THE LORD’S ETERNAL RENOWN IS GREAT
Psalm 102:1-28 / Keywords 102:12
But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
1 Hear my prayer, Lord;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
5 In my distress I groan aloud
and am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the Lord.
23 In the course of my life[b] he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”
Footnotes
Psalm 102:1 In Hebrew texts 102:1-28 is numbered 102:2-29.
Psalm 102:23 Or By his power
1.
This psalm is the cry of an afflicted person who has grown weak and is pouring out a lament before the LORD. It’s a prayer and cry for help in
their distress. Verses 3-11 describe their suffering in body and spirit, and
their feeling of aloneness. They feel thrown aside by God.
2. The psalm shifts in verses
12-22 when the writer sees God enthroned forever. He speaks of the LORD’s renown, compassion, name and
glory. He has faith God will act on behalf of his people and hear their prayer.
He prophesies future generations praising the LORD for his deliverance of
condemned prisoners. The psalmist again feels his days are being cut short. But
he knows God’s years will never end. Heaven
and earth will perish, but God remains the same. He finds hope that the
children of God’s servants will live in his
presence and be established before God.
3. It’s a beautiful thing to trust in
God and to praise him, even in times of affliction. Job did it. Jesus did it.
We can do it by God’s Spirit, through Christ who gives us strength.
Prayer Lord our God, we cry out to you in
our times of anguish and distress. Our days are short but you are eternal God.
Your renown, compassion, name and glory are great. Thank you for hope and
strength you give through Jesus Christ.
One Word The
Lord’s
name and renown are great
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