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Psalm 102


ayin jade

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Oh say it aint so! Not one but two studies in one 24 hr day. 

Psalm 102

This psalm is classified as one of the seven penitential psalms (Psalms 6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143). It emphasizes the suffering and discipline often associated with sin.

The psalm exemplifies the literary genre of an individual lament. This lament arises out of an exilic situation, when the godly together with the wicked had been exiled from the land. For other exilic psalms, see 42, 43, 74, 79, 137;

On what occasion, or by whom, this psalm was composed, it is not possible now to ascertain. It seems possible, however, from Psa_102:13-21, that it was in the time of the captivity, and was in view of the troubles of that long and weary exile, and that the psalmist speaks not of individual and personal troubles, but speaks as one of the people - as one in exile with others who had been long held in captivity, and who sighed for deliverance, and for a restoration to their native land. In the midst of these troubles, which are so tenderly described in the first eleven verses, he saw encouraging evidences that the Lord was about to manifest His mercy, and to restore the people to their native land; and he pleads most earnestly with God, on the ground that He was faithful and unchanging, that He would thus interpose and accomplish the earnest desire of His afflicted people. The “language,” indeed, in the psalm, is that of an individual, and the author of the psalm speaks of his own personal sorrows, but it may be as one among many who were equally crushed and overwhelmed, so that the language used to represent his sorrow may describe the sorrows experienced by others in the same circumstances. Beyond all question, the language used in the psalm would express the feelings of many a pious Hebrew in the time of the exile, the sorrow - the sadness - the cherished hopes - the prayers - of many a one in that prolonged and painful captivity.

If it is the prayer of the captives in Babylon, it is towards the end of the captivity, when they were almost worn out with oppression, cruelty, and distress. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews has applied the twenty-fifth, twenty sixth, and twenty seventh verses to our Lord, and the perpetuity of his kingdom. Psalm 102:25-27 Of old You have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They shall perish, but You shall endure; yea, all of them shall become old like a garment; like a robe You shall change them, and they shall be changed; but You are He, and Your years shall have no end. Hebrews 1: 10-12 And, "You, Lord, have laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of Your hands. They shall perish, but You will remain. And they shall all become old as a garment, and as a covering You shall fold them up, and they shall be changed. But You are the same, and Your years shall not fail."

The psalm may be divided into three parts:

I. A description of the sorrows of the author of the psalm, as representative of the condition and feelings of the exiles, Psa_102:1-11. In this, the language of lamentation and complaint predominates.

II. The grounds of hope - the indications of deliverance - the evidences that God was about to show favor to his people, and to restore them to their own country - that the time, the set time, to favor Zion was about to come, Psa_102:12-22.

III. The confidence of the psalmist in God, on the ground of his unchangeableness: on the fact that God is always the same; that his promises must be sure; that his purposes must be accomplished; that the very heavens and the earth would change - that the skies would grow old like a garment and pass away - but that God did not, would not change. All that he had spoken must be true; all that he had purposed must be accomplished; all that he had promised must come to pass, Psa_102:23-28.

 

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Psa 102:1  A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.

And let my cry come unto thee - My prayer, accompanied with an outward expression of my earnestness. It was not a silent, or a mental prayer; it was a loud and earnest cry.

Hear my prayer - The chief parts of the Psalm answer well to the title: it is the language of the deepest distress, and well directed to Him from whom alone help can come. He calls his prayer cry, because it was uttered in distress, and with great vehemency and importunity; and he prays that it might come unto God, even into His ears, and be regarded by Him, and not shut out. God hears the prayers of the righteous. Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

Hear my prayer - The prayer of a poor, destitute, and afflicted one; his own, and not another's; not what was composed for him, but composed by him; which came out of his own heart, and out of unfeigned lips, and expressed under a feeling sense of his own wants and troubles; and though dictated and inwrought in his heart by the Spirit of God, yet, being put up by him in faith and fervency, it is called his own, and which he desires might be heard:

Hear my prayer - Even good men may be almost overwhelmed with afflictions. It is our duty and interest to pray; and it is comfort to an afflicted spirit to unburden itself, by a humble representation of its griefs. Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

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Psa 102:2  Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.

Hide not thy face from me - The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate render this, “Do not turn away thy face from me.” The sense is essentially the same. The prayer is, that God would not refuse to look graciously upon him; that He would turn his attention to him; that He would regard his supplications.

Hide not thy face from me - The Shechinah: when God hides His face at any time from His people, it is a trouble to them, and very grievous; but especially when they are in any other trouble. 

