A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the LORD.
The title does not identify the afflicted man, but merely that he has thrown himself on YHWH and is pouring out his pain and affliction. Alter suggests that the title is not an editorial statement (as is true of other titles) but is part of the original writers song as "it scans nicely as a line of poetry."
Psalm 102:1-2, Hear me, please!
Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry for help come to you.
Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
The afflicted man begins with a cry that YHWH turn and listen to him. This echoes the "how long?" of other laments.
Psalm 102:3-5, Bones turning to embers, ashes, smoke
For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones.
Each day burns away, vanishing into ashes and smoke. The afflicted man's pain prevents him from eating, to the point that his loss of weight is visible. His heart is overwhelmed; in his despair he moans. If you have been with a loved one is ill, you remember their occational groans and sighs.
Psalm 102:6-7, A lonely desert owl
I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
I lie awake;
I have become like a bird alone on a roof.
The psalmist lies awake at night, like a lonely desert owl. (Alter translates "owl" as "jackdaw"; the identity of this bird is uncertain. There is little life in the desert; the image of a single desert owl or one bird at night on the roof carries a strong poetic image of isolation and loneliness.
Psalm 102:8-11, Taunted and tossed away
All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears
because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
The psalmist, like Job, is ridiculed and taunted. His name is a curse. Like Job, he accuses YHWH of afflicting him and tossing him aside.
Vanishing shadows, withering grass are images of temporary things that disappear and leave no trace.
Psalm 102:12-14, Favor to Zion
But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come.
For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
In the midst of his despair, the singer calls out to YHWH, begging Him to show his love and protection to Zion. Just as he asks YHWH to "arise" and heal him, he also asks YHWH to save Israel. This is a dramatic break from the first 11 verses -- the personal lament has become intercession for Israel and the world. To the singer, even the stones and dust of Zion are precious, just like the smells of home might be to a homesick college student.
Psalm 102:15-17, Rebuild Zion
The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
For the LORD will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
The plea continues. First comes the nations of Israel, but then a request for all the world to revere YHWH (as the watch Him respond to Israel.)
Psalm 102:18, For a future people!
Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:
The psalm, which began as a lament that asks "How long", becomes a song that look far down the centuries, to people of future generations, people "not yet created".
Psalm 102:19-22, Freeing the prisoners
"The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death."
So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD.
The lament has turned upbeat, claiming that YHWH does indeed look over the earth, caring for his suffering prisoners, even some condemned to death. There are echoes of this enthusiastic future in Isaiah 60-62 (as Kidner points out) and this future salvation, in which all kingdoms will worship YHWH, is clearly Messianic. See Luke 4:16-21 and Revelation 21 for the New Testament statements on this time.
Psalm 102:23-24, Short life and God's eternity
In the course of my life he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
So I said: "Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
The afflicted man again recounts his pain. He reminds YHWH that his own life is short while YHWH is eternal. There is a suggestion that the singer wants YHWH to remember how frail and mortal he is.
The Septuagint apparently interprets the Hebrew letters (always consonants) differently than the Masoretic text. According to Kidner, the Septuagint (translated into English) has this passage
He answered him in the way of his strength,
"Declare to me the fewness of my days.
Do not bring me up in the middle of my days:
your days are for generations on end."
and then continues with verses 25-27 (below), as if all these words are God speaking to the psalmist.
Psalm 102:25-27, The heavens will wear out
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
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.
But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
The singer, reminded of God's infinity, reminded of God's existence for all generations, turns to look at the creation of the earth and heavens. Despite the ancient age of the universe -- and potential future ages -- in comparison to God, its age is little. The universe will get old and wear down and be discarded. Despite all of that, through all that time, God is unchanged. These ages are nothing to Him. (Isaiah 51:6 also declares that "the earth will wear out like a garment".)
This passage is quoted later in the New Testament, in Hebrews 1:10-12. In that passage, the statement appears to be a statement God is making to the psalmist, who here is the Messiah. (This apparently flows more naturally out of the Septuagint passage of verses 23-24; see the note above.)
The Hebrew word chalaph means to change or disappear; variance of that word appear twice in verse 26, translated as "change" (for the clothing) but then as "discarded" at the end of the line.
Psalm 102:28, Descendants established
The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.
The song endsd with a long view, looking towards a time, in future generations, when the descendants of the psalmist and the descendants of Israel, will be stable and established.
Caroline Cobb has an album on the psalms. (You can find Caroline Cobb on Spotify here.) Her rendition of Psalm 102 is Don't Hide Your Face.
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