Psalm 102:1-28
102:1-2 It is one of the loveliest elements of life as a child of God: prayer for His presence is always answered with yes. An emphatic, immediate yes. To ask God to hear is to invite God to answer. His answers are steadfastly life-changing, circumstance-breaking, and heart-healing.
102:3-7 The Psalmist was in deep distress. His days were dark and his bones weary; his heart hurt. He felt so trampled by life that he lost sight of his faith, the bread that is the word of God. And without firm faith, his circumstances were all the more troubling. He felt lost and deserted.
So much of life has changed since this Psalm was written, but humans are very much the same. We experience the same weariness and depression. We allow fear and doubt and pain to steal our faith and then are left in a worse situation. But like the Psalmist, we can pray to God. For although we walked away from our faith and feel lost, God has always known where we are. He comes to us and rescues us from those weary places every time. Rescue, in those dark places, can feel impossible because hopelessness takes over our emotions. But all things are possible with God, Matthew 19:26.
102:8-11 Surrounded by enemies and ashes and tears, the Psalmist was ready to blame anyone. But we must not blame God because our God is good. Our free will and the free will of others sometimes leads us into places we would rather not be, but God brings us back from those places when we ask Him to... when we follow Him out of there. When we obey His commands to turn and walk and change. From a withered state He causes us to bloom.
102:12-17 From those withered places, reflect upon the might of God. The eternal length and strength of His heart. For contemplation of Him reminds us of the whole picture. It reminds us to see the details of His plans as they unfold around us and change the world around us.
Like the Psalmist, contemplate the ultimate plan. The plan of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. The reconstruction of the order of life here in which justice and righteousness are foremost. The arrival of the Lord to regard the meek and impoverished and wearied.
102:18-22 Scripture: written for a generation yet to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord. Our faith, spoken to and shared with others, exemplified in our behavior throughout life, enables generations to come to love the Lord. To know Him and to have their lives rescued and changed by Him. Because of this, our, God the prisoner is released. The weary are strengthened. The hungry are fed. The harmed are healed. The lost are rescued.
As His faithful children we gather together in praise to serve the Lord. The more and more-often we do so, the more and more-often humanity and earth are healed.
102:23-28 Generations of souls are born and generations pass, but God is eternal. The earth changes but the heavens remain the same. Our creation has established righteousness forever. His hands executed the intricate details of His own design. The science that animated the universe and earth. The science that animated our own hearts and souls. And so as we are born, we hear Him and follow Him and join generations passed in praise of Him.
