Psalms 102
102
From Tears to Praise
A prayer for those who are overwhelmed and for all the discouraged who come to pour out their hearts before the Lord # 102 As translated from the Septuagint.
1Lord, listen to my prayer! Listen to my cry for help!
2You can’t hide your face from me in the day of my distress.
Stoop down to hear my prayer and answer me quickly, Lord!
3-4For my days of happiness have gone up in smoke.
My body is raging with fever, my heart is sick,
and I’m consumed by this illness—
withered like a dead leaf. I can’t even eat.
5I’m nothing but skin and bones.
Nothing’s left of me but whispered groans.
6I’m like a pelican of the wilderness, # 102:6 Ancient expositors viewed the “pelican in the wilderness” as a reference to Christ. The famous legend and much medieval artwork taught that the pelican would give the gift of blood to her starving young by piercing her own breast with her beak, allowing her young to drink her blood and live. What an amazing example of sacrificial love. Augustine writes concerning this: “The mother wounds herself deeply and pours forth her blood over her young, bathed in which they recover life.” See Augustine, “Exposition on the Book of Psalms,” in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, ed. A. Cleveland Coxe and Philip Schaff (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1955), 8:497.
like an owl among the ruins.
7I’m sleepless, shivering in the cold, forlorn, and friendless,
like a lonely bird on the rooftop.
8My every enemy mocks and insults me incessantly.
They even use my name as a curse to speak over others!
9-10Because of your great and furious anger against me,
all I do is suffer with sorrow,
with nothing to eat but a meal of mourning. # 102:9–10 Or “I eat ashes as if they were bread.” Ashes speak of mourning, for mourners would often throw dust and ashes over their heads.
My crying fills my cup with salty tears!
In your wrath you have rejected me,
sweeping me away like dirt on the floor.
11My days are marked by the lengthening shadows of death.
I’m withering away and there’s nothing left of me.
12But then I remember that you, O Lord,
still sit enthroned as King over all!
The fame of your name will be revealed to every generation.
13I know you are about to arise and show your tender love to Zion.
Now is the time, Lord,
for your compassion and mercy to be poured out—
the appointed time has come
for your prophetic promises to be fulfilled!
14For your servants weep in sympathy over Zion’s ruins
and feel love for her every stone.
15When you arise to intervene,
all the nations and kings will be stunned
and will fear your awesome name, trembling before your glory!
16Yes, you will reveal yourself to Zion
and appear in the brightness of your glory
to restore her and give her children.
17He responds to the prayer of the poor and broken
and will not despise the cry of the homeless.
18Write all this down for the coming generation,
so re-created people # 102:18 Or “those born anew [re-created].” will read it and praise the Lord!
19Tell them how Yah # 102:19 Taken from Yahweh. Yah is often used as the name of the God of Power. looked down from his high and holy place,
gazing from his glory to survey the earth.
20He listened to all the groaning of his people longing to be free,
and he set loose the sons of death to experience life.
21Multitudes will stream to Jerusalem to
praise the Lord and declare his name in Zion!
22Peoples from every land, their kings and kingdoms,
will gather together to worship the Lord.
23But God has brought me to my knees, shortening my life.
24So I cry out to you, my God, Father of eternity,
please don’t let me die!
I know my life is not yet finished.
25With your hands you once formed the foundations of the earth
and handcrafted the heavens above.
26-27They will all fade away one day like worn-out clothing,
ready to be discarded, but you’ll still be here.
You will replace it all!
Your first creation will be changed,
but you alone will endure, the God of all eternity!
28Generation after generation our descendants will live securely,
for you are the one protecting us, keeping us for yourself.
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Psalms 102: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 102
102
Psalm 102#sn Psalm 102. The psalmist laments his oppressed state, but longs for a day when the Lord will restore Jerusalem and vindicate his suffering people.
The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.
1 O Lord, hear my prayer!
Pay attention to my cry for help!#tn Heb “and may my cry for help come to you.”
2 Do not ignore me in my time of trouble!#tn Heb “do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble.” The idiom “to hide the face” can mean “to ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “to reject” (see Pss 29:7; 30:7; 88:14).
Listen to me!#tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”
When I call out to you, quickly answer me!
3 For my days go up in smoke,#tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”
and my bones are charred like a fireplace.#tn The Hebrew noun מוֹ־קֵד (mo-qed, “fireplace”) occurs only here, in Isa 33:14 (where it refers to the fire itself), and perhaps in Lev 6:2.
