A Walk Through Psalm 102[1]

 

Copyright © Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. (January 14, 2025)

All Rights Reserved

Wells McBogtash  (Editor)

 

“In time of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; All of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing, You will change them and they will pass away.  But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end”  (Psalm 102:25-27).

 

For the purveyors of pop-prophecy, these verses serve to foster their ultimate hope and desire, namely, “the Destruction of the Universe.”[2]  Since the destruction of the universe is always right around the corner for them, this Psalm is all about us and our current day and age. Cary Schmidt thinks that the Psalm’s movement “from present distress to far-future glories” means that we are “close to the rapture.”^[3] Paul Macisker, sees the desperation, suffering, and imprisonment in the earlier part of the Psalm as referring to either the “Jewish Holocaust during World War II,” or  “the Great Tribulation, after the Antichrist invades Israel.” ^[4]  Sometime after that, the prophecy pundits’ dreams will come true, and God will finally destroy the world He created back in Genesis one.

Given the Psalm’s function and purpose, such an interpretation is disjointed and out of place. Like the rest of Psalm 102, these verses reach no farther back into history than the time of the exile. From there, the Psalmist then looks forward to the time of restoration after the return from exile – which would be eclipsed only by the greater restoration in the time of Christ.

As the Psalmist journeys from present distress to future deliverance, let’s take a walk through Psalm 102.

 

The Psalm of the Weeping Prophet

Known as The Prayer of an Exile,^[5] this Psalm’s “center of Gravity”[6] is  “the crushing reality of exile” coupled with the hope of “divine deliverance.”^[7]  Written against the backdrop of the Babylonian captivity, Psalm 102 reflects “what God’s people were experiencing when they were exiles, displaced from Jerusalem and under the authority of pagan rulers.”^[8]

As the Psalm progresses, the Psalmist’s perspective progresses as well. His own lonely voice increasingly becomes the voice of the community. As the perspective progresses, so does the theme as the Psalmist moves from exile to expectation.  Looking to the future, “the return from the captivity” is cast as “a new beginning.”^[9]

Given the exilic setting of Psalm 102, prominent figures of that era like Daniel, Nehemiah, or Jeremiah are commonly suggested as the author.^[10]  Of the three choices, Jeremiah best fits the profile.^[11]  Known as “the weeping prophet,” he clues us in right away with his own signature style. The Psalm opens with these words:

 

“Hear my prayer, Lord! And let my cry (shavah) for help come to You” (Ps. 102:1)

 

So, the unnamed Psalmist leads off with a petition for the Lord to hear his “cry” (shavah).  This is a rare word in the Old Testament, occurring merely 11 times.  Significantly, in the period leading up to and including the exile, it’s unique to Jeremiah alone. During this time, “cry” (shavah) appears only in Jeremiah 8:19 and Lamentations 3:56.  With that said, the echo of Lamentations 3:56 in Psalm 102:1 is impossible to miss:

 

“Do not hide your ear from my prayer for relief, from my cry (shavah) for help” (Lam. 3:56).

 

As Bellinger points out, it’s “not surprising” to find “connections between Ps 102 and the book of Lamentations.”^[12]   Accordingly, John Goldingay notes that this is especially true regarding Lamentations chapter 3.[13]  The genre of Lamentations is poetry while the Psalms were meant to be sung.[14]  This being the case, Psalm 102 is very much Jeremiah’s poem put to music. As we follow him on his journey through Psalm 102, we’re also listening to his song.

 

The Song of the Lonely Bird

Another clear connection to Lamentations is seen as the Psalmist compares himself to a lonely bird[15] – a trademark of Jeremiah:

 

“I am a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the ruins.
 I lie awake, I have become like a solitary bird on a housetop” (Psalm 102:6-7).

 

“My enemies have without reason hunted me down like a bird; They have silenced me in the pit and placed a stone upon me” (Lam. 3:52-53).

 

In and of itself, the Psalmist’s solitude here is an additional textual hint pointing to Jeremiah as the author.  This beautiful Psalm, parsed with present sadness and future joy, seems to have been composed by one left behind in the ruins of the devastated city rather than one taken to Babylon.

