Psalm 102

Read Psalm 102

“Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you!” Psalm 102 was composed as “a prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.” The unnamed psalmist was eager for God's eye to see him and for His ear to hear quickly before his life slipped away. He described his desperate condition to the Lord. His despair was so great that he was not eating or sleeping and his body was wasting away. In the midst of his tears he was aware of the taunts of his enemies who “use my name for a curse.”

Though this afflicted man was very near to death, his confidence in the Lord was firm. He knew that God was in charge. He was aware that he was facing the Lord's “indignation and anger” according to the sovereign purpose of the Almighty. God was “enthroned forever” over heaven and earth, and He would “have pity on Zion” according to the petition of His servant. The nations of the earth and their rulers would one day “fear the Name of the Lord.”

The psalmist asked the Lord to record His words for a future generation, that “a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.” The Lord was able not only to listen to the prayer of one suffering man, but even “to hear the groans” of many “prisoners” of sin and death here below. He would “set free those who were doomed to die.” What would His purpose be in performing such a great redemption throughout the earth? God intended that the redeemed would “declare in Zion the Name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem His praise, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.”

God would accomplish this massive redemption described so long ago in Psalm 102 through the affliction of His Son on the cross. Jesus would take the “indignation and anger” of the Lord that stood against us and would win our eternal freedom. He would cry out to His Father while enemies derided Him and watched Him die, but then He would rise again from the dead as the beginning of a new Jerusalem—a resurrection kingdom. The old world of the first creation would one day “perish,” but Jesus would remain. He and the people united to Him in His death and resurrection would be “established” forever.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, hear us today. We need You. We live in this age of misery and confusion. We cry out to You all day long. There is trouble all around us. When will You wipe away every tear? You are God. You are sovereign forever. Please come quickly, O Lord. You will build up Your church. Bring forward future generations of those who will serve You. Grant Your people life from on high. Let us live forever in Your presence. You are from everlasting to everlasting. We are safe in You alone.