. I further saw and knew that His goodness and love included me.
In the past, I had heard and known God's love in a real way, an intimate way, as I would often sit reading the written sermons of a certain preacher. But this was different--it was God's Word Himself telling me directly through scripture that He loves me.
Reading the writings of famous theologians, both present and past, helps us with our doctrine. Correct doctrine is of extreme importance, because it is both the backdrop and the stage upon which we act out our Christian walk. We base our choices and decisions in life on the doctrine concerning God that we believe.
But reading the writings of famous theologians is not a substitute for hearing God speak to us directly in His own Word, the Bible. Nothing on earth is quite like that.
So, I simply want to encourage you, by giving you an example in Psalm 102, of the wonderful fruit that can be found when we 1) pray to God for understanding, 2) and read His scripture many times over in the light that His own Holy Spirit sheds upon our hearts. There's nothing wrong with double checking Bible study notes and commentators for confirmation and/or correction. But these are supplements, not the food itself. And, God did give us--
Hebrews 8:11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
Thank-you for bearing with me.
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Father, I thank you for Your goodness poured out in Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your written word. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit. Father, I leave all this in Your hands. Thank You for helping me, allowing me, and I believe encouraging me to get this all written down. I pray that You would use it to the praise of Your glory, for Your kingdom's sake. I pray, Lord, that anything I've written that is not of You would simply die, and I know, Lord, that only by Your grace would it be read or benefit anyone, anyway. I love You, most holy heavenly Father. You have been good to me. I pray for the lost, that by Your grace You would open their hearts to Your love in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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