Psalms 102:1

PSALM CII

The complaint and miserable state of the poor captives, 1-11;

the expectation of deliverance, 12-14;

the conversion of the heathen, 15-18;

the termination of the captivity, 19-22;

the great frailty of man, 23, 24;

the unchangeableness of God, 25-27;

the permanence of the Church, 28.

NOTES ON PSALM CII

The Hebrew, and nearly all the Versions, give the following title to this Psalm: A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his sighing before the Lord. There seems to be little doubt that this is the prayer of the captives in Babylon, when, towards the end of the captivity, they were almost worn out with oppression, cruelty, and distress. The Psalm has been attributed to Daniel, to Jeremiah, to Nehemiah, or to some of the other prophets who flourished during the time of the captivity. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews has applied the twenty-fifth, twenty sixth, and twenty-seventh verses to our Lord, and the perpetuity of his kingdom.

Verse Psalms 102:1. Hear my prayer] The chief parts of the Psalm answer well to the title: it is the language of the deepest distress, and well directed to Him from whom alone help can come.