As Stephanie Goldsmith reminds us, while Nebuchadnezzar’s forces took many “prisoners to Babylon,” they left  “the poorest of the people” behind “to care for the land”^[16] (2 Kg. 25:11-12).  Like so many of his countrymen, Jeremiah was bound in chains and taken to Ramah (north of Jerusalem) to be processed for deportation (Jer. 40:1). But given the choice, he willingly remained behind with the poorest of the land (Jer. 40:4-8).  The picture of an “owl of the ruins” (Ps. 102:6) comports well with the picture of the remnant in Judah (Jer. 40:11).

 

Smoke, Bones, and Shadows

In addition to the lonely bird imagery of verses 6-7, other pictures painted in the opening stanza of Psalm 102 point to the trauma of living out the rest of one’s life in the rubble that remained. The author’s days have been “consumed in smoke” (Ps. 102:3a) – a fitting description of Nebuchadnezzar’s forces burning Jerusalem to the ground:

 

“And he burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire” (2 Kg. 25:9).

 

The pain that had befallen his people and his city cuts to the core: “And my bones have been scorched like a hearth” (Ps. 102:3b).  This imagery recalls the words of another prophet of the exile, Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 24, the Babylonians lay siege to Jerusalem (Ezek. 24:1-2), and the city becomes the fireplace where the Judeans’ bones are burned up (Ezek. 24:10). Jeremiah witnessed it all, and he felt it – right down to his own bones.

After saying his days are “consumed in smoke” in verse 3, the Psalmist’s days “are like a “lengthened (tsel)  shadow (na’tah)”  in verse 11. This is more stock vocabulary pointing to the exile as the context, and Jeremiah as the author.  In Jeremiah 6:1-6, the prophet warns of the impending destruction of Jerusalem. He calls for the sons of Benjamin to flee to safety (Jer. 6:1) as “evil looks down from the north” and brings “great destruction” (Jer. 6:3).  The “siege against Jerusalem” (Jer. 6:6) comes as the shadows lengthen:

 

“Prepare war against her! Arise, and let us attack at noon.  Woe to us, for the day declines, and the evening shadows (na’tah) lengthen (tsel)” (Jer. 6:4).

 

Notice how Jeremiah reverses the word order – “shadows lengthen” (Jer. 6:4) vs. “lengthened shadow” (Ps. 102:3).  In a previous article, I discussed how inverting a quotation was a common rhetorical device during this period in Israel’s history.[17] It was a poetic way to “echo back” to an earlier text.[18]

In verse 11, Jeremiah is echoing back to his own writings and reminding the reader that he had foretold it all.  Throughout the Psalm, he is very much lamenting the fact that his words have come true.  Just as he grieved over the withering grass of Judah, as she fell into the sins that caused the grass to wither (Jer. 12:4; 14:6), Jeremiah himself would also “wither away like grass” (Ps. 102:11).

Next, his own withering frailty is juxtaposed with God’s abiding strength, as Jeremiah turns his attention from the reality of exile to the hope of restoration.

 

Jeremiah Plots a New Course

The contrast between the “I” of Psalm 102:11 and “you” of Psalm 102:12 telegraphs “a dramatic shift in the psalm.”^[19]  The focus moves from the Psalmist to the Lord Himself.  Nonetheless, this shift in focus isn’t accompanied by a shift in style.  Jeremiah’s contrast here, between man’s temporal nature and God’s eternal nature, is nearly identical to his words in Lamentations 5:19:

 

“But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations” (Ps. 102:12).

 

“But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations” (Lam. 5:19).

 

In the verses that follow, the change in direction broadens even further while Jeremiah’s literary style remains intact. True to form and following the shape of Lamentations, Jeremiah’s lone voice now becomes the voice for the community.[20] But, it’s not the present community for whom he speaks.  It’s the community of the future.

