Distressed?

Psalm 102


Psa 102:1 A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you!
Psa 102:2 Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call!
Psa 102:3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.
Psa 102:4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread.


Does this sound like one of your days recently. Have you been in soo much distress that you have even forgot to eat? This is where David is as he is writing this psalm. Grief often destroys the appetite, and the neglect of food tends further to injure the constitution and create a yet deeper sinking of spirit.

once again I am placed in awe of how Spurgeon says it.

"As the smitten flower no longer drinks in the dew, or draws up nutriment from the soft, so a heart parched with intense grief often refuses consolation for itself and nourishment for the bodily frame, and descends at a doubly rapid rate into weakness, despondency, and dismay."

The case here described is by no means rare, we have frequently met with individuals so disordered by sorrow that their memory has failed them even upon such pressing matters as their meals. I know for me that's a big thing to forget so when I find myself so deep in grief that the simple pangs of hunger go unnoticed. What is mere man to do?


Psa 102:5 Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh.
Psa 102:6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places;

I'm lonely and disheartened and forsaken by others to the point where I am living in the "desert." This depression is nearly to depths that a person can go to. When you are not welcomed and hated by others where can you turn?

Psa 102:7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
Psa 102:8 All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse.
Psa 102:9 For I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink,
Psa 102:10 because of your indignation and anger; for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
Psa 102:11 My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.

But wait! It gets worse? Wow the pain in his heart is astounding, its almost hard to read about. is there anything worth taking from this psalm? Well yes actually... even at this point in the psalm. The first thing to take form this is that the Lord listens to grief, pour out your heart to him, all the sadness all the pain, He is willing to listen. Compared to what David was going through you might have it pretty easy. The second is listen to the grief that King David has for his people as they were not in a right relationship with God. It is the worst place to be. but his grief comes with a plea for God to show His might to the nations

Psa 102:12 But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations.
Psa 102:13 You will arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come.
Psa 102:14 For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust.
Psa 102:15 Nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
Psa 102:16 For the LORD builds up Zion; he appears in his glory;
Psa 102:17 he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.
Psa 102:18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
Psa 102:19 that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
Psa 102:20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die,
Psa 102:21 that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise,
Psa 102:22 when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
Psa 102:23 He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.
Psa 102:24 "O my God," I say, "take me not away in the midst of my days-- you whose years endure throughout all generations!"
Psa 102:25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.
Psa 102:26 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,
Psa 102:27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.
Psa 102:28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.

Direct praise to the ultimately powerful God is the only appropriate response to His rescuing mercy. Which David pours out in the next psalm, Ill get to that one later on. So in the end of the matter, Direct your pleas and prayers as well as praise to the Lord who hears all our deepest needs, and is there as a comfort for our grief.

once again as always
striving to be more like Christ
Scott M.