Psalm 102:23-28

Complaint of One in Great Trouble

He weakened my strength in the way, Yahweh reduced his vitality by having him removed into exile; He shortened my days, and with him the entire people of the exile seemed doomed to death.

V. 24. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days, death before the fulfillment of the average allotted life being considered a particularly severe punishment of the Lord; Thy years are throughout all generations, Yahweh’s eternity standing out over against the weakness and vanity of man’s life.

V. 25. Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth, His creative power therefore being able to work deliverance also in this extremity; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands, a product of His act of creation.

V. 26. They shall perish, namely, in connection with the great change which would take place on the Last Day, but Thou shalt endure, being established and changeless in the midst of the overthrow of the universe; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment, Is. 51, 6; 2 Pet. 3, 10; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed. Rev. 21. 1.

V. 27. But Thou art the same, the eternal and changeless “I am,” and Thy years shall have no end.

Because Yahweh is the eternal Lord, therefore the psalmist concludes with a confident statement, v. 28. The children of Thy servants shall continue, the Christian Church continuing from one generation to the next, and their seed shall be established before Thee, as the community of believers reserved to eternal life.

With this thought to sustain them, the Christians may cheerfully lift up their hearts to Yahweh, the God of their salvation. and trust in His deliverance.