 

Dust, Stones, and Restoration

In the next stanza of verses, Jeremiah moves forward in time from the dust of the Babylonian exile to the restoration of the Persian period.^[21]

 

“Thou wilt arise and have compassion on Zion; For it is time to be gracious to her, For the appointed time has come. Surely Thy servants find pleasure in her stones, and feel pity for her dust. So the nations will fear the name of the LORD, And all the kings of the earth Thy glory. For the LORD has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory” (Psalm 102:12-16).[22]

 

Dust is a common word in the Old Testament, and it basically means exactly what it says – dust. But Jeremiah is very specific here in referring to “her dust,” and the “her” in this context is Zion. This again echoes the prophet’s own words in Lamentations and highlights the exilic context.

In Lamentations 2, the “elders of the daughter of Zion” sit in silence on the ground throwing “dust on their heads” (Lam. 2:10).  The pity found in  Zion’s “dust” is contrasted with the “pleasure” to be found in her “stones,” in the first half of Psalm 102:14. This anticipates the rebuilding of the temple after the return from exile. Ezra speaks of “ the house of the great God” being “built with great stones” (Ezr. 5:8), and the new temple having  “three layers of huge stones” (Ezr. 6:4).  You could say, the Israelites really did …“build back better!”

Verse 15 of Psalm 102 continues this look forward in time.  It’s a look forward to the time when the nations will fear the name and glory of the Lord (Ps. 102:15). The restoration after the exile is clearly in view – as Jeremiah’s words loop in with the events of Esther. In the book of Esther, Esther and Mordecai successfully secure the right of their people to defend themselves, and as a result we’re told: “many from the peoples of the earth declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them” (Esth. 8:15). The word “many” (rav) means “much, abundant, exceedingly great, more numerous than.”[23] In short, this was no small victory, and the fear of the Lord spread throughout the entire Persian Empire.

From the dust of Zion, to the stones of the temple, to the victory in the streets of Persia, these verses take us on a trek from the exile to the restoration. From here,  the restoration theme kicks into high gear.

 

Israel’s Trek: The Next Generation

After declaring the Lord’s name will be remembered throughout “all generations” (Ps. 102:12),  Jeremiah opens the final stanza of Psalm 102 with words written for “a generation to come” (Ps. 102:18a ESV).  This sounds a bit open-ended in the ESV.  What generation to come? Is it just any generation? How can we know?

Actually, the phrase is a bit more specific than this, and in every other occurrence the ESV captures the meaning … “the next generation” (Deut. 29:22; Ps. 48:14; 78:6). In other words, Jeremiah is now speaking to the generation after the return from exile – the generation born during the restoration. And his message for “the next generation” begins in verses 19-20:

“He looked down from his holy height; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise,  when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord” (Ps. 102:19-20).

 

Again, Jeremiah’s purpose here is to ensure that the generation after the exile never forgets what  happened to the generation of the exile.  And again, we need to remind ourselves that the Psalms were songs – and songs get memorized.

In this way, verses 19-20 are very much Jeremiah’s song lyrics to help “a people yet to be created” retain their history and “praise” their God (Ps. 102:18b).  To compose these lyrics, Jeremiah borrows a few lines from a previous prophet. He mentions “prisoners” once “doomed to die” being “set free” (Ps. 102:20).  Our lyricist is harkening back to Isaiah’s prophetic promise to the exiles:

 

“The exile will speedily be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking” (Isa. 51:14).

 

This isn’t unlike the modern practice of song sampling. Musicians often incorporate the work of previous artists into their own songs to pay homage to those who’ve influenced them. While one can still enjoy the new composition without knowing the earlier song, it’s way more meaningful when we do. Tracking on the original text, the next thing Isaiah does is peer further into the future and explain how God will use the returning exiles in the next phase of redemptive history. This next phase is cast as a new beginning – a new creation:

 

“And I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’” (Isa. 51:16).^[24]

 

Accordingly, Jeremiah works this part of it into his own lyrics, as well:

 

“In time of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands” (Ps. 102:25).

 

To put this all into perspective then,  Isaiah prophetically speaks to the generation of the exile concerning God using them in the restoration process.  Starting in Psalm 102:18, Jeremiah prophetically speaks to the generation after the exile as they look back upon this redemptive act. The redemptive act itself is poetically characterized as an establishment of the heavens and a founding of the earth. This redemptive act was, specifically, the return from exile and the restoration of Jerusalem. Isaiah expands upon this same theme in his later chapters:

 

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing, and her people for gladness” (Isa. 65:17-18).

