Sunday, 16 August 2020 Psalm 102
“Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure;” Psalm 102:25-26
As many of the Psalms are an outpouring of the heart when overwhelmed, Psalm 102 is one of its kind. The writer is troubled with afflictions within and without and his only means is to pour out his heart before his Maker, probably the only One who can understand his pain and suffering.
As the Psalmist pleads to the Lord to deliver him from his afflictions, he also describes his condition in figurative language- “days consumed like smoke; heart stricken and withered like grass; I am like a pelican in the wilderness; an owl of the desert; like a sparrow alone on the housetop..” (Psalm 102:3-7). We can quickly relate to these common day images which are used to drive home the point of the intensity of his suffering and the lonesomeness he feels in the midst of it.
Proverbs 14:10 says, “Each heart knows its own bitterness...” There are times when we think no one could understand or relate to the turmoil of the soul. In our extreme sense of dejection, the only way is to look to the One who went to the cross alone— no one better understands the magnitude of our loneliness and suffering except Christ Himself who cried out to the Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt.27:46). Hence there is hope for the suffering today- your Saviour who shares in your pain! “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction…” (2 Cor.1:3-4)
Our key verse points to the permanence of God against the transience of His creation! This applies to both man and all other creation. Nothing lasts! The Psalmist realizes that his life too is only for a short time, while he tells God, “Your years are throughout all generations.” (Ps.102:23,24). When we realize how helpless we are- how we are not in charge of our destiny (as some wrongly think), it makes us all the more run to God who is permanent and take refuge under His wings! He is from everlasting to everlasting—the one who is faithful through all generations. His purposes and promises cannot change! The Psalmist again emphasizes in verse 27: “But You are the same, and Your years will have no end.” The everlasting God who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17) is our stay during our times of trouble!
In these unsettled times, we are living in, surrounded by the pandemic and probably ruffled by situations that bring anxiety, a weighing down of the heart and maybe suffering of some kind, let us learn to pour our heart before the Lord and see His hand working even in these tough times. Remember: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever! (Hebrews 13:8)- would you put your trust in Him who can empathize with you in your suffering, can comfort you in your afflictions and sustain you through the “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3), He has provided for you? Cheer up! The Everlasting God is your refuge!
Promise: “… because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
Listen: ‘From Everlasting to Everlasting’