Spiritual Medicine
Opening Prayer
O Lord, whatever should befall me, I know that I am still in the palm of Your hand, even in the valley of distress.
Read Psalm 102
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.
1 Hear my prayer, Lord;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;
I forget to eat my food.
5 In my distress I groan aloud
and am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food
and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath,
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;
your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written for a future generation,
that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship the Lord.
23 In the course of my life he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on through all generations.
25 In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
28 The children of your servants will live in your presence;
their descendants will be established before you.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“When worn with sickness, oft hast thou with health renewed my face; And, when in sins and sorrows sunk, revived my soul with grace” (Joseph Addison, 1672–1719).
Sickness and suffering are part of the life of almost every believer at some point. Rather than denying this, God’s Word gives us psalms like this to help us to deal with difficulty and maintain our relationship with the Lord at the same time. With gripping honesty, the psalmist pours out his symptoms before the Lord (3–11). The causes of his distress are physical, mental and spiritual. They seem to include fever (3), loss of appetite (4), weight loss (5), isolation (6) and sleeplessness (7). The taunts of his enemies (8) have added to his depression (9) and even caused him to wonder whether he is under God’s judgment (10) and will soon die (11). Have you ever felt something of this?
The only answer in times like this is to meditate upon the God whose ways we cannot always fathom. Flat on his back, the psalmist looks up to heaven. Though his days are numbered, God is eternal (12). He remains merciful (13) and willing to bless his people (13,14). Prophetically, he looks forward to the Gentiles coming into the future growing church (15,16,18)—to you and me! Whatever becomes of the writer physically, there will be others released from the bondage of sin and spiritual death (20), that they may join the worldwide community of praise (21,22).
Only towards the end of the psalm does the writer pray for healing (24). Maybe he feels that the lessons he has learned about God are more important even than health and life itself. That gives him confidence in the God who does all things well. That makes Psalm 102 a necessity for our spiritual “medicine cabinet,” a great resource for the day when we suffer too.
Apply
Verses 25 and 26 are applied to Jesus in Hebrews 1:10–12. Do verses 3–11 therefore anticipate Jesus’ suffering, especially at the cross?
Closing prayer
O Lord, I know that Your plan for me will work out in the long run. As the psalmist says, “Take me not away in the midst of my years” (24). Allow me to fulfill my earthly assignment.
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