 

Richard Middleton reminds us that these verses are part of Isaiah’s prophetic “visions of God’s renewal of people and land after the exile.”^[25]  Middleton cautions against “ forcing” such imagery “into a preconceived (literalistic) mold”  and encourages us “to discern the theological claims undergirding this imagery by interpreting it with sensitivity to its context.”^[26]  Indeed, context is the key in understanding the imagery.

 

De-Creation and Re-Creation Imagery

As explained in a previous article,^[27] the original creation becomes a template to frame the Biblical writers’ narrative in parsing judgment and restoration. Genesis 1 is about God bringing order out of chaos. As Charles Spurgeon put it,  “God was preparing chaotic matter to make it a fit abode for man.”^[28]  From there, the creation of the physical world itself becomes a metaphor to describe the devastation of sin and the restoration of redemption.

This doesn’t mean that the Genesis creation account wasn’t a real event. It was. The prophets’ metaphorical language is on the right-hand side of a non-reciprocating equation, and you can’t plug it back into the left-hand side. This would be reverse engineering the Bible.  If you don’t like Math, think of it this way: reading the metaphor back into Genesis 1 would be like trying to unbake a cake. The events of Genesis 1 are the ingredients that flavor the language in other parts of Scripture.  Those real ingredients color the real consequences of sin and the real need for reconciliation in the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others.

In the poetic language of the prophets then, a return to sin is a return to chaos – and is spoken of in terms of de-creation.  On the flip side, a return to the Lord is a return to order – and is spoken of in terms of re-creation. This still holds true in the New Testament, as Paul tells the believer: “If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).  Jesus Himself says, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5).

Eventually, the redemptive order set in motion by the return from exile would give way to this final redemptive order to be set in motion by Christ. Jeremiah telegraphs this to his readers as well.  Regarding the heavens and earth of the Second Temple Period, he says, “Even they will perish, but Thou dost endure” (Ps. 102:26).

The rebuilt temple of the Restoration would ultimately be replaced by the true temple of New Covenant salvation. That final temple is Christ in us and us in Him (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19-10; Rev. 21:22). This is where we come in.  As believers in Jesus Christ, and participants in His perfect and final redemptive order, we are the children of His servants who “continue” and their “descendants” who are “established” before Him (Ps. 102:27-28) – long after the heavens and earth of the Second Temple Period perishes and wears out like a garment (Ps. 102:26) – as the first temple did.

 

A Brief Walk Back Through

Written during the exilic period, this Psalm’s author was most likely the prophet Jeremiah. Like Jeremiah’s other works, it continues to speak and have meaning throughout “all generations” (Ps. 102:12). His lament over Judah’s devastation should prompt us to lament the devasting effects of sin in our own lives. It should prompt us to seek the Lord – that  He might bring us out of chaos and into the order and stability of a renewed relationship with Him. It should prompt us not to repeat the mistakes of God’s people in the past and to live for the one who’s name will always last (Ps. 102:12).

Most importantly, as members of the new and complete temple in God’s final redemptive order, it should prompt us to worship Him![29] Remember, the Psalms were songs. Here is Psalm 102 by an RPCNA choir. Listen…and sing along.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTMLrserFW0

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Many thanks to Daniel Calma, Brett Prieto, Daniel E. Harden, Abe Kline, Jan Logsdon, and Jordan Grant for reviewing the early draft of this article and for their helpful comments and suggestions. A very special thank you to a very special person who catches many of my mistakes but wishes to remain anonymous!

[2] https://www.wordexplain.com/lastuniverse.html#:~:text=Psalm%20102%3A25%20states%20that,coming%20destruction%20of%20the%20universe

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-E5kYJ69RA

[4]https://endtimebible.com/commentary/psalm102/#:~:text=This%20psalm%20represents%20a%20prophetic,after%20the%20Antichrist%20invades%20Israel

[5] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20102&version=NCB;KJV

[6] John Goldingay, Psalms Volume 3: Psalms 90-150 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), p. 160.

[7] W. H. Bellinger, Jr., “Lament and Theology in an Exilic Setting,”  in Robert L. Foster and David L. Howard, ed., My Words are Lovely: Studies in the Rhetoric of the Psalms (New York/London: T&T Clark, 2008), p. 154.

