A Psalm of Affliction

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.
1 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.

- Psalm 102

In reading this Psalm I can’t help but be captivated by the attitude of the psalmist. He is afflicted. His suffering makes me think that perhaps I have never experienced true suffering. Note that his enemies taunt him and that he eats ashes and tears are mingled with his drink. A bleak picture of sorrow and distress is painted for the reader. But even in his distress he calls out to God. The pleas for mercy in verse 2 are so powerful that the reader is left with the impression that the psalmist was insisting that God come to his rescue.

One must wonder just how the psalmist ended up in such a pitiful state. But wait, the psalmist himself tells us. In verse 10 he states that his plight is because of the Lord. It is the Lord’s anger and indignation that has caused the psalmist to fall on such bleak and sorrowful times. He has been cast down by the Lord. Why is it that he has returned to the Lord for help if the Lord is his source of suffering? Could it be that the divine wrath that had been meted out to the psalmist and indeed the entire nation of Israel was justified?

I would think that if I were in that position my despair would be unending. To whom could I turn if the Lord Himself had left me to be ravaged by other nations? Indeed, where else could one turn but to the only one that could alleviate the suffering? If the Lord has led me into captivity, then I must trust that the Lord will lead me out of captivity. What an amazing promise we have in verses 18-20. The Lord has looked down upon the earth not to see the wonders of man, or the works of His own hands, but to hear the groans of the prisoners. He has come to set free those that were doomed to die.

This is not just a psalm of affliction but the Gospel! We who are held captive by sin must turn to the one who has justly appointed our afflictions. We must join with the saints in groaning to Him for our freedom and return to Him even when (and especially when) it seems that the Lord has appointed us to suffer. Then we too can dwell secure in the hope that is in Him. Praise be to God.