By Rony Kozman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Samford University
God Is Eternal
Psalm 102:18–28
The authorship of this psalm is uncertain, though some scholars suggest it could have been written by one of the Old Testament prophets. Traditional Christian liturgy includes Psalm 102 among the seven penitential psalms, along with Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 130 and 143. These psalms express themes of contrition, repentance and reconciliation with God.
The title of Psalm 102 says it is the prayer of a person who is afflicted or suffering in some way and who is feeling weak and overwhelmed by circumstances.
The psalmist is pouring out his lament or concern before the Lord. The psalmist begins by asking the Lord to “hear my prayer” and “let my cry for help come before You” (v. 1). The psalmist then cries out for God to help him: “Listen closely” or “turn your ear to me,” the psalmist pleas. “When I call, answer me quickly” (v. 2).
In the early verses of the psalm, the psalmist is clearly in deep distress, taunted by his enemies day and night (v. 8). He groans aloud, for he is reduced to “skin and bones” (v. 5). He is in such agony that he does not even eat (v. 4).
He even says that this suffering is ultimately God’s doing: “Because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside” (v. 10). And later, he says of God, “In the course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days” (v. 23). In the course of his expressed agony, the Psalmist repeatedly voices the brevity of his own days: “my days vanish like smoke” (v. 3); “My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass” (v. 11).
In every generation, God rescues those who call to Him and serve Him. (18–22)
There is still hope, despite the psalmist’s current anguish. These words are written for a future generation. People who have not yet been born will praise the Lord.
God may be in His “holy heights” but He is not absent or distant.
He sees the suffering of His people and hears them when they call out to Him.
God endures and reigns through all generations. (23–25)
In comparison to his own days that vanish, fade and whither, the psalmist extols the enduring days of God: “But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations” (v. 12).
The LORD created the heavens and the earth, and while “they will perish” and “will all wear out like a garment” (vv. 25–26), God remains, remains the same and [His] years will never end” (vv. 26–27).
God is eternal, and His children will live with Him forever. (26–28)
Why does the psalmist appeal to God’s enduring and never-ending days?
The psalmist’s suffering is the suffering that he experiences with the people of God who are suffering from defeat and devastation at the hands of their enemies.
This is why the psalmist asks for God to “have compassion on Zion … for her stones are dear to Your servants; her very dust moves them to pity” (vv. 13–14).
The psalmist has confidence that “the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in His glory” and “respond to the prayer of the destitute” (vv. 16–17). In appealing to God’s eternal nature, the psalmist asks God to rescue his people from their fading ways so that his people may live before God and live in His presence forever.
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