Old Testament - Psalms 102-103 - August 22, 2022

 8/22/2022 – PSALMS 102-103

Psalm 102  is labeled as “a prayer of the afflicted, when he is over-whelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord.” This man describes himself: his “days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread…my bones cleave to my skin….I am as a sparrow alone…Mine enemies reproach me all the day; they that are mad against me are sworn against me….My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.”

After this very sad picture he gives the Lord, he then praises the Lord and asks for the Lord’s mercy. In v’s 15 & 16 he speaks of when the Lord will come to earth in His glory. In v 26 he expresses his testimony that the Lord “shalt endure”, and then he continues that the Lord can change us all…for the Lord “shall have no end”. And he ends with the sure knowledge that “the children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee.”

We knew we would have hard times in this earthly trial, but we also knew that our Lord would be there to help us --not to always save us from our trials, but to always help us to learn from our trials, while we experience the calmness He can put in our hearts and our minds. It is up to us to simply go forward and ponder on what we learn and how we grow. 

My mother’s glimpse into her coming to earth and her crying out to those that had accompanied her to this earth, saying “you said it would be such a short time”! And yet those people who accompanied her here were now leaving her. And that’s when she heard from someone else, now close to her: “Hush, little one”. The Lord is eternal. We need to remind ourselves that our time here in the midst of eternity is ‘such a short time’. 

Psalms 103 is placed nicely after the man in 102 cried for help through his suffering. David wrote this psalm. David asks the Lord to bless him, and forgive him for his iniquities.  David testifies the he knows the Lord will “redeemeth thy life from destruction;…and crowns thee with lovingkindess and tender mercies.”  He goes on to speak of the Lord’s righteousness, and they the Lord has “made known his ways unto Moses”. The texts we have of Moses’ teachings, are the very things that will bring us closer to the Lord if we will work toward that goal.  He also speaks of the Lord’s mercy which can heal our fears. (10-11) That mercy is everlasting, and all we have to do to receive that blessing is to keep His covenants and His commandments.  And at the end of this psalm, David turns his prayers to bring specific blessings upon this, His Heavenly Father. That is how a child should love his parents—on earth and in heaven.


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