In the day when I call, answer me speedily - Grant at once my requests; give me immediate evidence that my prayer is heard. The psalmist believed in an immediate answer to prayer. He often had evidence that his prayer was answered at once; his mind became calm; he had comfort and peace; he obtained the blessing which he earnestly sought. No one can doubt that prayer may be answered at once; no one who prays can fail to find such answers in his own case, in his peace, his calmness, his joy. In multitudes of cases blessings are granted in such a way that there can be no doubt that they have come in answer to prayer.

Psa 102:3  For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.

For my days are consumed like smoke - They vanish as smoke; they pass away and become nothing; they are spent in affliction, and seem to accomplish nothing. The idea is, that in his affliction he seemed to accomplish none of the ends of life. His life seemed to be wasted. This is often the feeling in trial: and yet in trial a man may be more useful, he may do more to accomplish the real ends of life, he may do more to illustrate the power and excellence of religion, than he ever did in the days of prosperity.

My days are consumed like smoke - He represents himself under the notion of a pile of combustible matter, placed upon a fire, which soon consumes it; part flying away in smoke, and the residue lying on the hearth in the form of charred coal and ashes. The Chaldeans were the fire, and the captive Jews the fuel, thus converted into smoke and ashes.

And my bones are burned as an hearth - Or rather, as kindling or fuel. Literally, “They are burned as a burning.” The idea is, that in his troubles, his very bones, the most solid and substantial part of himself, seemed to be consumed and to waste away.

For my days are consumed like smoke - Which suddenly rises up, is easily dissipated, and quickly disappears; so sudden, short, and transient, are the days of man's life; see Jam_4:14 or "in smoke"; his days were spent in great obscurity, in the darkness of affliction, temptation, and desertion; and in so much vexation, trouble, and uneasiness, as if he had lived in smoke all his time: 

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Psa 102:4  My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.

My heart is smitten, and withered like grass - The metaphor here is taken from grass cut down in the meadow. It is first smitten with the scythe, and then withered by the sun. Thus the Jews were smitten with the judgments of God; and they are now withered under the fire of the Chaldeans.

My heart is smitten - Broken; crushed with grief. We now speak of “a broken heart.”

My heart is smitten, and withered like grass - his heart was smitten with a sense of sin, and of God's wrath and displeasure at him, and with the heat of affliction and trouble, that it failed him, and he could not look up with joy and comfort:

And withered like grass - It is dried up as grass is by drought, or as when it is cut down. It loses its support; and having no strength of its own, it dies.

So that I forget to eat my bread - I am so absorbed in my trials; they so entirely engross my attention, that I think of nothing else, not even of those things which are necessary to the support of life. Grief has the effect of taking away the appetite, but this does not seem to be the idea here. It is that of such a complete absorption in trouble that everything else is forgotten. There was such a loss of appetite, through sorrow, that he forgot his stated meals, having no manner of inclination to food.

Psa 102:5  By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.

By reason of the voice of my groaning - Under the burden of sin, and pressure of afflictions: By suffering and trouble, so great as to produce groaning, my flesh is wasted away.

My bones cleave to my skin - The effect described is that of a wasting away or an emaciation of flesh from deep distress, so that the bones became prominent, and had nothing to hide them from view; so that they seemed to adhere fast to the flesh itself.

My bones cleave to my skin - was quite emaciated, reduced to a skeleton, became nothing but skin and bone; which sometimes is occasioned, as by outward afflictions, so by soul troubles:

 

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Psa 102:6  I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

I am like a pelican of the wilderness - A bird in the midst of desolation becomes a striking image of loneliness and distress. The word rendered “pelican”  is supposed to have been a name given to the pelican from the idea of vomiting, as it “vomits the shells and other substances which it has too voraciously swallowed.” The word occurs in the following places, where it is rendered as here “pelican:” Lev_11:18; Deu_14:17; and in Isa_34:11; Zep_2:14, where it is rendered “cormorant.”

I am like an owl of the desert - The owl is a well-known bird which dwells in solitudes and old ruins, and which becomes, alike by its seeking such places of abode, by its appearance, and by its doleful cry, the very emblem of desolation.

Psa 102:7  I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop - That is, I am “sleepless;” trouble drives sleep from my eyes, and I am kept awake at night - a common effect of grief and distress.

As a sparrow alone – The Hebrew word seems to be often used for any small bird, such as the swallow, sparrow, or the like.

