Psalm 102 GW
The psalmist here seems to be experiencing a great deal of affliction and distress, and it seems to him that the Lord is being slow to answer him.
It feels to him like God has picked him up and thrown him down to the ground. He is lonely. He reminds himself of an owl in the wilderness, flying along in the dark, nobody seeing or perceiving him. He is losing sleep over his troubles, lying awake all alone, like a solitary bird on a housetop. And if that is not enough, his enemies taunt him. They belittle him, they speak with disdain and doubt about his abilities, or about the faithfulness of his God to whom he is crying out.
He is well-versed in the truth. He knows God’s stories, he knows God’s promises, but he still finds himself in a place where God does not seem to answer him. “For the LORD builds up Zion, he appears in his glory; he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.” The psalmist urges this truth upon us, even while experiencing times when it does not seem to be true. He knows that his circumstances are not the measure, but that every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is true.
So he waves these truths like a banner, staring down his own distress. He proclaims God’s everlastingness in the face of his own brevity. God deals with nations, and thinks in generations, while the psalmist can barely take the here and now. He proclaims that God has set times in which he reaches down and delivers his beloved ones from trouble, and prays that the time would be now. He wants his children and their children to be able to rest in the steadfast love and faithfulness of God, that his praise would be in their mouths.
God set prisoners, even death-row prisoners, free; in order to gather them together to praise the LORD. He calls kings and leaders and prisoners under sentence of death to gather together to worship before him. Peoples gather together, and kingdoms gather together, to worship the LORD. Everybody and everything are one day going to come to worship Jesus.
This is all true, says the psalmist. But…
“He has broken my strength in mid-course; he has shortened my days.” “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days—you whose years endure throughout all generations!”
My life is already short compared to yours. Please do not cut it off in the middle, before it has lived a full life! Let me live longer!
God never says to him, “OK”. He does not answer his urgent plea in a way that the psalmist expects and hopes. This seems to be God’s way. Consider how many times Jesus’ disciples asked questions of him, and his answer takes them far afield from what they thought was their problem. He does this all the time in the gospels. And remember Elijah in the cave at the mountain of the Lord. He has his speech all rehearsed and ready, and he expects God to interact with it. God sends him off with a few jobs, and tells him not to worry.
You are from of old, and you will outlast every created thing. You know the beginning from the end, and the ends from the middle. That is enough to give me confidence that you are able to keep my children and their children faithful, that they will dwell secure, because they are held by the Secure One.
There is so much in this psalm on which a man might meditate. Maybe try this on. What does it mean, that kingdoms will come and worship before the LORD? Peoples, yes, but kingdoms, too.
Here are the lyrics for 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 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 owl 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.
