SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/4/2012 7:23:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 102 PT-1
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 102:1-11
Message of the verses: In Today’s SD we will begin to look at Psalm
102 by looking at several introductions to the psalm by different Bible
commentators and then begin to look at the psalm.
“SUBJECT.
This is a patriot’s lament over his country’s distress. He arrays himself in
the griefs of his nation as in a garment of sackcloth, and casts her dust and
ashes upon his head as the ensigns and causes of his sorrow. He has his own
private woes and personal enemies, he is moreover sore afflicted in body by
sickness, but the miseries of his people cause him a far more bitter anguish,
and this he pours out in an earnest, pathetic lamentation. Not, however, without hope does the patriot
mourn; he has faith in God, and looks for the resurrection of the nation
through the omnipotent favour of the Lord; this causes him to walk among the
ruins of Jerusalem, and to say with hopeful spirit, "No, Zion, thou shalt
never perish. Thy sun is not set for ever; brighter days are in store for
thee." It is in vain to enquire into the precise point of Israel’s history
which thus stirred a patriot’s soul, for many a time was the land oppressed,
and at any of her sad seasons this song and prayer would have been a most natural
and appropriate utterance.
“TITLE. A prayer of the afflicted,
when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord. This
Psalm is a prayer far more in spirit than in words. The formal petitions are few, but a strong
stream of supplication runs from beginning to end, and like an under-current,
finds its way heavenward through the moanings of grief and confessions of faith
which make up the major part of the Psalm. It is a prayer of the afflicted, or
of "a sufferer," and it bears the marks of its parent age; as it is
recorded of Jabez that "his mother bore him with sorrow," so may we
say of this Psalm; yet as Rachel’s Benoni, or child of sorrow, was also her
Benjamin, or son of her right hand, so is this Psalm as eminently expressive of
consolation as of desolation. It is scarcely correct to call it a penitential
Psalm, for the sorrow of it is rather of one suffering than sinning. It has its
own bitterness, and it is not the same as that of the Fifty-first. The sufferer
is afflicted more for others than for himself, more for Zion and the house of
the Lord, than for his own house. When he is overwhelmed, or sorely troubled,
and depressed. The best of men are not always able to stem the torrent of
sorrow. Even when Jesus is on board, the vessel may fill with water and begin
to sink. And poureth out his complaint before the LORD. When a cup is
overwhelmed or turned bottom over, all that is in it is naturally poured out;
great trouble removes the heart from all reserve and causes the soul to flow
out without restraint; it is well when that which is in the soul is such as may
be poured out in the presence of God, and this is only the case where the heart
has been renewed by divine grace. The word rendered "complaint" has
in it none of the idea of fault-finding or repining, but should rather be
rendered "moaning," — the expression of pain, not of rebellion. To
help the memory we will call this Psalm THE PATRIOT’S PLAINT.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“The
non-specific superscription is unique to this psalm which highlights the
thoughts of one who is afflicted (cf. Pss 22, 69, 79, 102, 130, 142), perhaps
expressing exilic lament (cf. Pss 42, 43, 74, 79, 137). Like Job, whose troubles were not the result
of God’s judgment for personal sin, the psalmist cries out in pain. His only relief comes from refocusing on
sovereign God and His eternal purposes.
Messianic over are present as Heb. 1:10-12 quotes Ps 102:25-26.” (The John MacArthur Study Bible)
“This is
both a penitential psalm (see 6) and a Messianic psalm (vv. 25-27 = Heb.
1:10-12). The anonymous author probably
wrote it long after the destruction of Jerusalem (vv. 8, 14, 16), about the
time he thought Jeremiah’s prophecy of the seventy-year captivity was about to
be fulfilled (v. 13; Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10 see Dan. 9:2). According to the title the psalmist was
afflicted and faint (61:2; 77:3; 142:3; 143:4) and burdened to present his
complaint (‘Lament,’ N(V) to the Lord.
