For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Passage: Psalm 102:1-12
1 Hear my prayer, Lord;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
5 In my distress I groan aloud
and am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass. 12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned for ever;
your renown endures through all generations.
A. Find Out:
- What is the psalmist’s initial plea v.1,2
- What has happened to him physically? v.3-5
- How does he describe himself, and why? v.6,7
- What happens in the day and why? v.8,9
- What does he see as the cause of this, with what result? v.10,11
- Yet what does he declare? v.12
B. Think:
- What appears to be the psalmist’s physical state?
- What repercussions does that have?
- And why does he believe it is happening?
C. Comment:
In this first part we see the anguish of the psalmist, the reason for his anguish and the results that follow. In the second part tomorrow we will see his plea to God and what he knows about the Lord.
He starts by calling out to the Lord for help (v.1) asking the Lord to turn to him (v.2). In the next three verses he appears to give the initial reasons for his anguish, which appear to be purely physical. His bones ‘burn’ (v.3), he’s off his food (v.4) and so as a result he is rapidly losing weight (v.5). We aren’t told what his affliction is (which sounds like rheumatoid arthritis), but he seems to feel that his life is wasting away rapidly (v.3a). Because of the apparent pain that he is suffering he can’t sleep at night and feels isolated from the rest of the sleeping world, rather like a night owl (v.6,7) During the daytime his enemies, seeing his weakness, taunt him and speak against him (v.8), for his eating is as one in deep anguish (v.9). Behind it all he feels that the Lord has cast him aside (v.10) so that he is vanishing like the shadows at sunset or the grass withering away (v.11).
To conclude this first part, he contrasts the Lord who is unchanging and will be there to help, throughout all generations (v.12). This he will expand on in the second part and it seems to be the hope that he relies upon. The Lord is unchanging and will help him.
D. Application:
- However we change, the Lord is unchanging.
- Jesus died for whatever we do. Repentance opens the door for help.
Passage: Psalm 102:13-22
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favour to her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 ‘The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.’
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the Lord.
A. Find Out:
- What does he believe the Lord will do? v.13,16
- Why? v.14,17
- With what result? v.15
- Why is he writing? v.18
- What does he anticipate happening? v.19,20
- With what result? v.21,22
B. Think:
- What is now the focus of the psalmist’s concern?
- What does he want the Lord to do?
- On what basis does he make his appeal?
C. Comment:
In the first part that we saw previously, it seemed like the psalmist was in physical anguish and he was crying out because of that. Now the focus swings away from himself to Zion, Jerusalem. His declarations about the Lord, what he seems to know that the Lord will do, seem to be his way of reassuring himself. There is part plea and part declaration of faith.
He starts this part by declaring that the Lord will rise up and come to bless Zion (v.13), that He will rebuild her (v.16). The way he then speaks about ‘her stones’ and ‘her very dust’ (v.14) suggest that the city is broken down. Whether that is complete and suggests the Exile or is some prior time after an enemy attack, is unclear for there is no historical notation with this psalm or indication of its writer.
He knows that when the Lord does restore, then the nations of the world will know and fear Him (v.15) as He responds to the prayers of the destitute (homeless? again suggesting Exile? v.17).
He writes for the sake of future generations (v.18) who will know what has happened, that the Lord looked down (v.19), saw the prisoners being taken (v.20) and restored His people (v.22) so that His name could again be praised in Jerusalem (v.21). Most of this he declares as a statement of faith. Remarkable!
D. Application:
- When things look dark, can we declare the truth in faith?
- Will we KNOW that God WILL restore?
Passage: Psalm 102:23-28
23 In the course of my life he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
‘Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.’
A. Find Out:
- What does the psalmist say God did? v.23
- How had he pleaded? v.24
- What does he say about the Lord? v.25,26
- Yet what does he know about Him? v.27
- What will happen yet in the future? v.28
B. Think:
- What had been the psalmist’s plight?
- How did he encourage himself?
C. Comment:
In the first part we saw the psalmist describing his plight in physical terms. In the second part we saw him turn the focus away from himself to the plight of Jerusalem. This final part comes with a brief reference to himself but mainly with declarations about the enduring nature of the Lord and His purposes.
At the start of this part, he mentions again that it was the Lord, as far as he is concerned, who has apparently cut short his life which seems under threat (v.23). His response had been to call on the Lord not to take him away in what seems middle age, a time when he should have many years to go (v.24a). Then it’s almost as if he says, it’s all very well for you, for you go on for ever (v.24b), you aren’t plagued by terminal illness (implied).
Having had that thought, he builds on it. He knows that the Lord was the one who established the heavens and the earth (v.25), He goes back that far. Yet he also knows that material existence will wear out and the Lord will put aside the existing world (v.26), but although it will wear out, the Lord never will, He will remain the same forever (v.27). More than this, the psalmist may pass away but there will still be future generations who will know the Lord (v.28), they will be there, and He will still be there. He seems to take comfort in the knowledge that all he knows will pass away, but the Lord and all His goodness never will. Somehow this brings him comfort.
D. Application:
- Everything else may change, but the Lord never will.
- Present circumstances may deteriorate, but God will triumph.