Maranatha Baptist Church
Psalm 102
  • In Christ Alone

      • Matthew 5:13-14ESV

      • Matthew 5:15-16ESV

      • Matthew 5:17-18ESV

      • Matthew 5:19ESV

      • Matthew 5:20ESV

  • Nothing But The Blood
  • He Will Hold Me Fast

      • Psalms 102:1-3ESV

      • Psalms 102:4-8ESV

      • Psalms 102:9-12ESV

      • Psalms 102:13-16ESV

      • Psalms 102:17-20ESV

      • Psalms 102:21-24ESV

      • Psalms 102:25-27ESV

      • Psalms 102:28ESV

  • I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’ve been on a Rich Mullins kick. Though he died in 1997. His influence has endured 30 years later. Especially, as Shane & Shane, Phil Wickham, and Andrew Peterson have recently released covers and tributes to Mullins. Because of Mullins’ honesty and non-typical attitude and appearance he created a lot of intrigue. He didn’t dress like a celebrity. He only received a salary of $25k/yr from his music, and the rest was given to Christian charity, as overseen by his church elders. And while it is easy to make him seem larger than life - he did a lot to demonstrate that he wasn’t. He was open about his struggles with alcohol, cigarettes and other sin. And his openness really serves as a grand example.
    In one video clip that I have come across recently, Mullins stated “Sometimes I find it hard to pray. Maybe that’s why I write so many prayer songs - because it is easy if you sing sometimes.” That refreshing openness and honesty is what many appreciated about Mullins because we’re afraid to talk like that. We’re supposed to be people of truth, but how often do we struggle with truly being honest? Honest with God? Honest with others?
    But the Psalmists don’t do that.
    And that quote from Rich Mullins stuck out to me this week and I was looking at this Psalm, and as I have been a book titled Wonderful with my family for our morning Bible Time. It is written by a pastor named Marty Machowski. He’s written all sorts of great books for family devotions and instructing children in the Christian faith.
    When we read Psalm 5 this week, the author used this an an opportunity to pray through the Psalm. When you struggle to pray - turn the Psalms. Especially, a Psalm like this one.
    This Psalm begins with the Superscription that it is “a prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.”
    The Psalmist opens the prayer with a request to God to hear his prayers. We’ve all been there, where we feel like God isn’t listening to our prayers.
    Our psalm for this morning, Psalm 102, is the same. It is a prayer of the afflicted.
    This is a lament. It is a dying man’s Prayer

    A Dying Man’s Prayer

    But if I were to summarize this Psalm it would be the perspective of a dying man who is mourning the downfall of his beloved home country. He looks to the Lord for the restoration of his home, rejoices and delights in God’s attributes, and instills hope in the coming generation concerning the goodness of God. His affliction comes from his decline in health and destruction of his home, but his hope comes from God’s eternal reign.
    (relatable)
    The Psalm begins with a plead to the Lord that he might hear the prayer of the Psalmist.
    The first 11 verses focus on the lament, the sorrow of this Psalmist.
    And some the language here in this lament might seem familiar, and that’s because much of this language here in the beginning is found elsewhere in the Psalms. Or maybe it’s familiar because you have been there.
    He begins with a plea for God to hear his prayer, and that God would not hide his face in the day of his distress - but instead answer quickly.
    And to some degree the Psalm plays out as if the Psalmist is asking for a quick response because he doesn’t think he has much time life. He states that his days vanish like smoke. He describes a depression in verse 4, that leads him to forget to eat. He even goes on to describe his groaning, and that he has withered to skin and bones.
    He even goes on to compare himself to a bird. Maybe a desert owl, though it seems that pelican is the best translation. One commentator have suggested that maybe he feels as ugly as a pelican. The specie of bird is not important, however, the word that is used is among the birds listed in Leviticus 11:18 as unclean.
    Even the food that he eats is ash, and he drinks his own sorrow.
    In this opening portion of the Psalms, he describes himself as depressed, sickly, hungry - but too depressed to eat, unclean, sleepless, and thus tired, lonely, oppressed, and dying.
    We do not have a Bible that is absent of human suffering. Nor do we have a God that is ignorant of our afflictions. I pray that none of us ever have the kind of sorrow that this man is experiencing as he is opening this Psalm - but even so, we can learn that even if our life is never this bad - we can bring our cares before the Lord. Even if our sorrow is not as extreme as what we read in verses 1-11 here, we can trust that there is a God that we can turn to in all of our sufferings who cares for us.
    And that’s what the Psalmist does as he gets to turn portion of the lament. He has poured out his heart to the Lord, and now he responds by reminding himself who God is, and praising him for his attributes.
    And the core of his turn is a reminder that while he is finite, while he is dying, the Lord is eternal. He is enthroned forever, and he never changes.
    Don’t dwell in your misery, sorrow, sadness, affliction - turn to the Lord and trust in his promises.

