Transience and Permanence

Psalm 102. The subtitle of the psalm says,

A prayer of one afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

It's a pretty descriptive title.

Did you use this one when it started with three?

It was 103.

I don't think it was 102, yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, I think we used 103 in the service maybe?

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, let me read it out loud.

It says,

Hear my prayer, Lord.

Let my cry come to you.

Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress.

Incline your ear to me.

Answer me speedily in the day when I call.

For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace.

My heart is struck down like grass and has withered.

I forget to eat my bread.

Because of my loud groaning, my bones cling to my flesh.

I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places.

I lie awake.

I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.

All the day my enemies taunt me.

Those who deride me use my name for a curse.

For I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink because of your indignation and anger.

For you have taken me up and thrown me down.

My days are like an evening shadow.

I wither away like grass.

But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever.

You are remembered throughout all generations.

You will arise and have pity on Zion.

It is the time to favor her.

The appointed time has come.

For your servants hold her stone dear and have pity on her dust.

Nations will fear the name of the Lord,

and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.

For the Lord builds up Zion.

He appears in his glory.

He regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.

Let this be recorded for a generation to come,

so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord,

that he look down from his holy height,

that from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

to hear the groans of the prisoners,

to set free those who are doomed to die,

that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord.

And in Jerusalem his praise,

when peoples gather together in kingdoms to worship the Lord.

He has broken my strength in midcourse.

He has shortened my days.

O my God, I say,

take me not away in the midst of my days,

you whose years endure throughout all generations.

Of old you lay the foundation of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you will remain.

They will all wear out like a garment.

You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away.

But you are the same, and your ears have no end.

The children of your servants shall dwell secure.

Their offspring shall be established before you.

Job 14, 1-2 says,

Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.

He comes out like a flower and withers.

He flees like a shadow and continues not.

It's kind of a sad outlook on life, right?

But even for those of us who seem to live charmed lives

with everything kind of going their way,

even they experience plenty of suffering

and heartache in this life,

in this short life that we live.

And sometimes the hardships of life

can leave us feeling hopeless and depressed.

And Psalm 102 really comes from the perspective

of someone that's in that kind of a place,

between a rock and a hard place.

That's why the title of this psalm says,

A Prayer of One Afflicted When He's Faint

and Pours Out His Complaint Before the Lord.

And the main message of the psalm

that the Lord is trying to teach us

is that the eternal life of God,

His will, gives us hope

in the midst of our temporary existence.

So like in the first section,

verses 3 to 10,

we see our transience,

our temporary fleeting nature of our life.

And then verses 12 to 22,

we see God's permanence,

His unchanging eternality.

And then in the last section,

we see that salvation offered towards Christ's salvation.

So 1 to 2 is kind of what introduces

the body of the prayer.

It's an introduction.

It says,

Hear my prayer, O Lord.

Let my cry come to you.

Do not hide your face from me

in the day of my distress.

Incline your ear to me.

Answer me speedily in the day when I call.

In the day of distress,

this is instructive for us.

Because in the day of distress,

when we are distressed,

instead of turning to our own resources,

instead of turning to other people,

other confidants for help and support,

the psalmist here is turning to the Lord

with an urge and cry for help.

And this is counterintuitive, right?

Because sometimes when feeling down or overwhelmed,

that's exactly when we don't want to go to God.

But here,

precisely when he feels the most needy,

when he's in distress,

he says,

when he feels abandoned by God,

that's exactly when the psalmist turns to him

and cries out to him all the more.

And then verses 3 to 11 give us the reason

for the psalmist's desperate prayer.

He describes his suffering this way.

He says,

For my days passed away like smoke.

My bones burned like a furnace.

My heart is struck down like grass and is withered.

I forget to eat my bread.

Because of my loud groaning,

my bones cling to my flesh

like a desert owl of the wilderness,

like an owl of the waste places.

I lie awake.

I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.

So he feels like he's this vapor,

like smoke that's just kind of vanishing into thin air.

He feels like he's about to fade into oblivion,

die and disappear.

And he seems to have some kind of physical illness as well.

So he says his bone feels like a furnace.

He's got fever.

He's downcast.

He's like a withered, burnt up grass.

And his suffering is so bad,

he forgets to eat.

And he's so thin now from not eating

that his skin is sticking to his bones.

And because in his days,

sickness was regarded often as a punishment for sin,

he's also being ridiculed and mocked and cursed

by those around him.

