18 This will be written for the generation to come, That a
people yet to be created may praise the LORD.
19 For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary;
From heaven the LORD viewed the earth,
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those
appointed to death,
21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, And His praise
in Jerusalem,
22 When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms,
to serve the LORD.
Today we will finish our thoughts on Psalm 102 by looking
at verses 23-28. We have mentioned how this anonymous psalmist was probably
writing Psalm 102 in between the time of the captivity in Babylon and the
rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem and the restoration of the people back in
the land. He was despondent, he was discouraged, he was overwhelmed with
affliction, and as the title says, he poured out his complaint to the Lord.
In verses 1-11, it's “me, me, my, my, and I, I. He was
looking at himself and his problems and at the difficulties the nation was
facing at the time, and he was very discouraged. But then in the middle verses,
12 through 22, he looks up and sees Jehovah and remembers that he has a
covenant God who will not change. Yes, things change around him every day just
like for us, but God is an unchanging God. God’s covenant is everlasting, and
it does not change with the people of Israel. I like what the pastor and great
Bible expositor and commentator, Alexander Maclaren said: “Zion cannot die
while Zion’s God lives.”
In verse 23, the psalmist was afraid he would die in
mid-life and never see the restoration of Judah, Jerusalem, and the temple.
(See Isaiah 38:10.) The eternal God would remain forever, but frail humans have
only a brief time on earth (Psalm 90:1-12). Psalm 102:25-27) is quoted in
Hebrews 1:10-12 and applied to Jesus Christ, which reminds us that it is in Him
that these promises will be fulfilled. He is God and He is the same from
generation to generation (Heb. 13:5-8).
Leaders come and go, cities and buildings appear and
vanish, but the Lord is the same and never abdicates His throne. God's
eternality reminds us of our own frailty and the transitory nature of our
lives, but it also reminds us that His promises and purposes will be fulfilled.
The psalmist closed his prayer by remembering the future generations, for
though he did not see his prayer answered in his day, he knew that the answer
would come. May we today be concerned about God's work on earth and the future
generations who will serve Him after we are gone! May the future not weep
because we have not been faithful!
I thought you might enjoy reading Spurgeon’s summary of Psalm
102 from His commentary, The Treasury of David: “In the first part of
the Psalm, Psalms 102:1-11, the moaning monopolizes every verse, the
lamentation is unceasing, sorrow rules the hour. The second portion, from
Psalms 102:12-28, has a vision of better things, a view of the gracious Lord,
and his eternal existence, and care for his people, and therefore it is
interspersed with sunlight as well as shaded by the cloud, and it ends up right
gloriously with calm confidence for the future, and sweet restfulness in the
Lord. The whole composition may be compared to a day which, opening with wind
and rain, clears up at noon and is warm with the sun, continues fine, with
intervening showers, and finally closes with a brilliant sunset.”
This is a great prayer that should remind us today, that
despite how things might change in our lives and how we might feel, God is unchanging,
and we should keep “looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith”.
(Hebrews 12:2). And remember, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever” (Hebrews 13:8)!
God bless!