    The Eternal God’s Reign

    In the remainder of the Psalm, the focus of the Psalm is not on the afflictions of the Psalmist, but rather on the character of God.
    The psalmists knows that though he is fading, the Lord is enthroned forever, though his generation is coming to an end - the next generation, and the one after will proclaim the Lord’s goodness - and though the ink from his quill is dried up the words will encourage a future generation.
    Psalm 102:12 ESV
    12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations.
    The first attribute of God that he celebrates is God’s eternal dominion. He reigns forever as King. And he will be remember through all generations.
    There’s often this repeated idea by atheists that if we as a culture will just open our eyes to science, and properly modernize, then people will forget about God and realize some other sort of alternative to God.
    Frankly, it really doesn’t logically follow. A beautifully designed creation screams of a Designer.
    The text here states that the Lord God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who delivered the Hebrews slaves out of Egypt, the God who became a man, died on the cross, and rose from the dead… will be remember throughout all generations. He is enthroned forever, and the words of this Psalm are written for future generations to remember what YHWH has done.
    In the background of this psalm, there is also the Psalmist trusting in God to restore. He is trusting God to keep his promises. And the promise that he is hoping for is the restoration of the land. And the exile does indeed end after the 70 years that God has promised. In 539, the Jews are permitted to return to the land, and in 516 they rededicate the rebuilt temple. The psalmist trusts those things to be true - but does not believe that he will see them. He also believes that even greater things will occur. Nations will fear the name of the Lord - Kings will fear his glory.
    And when we consider these things together - the eternal reign of God, the rebuilding of a city, where God will appear in his glory. While they were awaiting the rebuilding of Jerusalem, following the destruction in 587 - this Psalm ultimately anticipates the New Jerusalem. The city that comes down out of heaven in Revelation 21.
    Psalm 102:16 ESV
    16 For the Lord builds up Zion; he appears in his glory;
    Zion has a complex meaning to it. At times it refers to the city of Jerusalem. In many instances, Zion refers to the physical city of Jerusalem. However, following the fall of the city the term comes to be used in more of a spiritual manner here. Zion comes to be used to represent the Kingship of God. So Zion in the last third of the Psalms should point us to the eternal reign of Christ.
    And there is yet another comfort to be read in verse 17.
    If this Psalm starts on the question of “does God even listen to my prayers?” This verse ought to bring comfort to the saint who comes to the Lord.
    Psalm 102:17 ESV
    17 he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.
    Regardless of how suffering and affliction may feel - God hears the prayers of his children. God is not absent in our suffering, he is working that for an immeasurable weight of glory. He is using that to refine and purify us.
    And if our suffering leads us to turn to God in prayer, then that is working for our God. Anything that leads us to be more dependent upon our Heavenly Father to meet our needs is working for our good.