And his name is being used as a curse.

So he's facing not just physical suffering,

but also social suffering.

And so he feels like a lonely desert owl,

he says,

is being taunted.

But that's not the worst of it.

The worst of it all

is in verse 10.

Because of your indignation and anger,

for you have taken me up and thrown me down.

The psalmist believes in the sovereignty of God,

and because of that,

he feels that ultimately,

God himself is responsible for his suffering.

Because he's not outside of his control.

And that's what's most difficult for the psalmist,

because he trusts in God.

And this God in whom he trusts,

he's using his might,

he feels like,

to afflict him.

And so he feels deep sorrow,

maybe even a sense of betrayal.

And again and again,

in this section especially,

the psalmist highlights

kind of the fleeting nature of his life,

human existence.

He begins and ends with that,

that same idea and phrase.

In verse 3,

he says,

my days pass away like smoke.

Again,

in verse 11,

at the end he mentions,

my days are like an evening shadow.

Same thing in verse 4,

he says,

my heart is struck down like grass

and has withered.

And in verse 11,

he says,

I wither away like grass.

I mean,

you guys,

we've all seen grass before,

right?

And you,

grass springs up one day,

but another day,

it's cut down

or scorched by the sun

or it's frozen dead

another day.

It's a great picture

of fleeting existence.

And that's how the psalmist feels.

And this,

this kind of transience

of psalmist,

of human beings

is contrasted

in the next section

by the permanence

and eternality of God.

Verse 12 says,

but you,

so that's a contrast,

but you,

O Lord,

are enthroned forever.

You are remembered

throughout all generations.

So verses 1 to 11

were full of all these

first person pronouns,

right?

I,

my,

right?

But then in verse 12 to 22,

the focus is on the name

of the Lord.

The phrase name of the Lord

occurs twice,

verse 15 and 21.

And the word Lord,

which is the,

in Hebrew is actually

the proper name of God,

occurs seven times

in this section.

So I am dying,

you know,

my days are fleeting,

but the Lord reigns forever

and he will be remembered

and worshiped

through all generations.

That's the contrast

that's being drawn.

And this permanence of God

is what then becomes

the basis for the psalmist's

confidence and trust

as he continues

in his prayer.

So he says in verses

13 to 17,

you will arise

and have pity on Zion.

It is a time

to favor her.

The appointed time

has come

for your servants

hold her stones dear

and have pity

on her dust.

Nations will fear

the name of the Lord

and all the kings

of the earth

will fear your glory.

For the Lord

builds up Zion.

He appears

in his glory.

He regards

the prayer

of the destitute

and does not

despise their prayer.

So even though

that kind of

the first section

felt like a personal

individualistic song,

like here we see

the corporate dimension

because his suffering

is tied up

with the kind of

the destruction

of the people of God.

And so because

the city of God

is in ruins.

And because psalmist

knows that he belongs

to the people of God

and he knows

that God has made

a covenant

with his people

and promised

to come to their aid,

because of that

connection,

he feels confident

that the Lord

will come to his aid

because he will come

to the aid

of his people.

So even though

he feels like

God has abandoned him,

the psalmist knows

about the covenant

and that he knows

that God reigns forever.

And if God reigns forever,

that the city of God

where God has chose

to put his name

is not going to remain

in ruins forever.

So that's kind of

his logic.

God's not going to

leave this city

ruined forever

because it's his city

and he's still reigning.

He's still in power.

He's not been overthrown.

And so he trusts

that God will show

pity and favor

to his people.

So he continues

in verses 18 to 26,

Let this be recorded

for a generation

to come

so that a people

yet to be created

may praise the Lord

that he looked down

from his holy height

from heaven

the Lord looked

at the earth

to hear the groans

of the prisoners

to set free

those who are doomed

to die

that they may declare

in Zion

the name of the Lord

and in Jerusalem

his praise

when people

was gathered together

in kingdoms

to worship the Lord.

Because the Lord

reigns forever,

the psalmist

wants his words

to be written down

for future generations' sake

that they too

may worship the Lord

and because he knows

that Zion

will be restored

the city of God

and the prisoners

will be freed

and then once again

kingdoms all over the world

and all the peoples

of earth

will gather in Jerusalem

to worship the Lord.

And then

in the last section

23-28

the psalmist

summarizes

the entire psalm again.

So in 23-24

we see him

lamenting

his fleeting life again.

He has broken

my strength

in midcourse.

He has shortened

my days again.