4 My heart is parched#tn Heb “struck, attacked.” and withered like grass,
for I am unable#tn Heb “I forget.” to eat food.#sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.
5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,
my bones protrude from my skin.#tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.
6 I am like an owl#tn The Hebrew term קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). Modern translations have frequently rendered this as some type of owl (NIV, REB “desert owl”; NRSV “owl”). in the wilderness;
I am like a screech owl#tn The Hebrew term כוֹס (khos) refers to a bird (see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16), probably a type of owl (cf. NIV, REB “owl”; NRSV “little owl”). among the ruins.#sn By comparing himself to a screech owl among the ruins, the psalmist may be highlighting his loneliness (see v. 7), though he may also be comparing his cries for help to the owl’s screech.
7 I stay awake;#tn This probably refers to the psalmist’s inability to sleep. Another option is to translate, “I keep watch,” in which case it might refer to watching for a response from the Lord (see vv. 1-2).
I am like a solitary bird on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who mock me use my name in their curses.#tn Heb “by me they swear.” When the psalmist’s enemies call judgment down on others, they hold the psalmist up as a prime example of what they desire their enemies to become.
9 For I eat ashes as if they were bread,#sn Mourners would sometimes put ashes on their head or roll in ashes as a sign of mourning (see 2 Sam 13:19; Job 2:8; Isa 58:5).
and mix my drink with my tears,#tn Heb “weeping.”
10 because of your anger and raging fury.
Indeed,#tn Or “for.” you pick me up and throw me away.
11 My days are coming to an end,#tn Heb “my days [are] like an extended [or “lengthening”] shadow,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness.
and I am withered like grass.
12 But you, O Lord, rule forever,#tn Heb “sit” (i.e., sit enthroned, see Ps 9:7). The imperfect verbal form highlights the generalization.
and your reputation endures.#tn Heb “and your remembrance [is] for a generation and a generation.”
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion.#tn The imperfect verbal forms are understood as expressing the psalmist’s confidence in God’s intervention. Another option is to take them as expressing the psalmist’s request or wish, “You, rise up and have compassion!”
For it is time to have mercy on her,
for the appointed time has come.
14 Indeed,#tn Or “for.” your servants take delight in her stones,
and feel compassion for#tn The Poel of חָנַן (khanan) occurs only here and in Prov 14:21, where it refers to having compassion on the poor. the dust of her ruins.#tn Heb “her dust,” probably referring to the dust of the city’s rubble.
15 The nations will respect the reputation of the Lord,#tn Heb “will fear the name of the Lord.” To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).
and all the kings of the earth will respect#tn The verb “will fear” is understood by ellipsis in the second line (see the preceding line). his splendor,
16 when the Lord rebuilds Zion,
and reveals his splendor,
17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute,#tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).
and does not reject#tn Heb “despise.” their request.#tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.
18 The account of his intervention#tn The Hebrew text has simply “this,” referring to the anticipated divine intervention on behalf of Zion (vv. 13, 16-17). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. will be recorded for future generations;
people yet to be born will praise the Lord.
19 For he will look down from his sanctuary above;#tn Heb “from the height of his sanctuary.”
from heaven the Lord will look toward earth,#tn The perfect verbal forms in v. 19 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 18.
20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,
and to set free those condemned to die,#tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.
21 so they may proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion,
and praise him#tn Heb “his praise.” in Jerusalem,#map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
22 when the nations gather together,
and the kingdoms pay tribute to the Lord.#tn “and the kingdoms to serve the Lord.”
23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life;#tn Heb “he has afflicted my strength in the way.” The term “way” refers here to the course of the psalmist’s life, which appears to be ending prematurely (vv. 23b-24).
he has cut short my days.
24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life!#tn Heb “do not lift me up in the middle of my days.”
You endure through all generations.#tn Heb “in a generation of generations [are] your years.”
25 In earlier times you established the earth;
the skies are your handiwork.
26 They will perish,
but you will endure.#tn Heb “stand.”
They will wear out like a garment;
like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear.#tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.
27 But you remain;#tn Heb “you [are] he,” or “you [are] the one.” The statement may echo the Lord’s affirmation “I am he” in Isa 41:4; 43:10, 13; 46:10; 48:12. In each of these passages the affirmation emphasizes the fact that the Lord transcends time limitations, the very point being made in Ps 102:27.
your years do not come to an end.
28 The children of your servants will settle down here,
and their descendants#tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.” will live securely in your presence.”#tn Heb “before you will be established.”
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