Psa 102:8  Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

Mine enemies reproach me all the day - Continually. For his principles and practices, being different from theirs; for his religion; for his faith and profession of it. Good men have their enemies, and always had; but then they are such who are also enemies to God and Christ, and true religion; and these, not content to reproach now and then, continually throw out their scoffs and jeers. John 15:18-9 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.Matthew 10:22 And you will be hated of all men for My name's sake, but the one who endures to the end shall be kept safe.

and they that are mad against me - as the those Pharisees etc who were against Christ, because of His miracles, doctrine, and success, and therefore sought to take away His life; and as the Apostle Paul before conversion was, even exceeding mad against the saints, and persecuted them to strange cities, Luk_6:11, so were the psalmist's enemies quite outrageous and implacable, being his sworn enemies.

Are sworn against me - literally, “swear by me,” or against me. The meaning is, that they have conspired together under the solemnity of an oath to do me harm. It is not the wrath of an individual that I am to meet, but the combined wrath of those who act under the solemnities of an oath.

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Psa 102:9  For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,

For I have eaten ashes like bread - I have seated myself in ashes in my grief Job_2:8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Jon_3:6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. and ashes have become, as it were, my food. The ashes in which he sat had been mingled with his food.

For I have eaten ashes like bread - He sitting in ashes, as Job did, and rolling himself in them in the manner of mourners; and, having no other table than the ground to eat his food upon, he might eat ashes along with it; and the sense may be, that he ate bread like ashes, no more savored and relished it, or was nourished by it, than if he had eaten ashes. He was fed with the bread of adversity, and water of affliction:

And mingled my drink with weeping - Tears have fallen into the cup from which I drank, and have become a part of my drink. The idea is, that he had shed copious tears; and that even when he took his food, there was no respite to his grief.

and mingled my drink with weeping - that is, with tears; as he drank, the tears ran down his cheeks, and mixed with the liquor in his cup; he was fed with the bread of tears, and had them to drink in great measure; these were his meat and his drink, day and night, while enemies reproached him, swore at him, against him, and by him;

Psa 102:10  Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.

Because of thine indignation and thy wrath - he regarded all his sufferings as proof of the indignation and wrath of God against him.

For thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down - We were exalted in thy favor beyond any people, and now thou hast made us the lowest and most abject of the children of men.

For thou hast lifted me up and cast me down – or Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me away. That is, Thou hast lifted me from the ground as a storm or tempest takes up a light thing, and hast whirled me away. This idea occurs in Isa_22:18 Whirling, He will whirl you like a ball into a large country; there you shall die, and there are the chariots of your glory, the shame of your lord's house.

for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down - so that he may be thrown with the greater force upon the ground; in like manner the psalmist thought the Lord was dealing with him: or this may express his changeable state and condition, sometimes lifted up, and sometimes cast down.

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Psa 102:11  My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.

My days are like a shadow that declineth - The idea is that the shadow made by the descending sun was about to disappear altogether. It had become less distinct and clear, and it would soon vanish.

I am withered like grass - which in the morning is flourishing, is cut down and withered at evening: this is the case of all flesh, however beautiful and goodly it may look; it is weak, frail, and mortal; cannot stand before the force of afflictions, which quickly consume strength and beauty, and much less before the scythe of death; Psa_90:5-6 You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up: In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.

Psa 102:12  But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.

But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever - Though my condition has been changed, though I have been cast down from an exalted position, though kingdoms rise and fall, yet thou art unchanged. Thy purposes will abide. Thy promises will be fulfilled. Thy character is the same. The psalmist here brings to his own mind, as an encouragement in trouble, as we may at all times, the fact that God is an unchanging God; that He always lives; that He is ever the same. We could have no ground of hope if God changed; if He formed purposes only to abandon them; if He made promises only to disregard them; if today He were a Being of mercy and goodness, and tomorrow would be merely a Being of justice and wrath. This argument is enlarged upon in Psa_102:25-28.

But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever - This address is made to Christ, as is clear from Psa_102:25 Of old You have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of Your hands. and Heb_1:10 And, "You, Lord, have laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of Your hands. Christ who is a divine Person, endures forever, is from everlasting to everlasting, unchangeably the same in His love, power, wisdom, faithfulness, &c. and though He died as man, He will die no more; He is alive, and lives for evermore; and because He lives, His people shall live also; and He will come again to take them to Himself: and, as Mediator, He is King forever; always continues, as such, to rule over, protect, and defend His people; and is a Priest forever, and ever lives to make intercession for them; and His blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, have a constant virtue in them, to take away sin, and secure from it: the consideration of the perpetuity of Christ, in His person and offices, was a comfort to the psalmist under his troubles, and in a view of his own declining state.

