Homilist Psalm 102:1-28 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come to you. I. THOUGHTS OF COMPLAINT (vers. 1-11). 1. Concerning bodily sufferings. (1) The physical anguish of life (ver. 3). (2) The terrible brevity of life (ver. 11). 2. Concerning mental sufferings. "I am in trouble." "My heart is smitten," etc. His mental anguish destroyed his appetite for food, made his bones "cleave" to his "skin," and to mingle his drink with tears. Such is the connection between the mind and the body that a suffering mind will soon bring the body to decay and death. One dark thought has often struck down a stalwart frame. 3. Concerning social sufferings (ver. 8). The coldness, the calumny, the envy and jealousy of our fellow-men cannot fail to strike anguish into the heart. 4. Concerning religious sufferings (ver. 10). Moral suffering is the soul of all suffering. "A wounded spirit who can bear?" II. THOUGHTS OF COMFORT (vers. 12-28). These thoughts refer to God. 1. His existence amidst all the changes of earth (ver. 12). 2. His anticipated interposition on behalf of mankind (vers. 13-18). (1) It is fixed — a "set time." (2) It is conditional (ver. 14). "Seek, and ye shall find," etc. (3) It is glorious (ver. 15). (4) It is prayer-answering (ver. 19). (5) It is always rememberable (ver. 18). 3. His past kindness towards the suffering (vers. 19-22). 4. His unchangeableness amidst all the mutations of the universe. (1) Men change, but He remains the same (vers 23, 24). (2) The universe changes, but He remains the same (vers. 25-27).The universe had an origin and is destined to have a dissolution. It had an origin. "Of old hast Thou laid," etc. This account of the origin of the universe contradicts atheistic eternalists and sceptical evolutionists. It will have a dissolution. "It shall perish." Dissolution, in fact, is a law of the organized universe. Both the origin and dissolution of the universe are attributable to One Personality. "Of old hast Thou laid." The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews applies this to Christ, therefore to him Christ was Eternal God. One Being created all, one Being will dissolve all. This One Personality remains unalterable from the origin to the dissolution of the universe. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD.} Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. |
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