[8] https://www.ccef.org/psalm-102-paraphrased-and-updated-0

[9] Allen P. Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms: Volume 3 [90-150] (Grand Rapids, MI: Kegel, 2016), p. 220 .

[10] https://rhemafamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Psalm-102-NIV.pdf

[11]  For a nice survey of similarity of language found in various Psalms and the writings of Jeremiah, see:  William L. Holladay, “ Indications of Jeremiah’s Psalter,”  Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 121, No. 2 (Summer, 2002), pp. 245-261.

[12] Bellinger, Ibid. p. 153.

[13] Goldingay, Psalms Volume 3, p. 161.

[14] As David Chilton once reminded us: “Historically, the basic hymnbook for the Church has been the Book of Psalms. The largest book of the Bible is the Book of Psalms, and God providentially placed it right in the  middle of the Bible, so that we couldn’t miss it! Yet how many churches use the Psalms in musical worship? It is noteworthy that the Church’s abandonment of dominion eschatology coincided with the Church’s abandonment of the Psalms” (Paradise Restored: A Biblical Theology of Dominion [Tyler, TX: Dominion Press, 1985], p. 8).

[15] See: Fiona C. Black, “A Bird on the Roof: Trauma and Affect in Psalm 102,” in Ehud Ben Zvi, Claudia V. Camp,

David M. Gunn, and Aaron W. Hughes, ed., “POETS, PROPHETS, AND TEXTS IN PLAY: Studies in Biblical Poetry and Prophecy in Honour of Francis Landy (New York, NY: T&T CLARK Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015), p. 91.

[16] Ibid.,

[17] Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr., “Mordecai or the Millennium? Ancient History, Pop-Prophecy, and the Meaning of Zechariah 8:23 (Part 2: The Words of Peace and Truth)” https://burrosofberea.com/mordecai-or-the-millennium-ancient-history-pop-prophecy-and-the-meaning-of-zechariah-823-part-2-the-words-of-peace-and-truth/

[18] Ibid.

[19] Goldingay, Psalms Volume 3, p. 166.

[20] Goldingay, , Ibid, p. 161.

[21] Goldingay, Ibid.

[22] Goldingay notes: “The context indicates that the qatals here refer to the time when the events (vv. 13–15) look forward to have actually happened, when Yhwh will have built up Zion and appeared, turned, and not despised. Thus the LXX translates v. 16 as future. At the moment it is in a literal sense an open question whether these events will take place, but the psalm continues to operate with the absolute conviction that they will. Speaking as if they have already happened is another way of expressing that conviction, and thus of leaning on Yhwh” (Psalms Volume 3,  p. 169).

[23] Entry for רַב (rav) in Liddell-Scott-Jones.

[24] “I am putting my words in your mouth and with the shade of my hand I am covering you, in planting heavens and founding earth and in saying to Zion, ‘You are my people’” (Isaiah 51:16) – as translated by John Goldingay (The Message of Isaiah 40-55: A Literary-Theological Commentary [New York, NY: T&T Clark International, 2005, p. 439).

[25] J. Richard Middleton, A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014), p. 109.

[26] Middleton, Ibid., p. 120.

[27] Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr., “Zephaniah at World’s End: A Modern Misunderstanding of an Ancient Motif” (June 6, 2024) https://burrosofberea.com/zephaniah-at-worlds-end-a-modern-misunderstanding-of-an-ancient-motif/

[28] Charles H. Spurgeon, “Election,” The New Park Street Pulpit, 6 vols. (Grand Rapids,

MI: Zondervan [1856] 1963), 1:311-322. No. 41-42, preached on September 2, 1855, on 2

Thessalonians 2:13-14 – Q: Gary DeMar, Prophecy Wars: The Battle Over the End Times (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2024), p. 316.  https://store.americanvision.org/collections/books/products/prophecy-wars-the-biblical-battle-over-the-end-times

[29] See: Douglas Comin, Worship: From Genesis to Revelation https://www.amazon.com/Worship-Genesis-Revelation-Douglas-Comin/dp/B00262IBB0