And thy remembrance unto all generations - Thy memory; or, the remembrance of thee. My days are like a shadow. I shall pass away, and be forgotten. No one will recollect me; no one will feel any interest in remembering that I have ever lived. But while one knows that this must be so in regard to himself and to all other people - that he and they are alike to be forgotten - he may also feel that there is One who will never be forgotten. God will never pass away. He will be always the same. All the hopes of the church - of the world - are based on this. It is not on man - on any one individual - on any number of people - for they will all alike pass away and be forgotten; but one generation of people after another, to the end of time, may call on God, and find him an ever-living, an unchanged and unchangeable protector and friend.

thy remembrance to all generations - the remembrance of His name Jehovah, or Jesus, or Immanuel, or any other, is sweet and precious to His saints in all ages; and so the remembrance of His works, of what He has done and suffered, especially the great work of redemption; for the remembrance of which the ordinance of the Lord's supper is appointed to be continued till His second coming; and His Gospel is an everlasting one, which will transmit the memory of Him to men in every age, to the end of the world; and though all flesh is as grass, and every man dies, even the ministers of the word, yet that itself lives forever.

Remembrance - The name, Jehovah, which is called by this very word, God's remembrance, or memorial, and that unto all generations, Exo_3:15 And God said to Moses again, You shall say this to the sons of Israel, Jehovah the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My title from generation to generation.

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Psa 102:13  Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.

For the time to favor her - Implying that there was an appointed time to favor her, or to bring her troubles to an end.

Yea, the set time is come - The word used here means properly an appointed season - a designated moment. It refers to some purpose or appointment in regard to anything that is to be done, or to a fixed period, as when certain things are to be done, certain festivals to be held regularly at a certain season of the year. Here it means that there was some period fixed in the Lord’s mind when this was to occur, or a definite time when it had been predicted or promised that it would occur. The language is such as would be applicable to the captivity in Babylon, concerning which there was a promise that it should continue but seventy years. If the psalm refers to that, then the meaning is that there were indications in the course of events that that period was about to arrive.

The set time - the seventy years predicted by Jeremiah, was ended; and God gave him to see that He was ever mindful of His promises. Some see this as referring prophetically to the future of the seventy weeks of Daniel fixed for the Messiah's coming. It may designate the end of the forty two months, or the 1260 days fixed for the treading underfoot the holy city, for the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth, and for the reign of antichrist; which when come will usher in glorious times Rev_11:2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it was given to the nations. And they will trample the holy city forty-two months.

Psa 102:14  For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.

For thy servants take pleasure in her stones - Those who profess to be thy servants; thy friends. This was the “evidence” to the mind of the psalmist that God was about to visit his people, and to rebuild Jerusalem. It was an “awakened interest” among the professed people of God, leading them to manifest their love for Zion, and for all that pertained to her - a love for the very stones that lay in undistinguished heaps where the city once stood - the piles of rubbish where the walls and dwellings had once been. The people of God in their captivity began to look with strong interest on these very ruins, and with an earnest wish that from these ruins the city may again arise, and the walls be rebuilt.

Thy servants take pleasure in her stones - Though Jerusalem was at this time in a heap of ruins, yet even her rubbish was sacred in the eyes of the pious; for this had been the city of the great King.

For thy servants take pleasure in her stones - Meaning not Cyrus and Darius, who gave leave and orders for the rebuilding of the city and temple of Jerusalem, as some; nor Nehemiah, and Ezra, and others, who took more pleasure in the stones and rubbish of the temple, as it lay in ruins, than in all the stately palaces in Babylon; and who were very desirous of, and took delight in gathering these stones, and putting them together again, as others; but, the ministers of the Gospel, and other Christians, in the latter day, who will take pleasure in the great number of converts that there will then be, who, as lively stones, will be built up a spiritual house; and especially when those stones shall be laid with fair colors, and the headstone shall be brought in with acclamations, crying, Grace, grace unto it; 1Pe_2:5 you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

And favor the dust thereof - literally, pity - or, show compassion for. They no longer look with indifference on these ruins of Zion. They look with a tender heart on the very dust of those ruins. They feel that a wrong has been done to Zion; they ardently desire its restoration to its former splendor and glory. They long for a return to it as to their home. They are weary with their captivity, and they are anxiously waiting for the time when they may revisit their native land. A surrounding world would look with unconcern on the ruins of Jerusalem; a friend of God, in whose heart religion was revived, would look with the most tender concern even on that rubbish, and those ruins.

and favour the dust thereof - which sometimes designs multitudes, Num_23:10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! Perhaps here it may denote a time when there shall be a delight in the stones and dust of Zion, and a spirit of grace and supplication poured forth upon the servants of the Lord.

 

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Psa 102:15  So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

So the heathen - The nations. that is, the surrounding people.