He was groaning in distress (vv. 2, 5) and weeping over the ruins of
Jerusalem (v. 9). His opening prayer in
verses 1-2 draws from a number of other psalms, giving us an example of what it
means to pray the Word of God. (See 18:16; 27:9; 31:2; 37:20; 59:16; 69:17:
88:2.) As believers face and deal with
painful crises that come to us, if we are to overcome and glorify God, we must
keep three assurances before us.” (Warren Wiersbe)
The Changing Circumstances of Life (vv.
1-11): “1 ¶ «A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint
and pours out his complaint before the LORD.» Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let
my cry for help come to You. 2 Do not
hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In
the day when I call answer me quickly. 3
For my days have been consumed in smoke, And my bones have been scorched
like a hearth. 4 My heart has been
smitten like grass and has withered away, Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of the loudness of my groaning
My bones cling to my flesh. 6 I resemble
a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places.
7 I lie awake, I have become like a
lonely bird on a housetop. 8 My enemies
have reproached me all day long; Those who deride me have used my name as a
curse. 9 For I have eaten ashes like
bread And mingled my drink with weeping 10
Because of Your indignation and Your wrath, For You have lifted me up
and cast me away. 11 My days are like a
lengthened shadow, And I wither away like grass.”
As one of the commentators said
this psalm reminds me a bit of the book of Job in that there is much distress
and suffering by the psalmist just as there was by Job.
Dr. Wiersbe
quotes the Greek philosopher Heraclitus in his commentary on this psalm, and he
is credited with saying “There is nothing permanent except change.” Sometimes changes are good and sometime
changes are bad, but change is something that takes place in our lives from the
time we are born until the time that we die.
It is good to serve a God who does not change, who is always the
same. We read in the 7th
chapter of Jeremiah that the people of Judah did not believe that God would
have Jerusalem destroyed, would not allow His people to be taken into
captivity, would not allow His temple to be destroyed, and yet it happened all
of it happened.
Dr. Wiersbe
writes the following about change: “There
are the normal changes of life, from birth to maturity to death, but there are
also providential changes that God sends for our good and His glory.” As already stated God does not change, but it
is good for us to change and to have the providential changes that God brings
into our lives for without them we would all end up in the place that was prepared
for the fallen angles. Paul writes that
we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and yet God can bring
about a change in our hearts and in our eternal destination because of what
Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross.
Dr. Wiersbe
goes on to write “The psalmist recorded his personal plight in a series of
vivid pictures. With his days as flimsy
and temporary as drifting smoke, and his frame burning with fever (31:10; 32:3;
42:10), he was like a man in a furnace.
His heart was like the cut and withered grass paining him so much that
he forgot to eat. When he did eat, the
food tasted like ashes and his drink like tears. Therefore, he became a living skeleton that could
only groan because of his wretched situation (v.5). He compared himself to the unclean birds that
lived solitary lives amid the ruins of the city. He was awake all night, a lonely man, like a
sparrow bereft of his mate and chirping his lament on the roof. It was as if God’s hand picked him up and
threw him on the trash heap, like a piece of discarded junk. Like the evening shadows as the sun goes down
his life kept changing, but his days had
no substance. Then the darkness fell
and the long hard night lay before him.”
This is not a pretty picture that is painted here for the psalmist. 7/4/2012 8:26:41 AM
7/4/2012 1:16:19 PM
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I know that many people do not like change,
but I think that we all need to change, and what I am talking about is good
change. Let’s look at the kind of change
that, as believers in Jesus Christ we need to go after. Here is our ultimate goal: “For those whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the
firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans
8:29) Here is where we started from “for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
How do we get from the place where we started to the place where we need
to get to? “But grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now
and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2Peter 3:18); “Study to show yourself
approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth.” (2Tim. 2:16) Heb 10:25
not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” “2Co 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of
the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” I am sure that there are many more verses
that I could look at, but I hope that this will stimulate others to dig for
more.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: I desire to stay close to the
vine so that I can learn more about my Lord and Savior and to learn what He
desires me to accomplish for the cause of Christ.
Memory verses for the week:
2Peter 1:1-4
1.
Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus
Christ,
To
those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness
of
Our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in
the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3. seeing that His divine power has
granted to us everything pertaining to life and righteousness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4. For by these He has granted to us His
precious and magnificent promises, so that by them we may become partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
7/4/2012 1:37:24 PM
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