    A Record of God’s Faithfulness

    Psalm 102:18 ESV
    18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
    The Psalmist writes to preserve God’s deeds in history so that future generations may look back and glorify him for what he has done. And ultimately, that is the goal of the historical books of the Bible - that we might see the wondrous deeds that God has done in history and praise him.
    So the Psalmist himself is not merely writing for those around him. He is writing this with the anticipation that the next generation will read and understand this Psalm. And we are blessed to have this psalm here as well. But even so, in the short fulfillment of the promises of God, when they return to Jerusalem they will remember this song. And the people yet to be created will bring praise as well.
    And this sort of language pointing us to the language of 1 Peter 2:9 - that those who were not a people will be God’s people. The nations coming to praise the Lord, and the new people created to praise him are one in the same. That those who are in Christ Jesus, Jew or Gentile, are made alive in Jesus so that they may bring praise to the Lord.
    And God is praise for what he does in Psalm 102:19-20
    Psalm 102:19–20 ESV
    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,
    God is praised that he looks down upon mankind who he has created and he engages with us. though we are sinners, though we are doomed to die, and enslaved by our sins… he not only looked down from heaven… but he stepped down Heaven. The Son of God, Jesus, stepped into time took on a body of flesh so that he might not only hear the groans of prisoners - but suffer in their place, and set them free. Though we are all doomed to death because of our sins - Jesus died in our place.
    And our response ought to be the same as we read in the subsequent verses:
    Psalm 102:21–22 ESV
    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.
    Our response should be to worship him. To proclaim the majesty of the Lord God. And the Lord Jesus has given us the task to take this message to the end of the earth. And he sends his disciples out from Jerusalem. And one day when the King returns in his glory he will gather his people to himself and we will worship him.
    And at the sight of him when he returns every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord.
    And a great multitude from every tribe tongue and nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages will stand before the throne and cry out proclaiming that “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!”
    Psalm 102:23–24 ESV
    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!”
    As we near the end of the Psalm, we get a slight change of focus by the Psalmist in verses 23-24. He further demonstrates to us the fleetingness of his life. he states that his days have been shorted, presumably by the Lord. Though he is pleading with the eternal God to extend his days. And the Psalmist is intentionally playing with the idea of time in this Psalm. He is referencing his own mortality, while celebrating the Lord’s eternality, but also pointing to the future generations to come. He is asking that the Lord does not take him any sooner. Earlier I mentioned that he was a dying man. While we are not certain if this means his is condemned to his death bed, or if he just understands his own short life.
    It takes a lot of boldness, and honesty to pray in the manner that the Psalmist prays here. To admit that you know that you don’t deserve the days that you have, but are blessed to have them - and then to ask of the Lord to not take you away in the midst of your days. The Bible elsewhere tells us that our days were numbered before we were born. (Psalm 139:16, Job 14:5).
    As the Psalmist closes in verses 25-28 I want to read that whole last stanza together.
    Psalm 102:25–28 ESV
    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.
    The Psalmist speaks f God’s foundation of the earth - and demonstrates that God has worked in time to create the earth and the heavens - and that one day they will perish. We long for the New Creation - the New Heavens and the New Earth - where sin and evil will be no more and where Christ reigns eternally. And even though the creation dies the Lord reigns eternally. And verse 27 demonstrates one of the most important doctrines in the Bible. That God never changes. The world around us may change - but God does not change. Because God does not change we can trust the he is just as faithful to his promises tomorrow that he was today and yesterday. Because he does not change our salvation that is found in Christ is secure. Because he does not change we can rejoice that he hears the prayers of the destitute - and that he is near the brokenhearted. And that when we feel like the Psalmist does in verses 1-11, we can take heart knowing that Jesus suffered like we do. That he was a man of sorrows aquainted with grief. Striken, smitted and afflicted. Pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities - upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace - and with his wounds we are healed. He was afflicted for us that we might be forgiven. And we can taken heart when the world is against use because he has overcome the world. We are reminded that the writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 13:8
    Hebrews 13:8 ESV
    8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
    So even the future generations can comfort in the cross of Christ, because he never changes.
    And finally the Psalm ends on verse 28 with a reminder that the children of God shall dwell secure. Those who have faith in Jesus Christ has been given the right to be called children of God.
    Conclusion
    In the midst of our afflictions we can take heart because:
    The Lord is good.
    He reigns eternally.
    He hears the prayers of the destitute.
    He never changes.
    Concerning destitute: The Psalmist suffered in all kinds of ways and God heard his prayers. Certainly your sufferings are not too great.
    Concerning he never changes: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. We can always trust him promises.
    Benediction Revelation 7:9-12

      • Psalm 102:12ESV

      • Psalm 102:16ESV

      • Psalm 102:17ESV

      • Psalm 102:18ESV

      • Psalm 102:19–20ESV

      • Psalm 102:21–22ESV

      • Psalm 102:23–24ESV

      • Psalm 102:25–28ESV

      • Hebrews 13:8ESV

  • Behold The Lamb

      • Psalm 103ESV

Maranatha Baptist Church
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http://www.mbcglobe.org
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