Psalms 102:1-4

Psalm 102 ¹ 

The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.

102:1 O Lord, hear my prayer!

Pay attention to my cry for help! ² 

102:2 Do not ignore me in my time of trouble! ³ 

Listen to me! ⁴ 

When I call out to you, quickly answer me!

102:3 For my days go up in smoke, ⁵ 

and my bones are charred like a fireplace. ⁶ 

102:4 My heart is parched ⁷  and withered like grass,

for I am unable ⁸  to eat food. ⁹ 

[102:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 102. The psalmist laments his oppressed state, but longs for a day when the Lord will restore Jerusalem and vindicate his suffering people.

[102:1]  ² tn Heb “and may my cry for help come to you.”

[102:2]  ³ tn Heb “do not hide your face from me in the day of my trouble.” The idiom “to hide the face” can mean “to ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “to reject” (see Pss 29:7; 30:7; 88:14).

[102:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “turn toward me your ear.”

[102:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”

[102:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew noun מוֹ־קֵד (mo-qed, “fireplace”) occurs only here, in Isa 33:14 (where it refers to the fire itself), and perhaps in Lev 6:2.

[102:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “struck, attacked.”

[102:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “I forget.”

[102:4]  ⁹ sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.