Psalm 102

Psalm 102 belongs to Book IV (Psalms 90–106) of the Psalms. The preceding Psalm 101 is a psalm of David in which the king resolves to rule with integrity and justice. Instead of an author's name, Psalm 102 bears the superscription "A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD," which describes the situation of the one praying.

Structure

• Verses 1–2 The psalmist cries out for his prayer to be heard, asking God not to hide His face in the day of trouble but to answer speedily.
• Verses 3–11 He portrays his physical and emotional decline through images of smoke, bones burned as a hearth, withered grass, a pelican of the wilderness, an owl of the desert, and a lonely sparrow on the housetop. His enemies reproach him all day long; he eats ashes like bread and mingles his drink with weeping. The psalmist confesses that this suffering comes from God's indignation and wrath.
• Verses 12–17 His gaze turns to the LORD, who endures forever. The psalmist declares that the set time to have mercy on Zion has come, and he sings that the nations will fear the LORD and that the LORD will not despise the prayer of the destitute.
• Verses 18–22 He states that these things will be written for the generation to come. The LORD hears the groaning of the prisoner, and peoples and kingdoms will gather to serve the LORD.
• Verses 23–28 The psalm returns to personal lament with the prayer "O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days." It then confesses the Creator who laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens. Heaven and earth will wear out like a garment, but God remains the same, and the psalm closes with the assurance that the children of His servants will be established before Him.

Key Verses

• Psalm 102:12 "But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever" — This verse sets the transience of the failing psalmist against the eternity of God and marks the point where the psalm turns from lament to hope.
• Psalm 102:18 "This shall be written for the generation to come" — The psalmist himself declares that his experience is recorded for the praise of future generations.
• Psalm 102:25–27 "They shall perish, but thou shalt endure" — This passage is quoted in the New Testament in Hebrews 1:10–12.

People and Places

• The afflicted — The speaker of the psalm, identified in the superscription. Neither his name nor his era is given.
• The LORD — The one to whom the psalmist cries out, confessed as the eternal Creator.
• Zion and Jerusalem — Celebrated as the place on which God will have mercy and which He will rebuild.
• Pelican (verse 6) — The Korean term dang-a-sae is the rendering of the Korean Revised Version (KJV "pelican"). Because the bird is difficult to identify precisely, translations render the word differently.

Points for Reflection

• Date of composition: Because of the plea for Zion to be rebuilt (verses 13–16), many interpreters regard the psalm as a work from the period of the Babylonian exile or later. The text itself, however, does not specify a date.
• Individual and community: The psalm interweaves an individual's lament over illness and death with the restoration of the community of Zion. Some interpreters regard it as the work of a single author from the outset, while others hold that an individual prayer was expanded into a communal one.
• Penitential psalm: Western church tradition has grouped Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143 together as the "Seven Penitential Psalms." Although Psalm 102 contains little direct confession of sin, it is understood to have been included in this group because of the confession in verse 10, "Because of thine indignation and thy wrath."
• Connection to the New Testament: Hebrews 1 quotes verses 25–27 and applies the description of the unchanging Creator to the Son, that is, Christ. This quotation is generally recognized as closer to the wording of the Septuagint than to the Hebrew text. The confession that God does not change may be read alongside Malachi 3:6, and the language of heaven and earth passing away alongside 2 Peter 3:10–13.
• Verse numbering: The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as verse 1, so its verse numbers are one higher than those in Korean and English Bibles.