Shall fear the name of the Lord - Shall reverence and honor Him. Whose name is reverend, and to be feared; especially the glorious and fearful name "Jehovah", expressive of the divine existence, of his eternity and immutability; and particularly the Messiah, the Son of God, in whom the name of the Lord is; the King of saints, whom all men will fear in the latter day, when the set time to favour Zion is come; will stand in awe of him and will serve and worship him;

And all the kings of the earth thy glory - The sovereigns of the earth will be especially affected and impressed with His majesty. If this refers to the return from the captivity at Babylon, then it means that that event would be particularly suited to impress the minds of the rulers of the world, as showing that God had all nations under His control; that He could deliver a captive people from the grasp of the mighty; that He was the friend of those who worshipped Him.

So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord - It is granted that after the edict of Cyrus to restore and rebuild Jerusalem which was about four hundred and ninety years before Christ, the name of the true God was more generally known among the heathen; and the translating the Sacred Writings into Greek, by the command of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, about two hundred and eighty-five years before the Christian era, spread a measure of the light of God in the Gentile world which they had not before seen. Add to this the dispersion of the Jews into different parts of the Roman empire, after Judea became a Roman province, which took place about sixty years before the advent of our Lord; and we may consider these as so many preparatory steps to the conversion of the heathen by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And to this last general illumination of the Gentile world the psalmist must allude here, when he speaks of “the heathen fearing God’s name, and all the kings of the earth his glory.”

and all the kings of the earth thy glory – which may be supplied thus, either "all the kings of the earth shall see thy glory", or shall fear thee because of "thy glory"; the glory of Christ's person, as the Son of God; the glory of his offices, as Prophet, Priest, and King; especially the glory of his kingly office, to which that of the kings of the earth is not to be compared; the glory of his works of creation, providence, and redemption; and as it will be held forth in the Gospel. The earth will be fulled with the glory of the Lord, Psa 72:19  And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. and will be so remarkable and conspicuous as to be taken notice of by the kings of the earth when the glory of the Lord shall be risen in Zion, will come to the brightness of it, and look upon it, and admire it, and fear because of it, Isa 60:1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. Rom 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Php 2:10-11  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

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Psa 102:16  When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.

When the Lord shall build up Zion – The psalmist may throw himself into the future, and - standing there - he may describe things as they will appear then - as already done. In the purity of Gospel truths, ordinances, and worship; in the number of converts; in the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God upon them; in their peace, prosperity, unity, and spirituality; and in the presence of Christ with them, who will be seen in all the glory and majesty of his kingly office; he will now reign before his ancients gloriously.

He shall appear in his glory – The idea is that the building up of Zion would be an occasion in which God would manifest his glory. In reference to the restoration of his people from bondage; in rebuilding Zion, then in ruins; in restoring the splendor of the place where he had been so long worshipped, he would display his true character as a God of glory, truth, power, and goodness. As applied to the church in general, this would mean that when God comes to revive religion, to visit his people, to recover them from their backslidings, to convert and save sinners, he appears in his appropriate character as the God of his people - as a glorious God. Then the perfections of his nature are most illustriously displayed; then he appears in his true character, as a God of mercy, grace, and salvation. There is no scene on earth where the character of God is more gloriously exhibited than in a revival of true religion.

When the Lord shall build up Zion – It is such a difficult thing, so wholly improbable, so far out of the reach of human power, that when God does it, he must manifest his power and glory in a most extraordinary manner.

Psa 102:17  He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

He will regard the prayer – literally, “He looks upon,” or “he ‘turns himself’ to their prayer.” He does not any longer seem to turn away from them and disregard them. He shows by thus building up Zion that he does regard prayer; that he hears the supplications of his people.

Of the destitute – literally, “of the poor.” The word, according to its etymology, means “naked;” then, poor, stripped of everything, impoverished, wholly destitute. It would thus be eminently applicable to the poor exiles in Babylon; it is as applicable to sinners pleading with God, and to the people of God themselves, destitute of everything like self-righteousness, and feeling that they have nothing in themselves, but that they are wholly dependent on the mercy of God.

And not despise their prayer – Not treat it with contempt; not pass it by unheard. This is stated as one of the reasons why the nations would be struck with awe - that God, the infinite God, would hear the prayers of those who were so poor, so powerless, so friendless. There is, in fact, nothing more suited to excite wonder than that God does hear the prayer of poor, lost, sinful man.

and not despise their prayer - not reject it with contempt and abhorrence; more is intended than is expressed: the meaning is, that he will receive it with pleasure, and return an answer to it; the prayer of these poor destitute ones is delightful to him,  Pro 15:8  The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.

 

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