Oh my God

I say

take me not away

in the midst

of my days

you whose years

endure throughout

all generations.

So he prays

that God

whose years

endure forever

would not shorten

his days.

But then

in verse 25-20

he turns his attention

again to God

and his permanence.

Of old

you laid the foundation

of the earth

and heavens

are the work

of your hands.

They will perish

but you will remain.

They will all wear out

like a garment.

You will change them

like a robe

and they will pass away.

But you

are the same

and your ears

have no end.

The children

of your servants

shall dwell secure.

Their offspring

shall be established

before you.

So even

the seemingly

permanent sky

and earth

will wear out

like a garment.

God will change

them like a robe.

They will pass away

but the Lord

remains the same.

And this is

a really helpful image

because we all

have clothes

that we have

outgrown

or that have

been worn out

that we've tossed.

Socks get holes

right where the toes are.

Jeans get holes

right around the knees

or the pockets

or shirts,

t-shirts get holes

under the armpits

or colors get

crinkled

or stained.

And we change

them out.

We change that

clothes.

That's what we do.

They get worn out

and we throw them out.

We change them out.

And that's what

heaven and earth

are like.

That's what

human beings

are like.

Our suffering

will pass.

Our circumstances

will change

and we will all

die.

But through it all

our God

will remain.

He reigns

forever.

He does not

change.

That's what we call

the immutability

of God.

He doesn't change.

That's an attribute

of God.

He's immutable,

permanent.

And a great

Dutch theologian

named Herman

Bavinck

puts it this way.

He says,

quote,

The doctrine

of God's

immutability

is of the

highest significance

for religion.

The contrast

between being

and becoming

marks the difference

between the creator

and the creature.

Every creature

is continually

becoming.

It is changeable,

constantly striving,

seeks rest

and satisfaction,

and finds this

rest in God,

in Him alone,

for only He

is pure being

and no becoming.

Hence,

in Scripture,

God is often

called the rock.

So when your life

is constantly

in flux,

when you're unsure

of how you're

going to make

it through the week

or through the day,

when you feel

out of control,

that's what's

helpful for us

to remember

that God

is unchanging,

that we are

becoming,

we are changing,

but the Lord

remains the same.

He's called

like,

I am the I am.

Yeah,

which is actually

what the Lord

is from,

right?

The name of the Lord.

And He's the same

yesterday,

today,

and forever

as Hebrews 13.

Jesus is too.

And that's

what gives us

hope,

right?

That the children

of God's servants

shall dwell secure.

Their offspring

shall be established

before God.

And the eternal reign

of God gives us hope

in the midst

of our temporary

existence.

And what's

fascinating is

that the last

couple verses,

verses 25 to 27,

are actually quoted

in Hebrews 1,

10 to 12.

And there,

interestingly,

these verses

which speak of God

are attributed

to His Son,

Jesus Christ.

And this is

because of the

early believer's

understanding of

the Son's role

in creation,

that He's the,

that Colossians 1,

16 says,

by Christ all

things were created

in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible.

So the author of Hebrews

takes Psalm 102,

Psalms 102:25–27

verses 25 to 27,

which says,

of old you lay

the foundation of earth

and the heavens

are the work of your hands.

And then they apply

it to Jesus,

saying He's the one

who is like this,

who remains forever,

same yesterday,

today, and forever,

as it says in Hebrews.

And that's how

this Psalm really

points to Jesus

for us

as we have this,

I guess,

perspective

from,

as a new covenant

people.

It's that Jesus,

as the Father

gave it to Him

to have life in Himself.

So Jesus has life,

the eternal life

of God in Himself

as John 5,

26 says.

And whoever believes

in the Son

has eternal life,

right,

as John 3,

36 says,

right.

And that's the life

that He imparts to us

and He's able

to impart

this eternal life

because there's

that tension,

right,

of our,

that contrast

between our

temporary existence

and God's

forever existence.

And there's a tension

of how come we

as God's people

can't,

if God reigns forever,

how come we die?

How come we suffer?

How come we fade?

And that tension

is resolved in Jesus

because He's the one

that brings eternal life

to God's people,

to resurrection life

by dying for our sins

so that we might

live forever.

and it's,

and that should

give us hope

as we live

in this fleeting existence

in a life

that is few

and full of suffering

that we remember

that God has offered us

this eternal life,

resurrection life

in Jesus

and that should

give us hope

as we live.

Let's think about that

and then

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