by Dave Rutherford, Board of Deacons
This is the first time I have read Psalm 102, so I don’t have years of study and reflection to draw upon — I can only share some first impressions.
The first thing that struck me is that, after the first 11 verses describing in grim detail his physical and emotional afflictions, the writer does not then ask God for relief for himself. He does not ask God to heal him or to comfort him or to deliver him from his tormentors. He moves right into a prayer for the Jewish people, asking for God to look with favor upon them and to rebuild Zion. He reaches past his own despair, perhaps viewing his personal suffering as not personal to him at all, but part of a broader plight being endured by the whole Jewish people. It’s not about him.
The second thing that struck me is the enormity of his prayer. He doesn’t just ask God to respond to the suffering of the Jews and rebuild Zion because they love its stones. He asks God to preserve a written record of the writer’s prayer and his description of God’s infinite power and timelessness, so that a people that doesn’t even exist yet may read it and be moved to praise God. It’s not about Zion, either. It’s about God.
It appears God answered his prayer.
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