Devotional Short Note on Psalm 102: Exile. We have to mention this word since everything in the Psalm is breathing the results of the exile. In fact the Psalm is echoing thoughts and phrases that Jeremiah used in Lamentations after the exile. Jeremiah was a lover of the five books of Moses and the book of Job, also written by Moses and in Lamentations Jeremiah cited from Job a number of times. This Psalm is also connected to Moses through Job and other passages of Moses in the other five books. But here is the problem: this person is about 40 years old and is praying that the Lord will not let him die in the middle of his life. Who can that be? This person has the Hezekiah agony in 102:25, he does not want to die – now. Many of us walk today with the same agony. “O God take me not in the middle of my years”. The other hint in this psalm is the phrase in 102:14 “for it is time to be gracious unto her [remnant exiled] for the appointed time is come”. Jeremiah talked about 70 years exile and grace will come back. Lamentation 5:13 mentioned the “appointed time” as well, after the exile started. But who can this person be? Jeremiah and Daniel would have been too old after 70 more years to be concerned to be taken away in the middle of their years? Yet the Psalm cited Lamentations in almost every verse. Also the metaphors from the zoology book of those days, is common in Lamentations 4:3 “like a jackal” etc. but in this psalm three birds are used: pelican for his loneliness (102:7a), owl for his love of destitute places (102:7b) and the watching sparrow on the rooftop (102:8b). The Arabs called the owl: “mother of ruins”. It seems very fitting here. So who is it? It may be Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah who continued his “tradition” or “theology” after his death by citing from his book Lamentations or citing from the book of Jeremiah, thus also leaning heavily on Job and other books of Moses. Normally the scribes were young men in service of the master. About 40 years old? I would choose Baruch the son of Neriah (Jeremiah 45:1). The last time we heard of Jeremiah is between 562 to 560 BCE with king Evil-Merodach. Until the clay tablets of Evil-Merodach were discovered in the mid-1850’s we had no other evidence that such a king existed. “Dead men do tell tales”.

The psalm is a prayer of the “afflicted” (102:1) which compares to Jeremiah’s Lamentations 1:9c “see O Lord my affliction”. He almost “fainted” (102:1b) compares to Lamentations 1:14d “He has made my strength fail”. He wants God to hear his prayer (102:2) compared Lamentations 3:56. Similar to Lamentations 1:13 and Job 30:30 this psalmist tells of his bones “are burned as a hearth” compared to Lamentations 1:13a “He sent fire into my bones”. His heart is “smitten like grass” (102:5a) and in Lamentations 1:20c “my heart is overturned”. Again he mentions how his bones cleave to his flesh, a sickly situation also mentioned by Job 19:20. Regardless of the Hittites between the 16^th centuries to the 12^th centuries that the gods set or establish the days for you, this concept that God has a program and schedule and plan for each one is as old as Adam after the fall (Genesis 3:15). The action predicted of the Messiah included back then a time schedule at least in the Trinity’s program.

His enemies laughed at him (102:9) similar to Lamentations 1:9e-f “for the enemy has magnified himself” and 1:21 “all my enemies have heard of my calamity, they are glad that You have done it”.

He tried a charcoal therapy which is common for illnesses here in the Orient among Seventh-day Adventists. I was skeptical at first but really it works. Once a wasp stung me in the kitchen and immediately my wife applied a pulp of charcoal on it and believe it or not, one hour later there was not even a sign of trauma or feeling of a problem. They also drink it for the stomach, flu and other detox reasons. “For I have eaten ashes like bread” (102:10). Also Job in 2:8 took a potsherd, scratched himself “and he sat down in the middle of the ashes”. According to the Jewish tradition, the ash would absorb the discharge from his wet and oozing boils.

“My days are like a lengthening shadow, and I am withered like grass” (102:12) which means there is speed in the days remaining for him. One can see the shadow move. Also in Lamentations 5:19.

Contrasting the timeliness of mankind, is the kingship of the Lord who “sits forever and Your remembrance is unto all generations” compared to Lamentations 5:13 where the identical sentence appears but the only difference is that instead of “Your remembrance” Jeremiah used “Your throne [kisak]”. The link with Jeremiah is very strong but as we said, he was too old to qualify for been not taken away in the middle of his life. Thus Baruch.

“For it is time to be gracious unto her, for the appointed time is come”. God appointed with Jeremiah 70 years and then restoration and this person knows about that and that the time is near, close to 539 BCE. Lamentations 1:15c also talks about the appointed time.

The condition of the exile is “stones” and “dust” (Psalm 102:15). Notice that the restoration the Psalmist has in mind here is not the temporal restoration in the time of the Persians, but the absolute Eschaton one, “and all the kings of the earth Your glory” (102:16). The glorious appearing is in the end of time and the prophets are full of this glorious and great day, awesome and bright. At that time “when [kȋ]” the Lord has built spiritual Zion, “He has appeared in His glory” (102:17b). Joel gave a long description of the glory of that day and so did Habbakuk 3. At that time in the Second Coming, Christ would have turned the situation for the destitute around (102:18).

It is not for the Psalmist time since he was consulting a book with prophecies and he said: “This shall be written for the generation to come” (102:19). The future generations and those living at the End of Times need to know that “a people which shall be created, shall praise the Lord” (102:19b). A spiritual and faithful remnant is the product of the salvation tool of the Trinity working together. This is their creation.

Why? “For He [Trinity] has looked down from the height of His sanctuary, from heavens did the Lord cause to consider [literally for hibeth] the earth.” This is the solution of God. Also in Lamentations 3:50 is the same concept. That solution is Incarnation of Christ and the Jesus Agenda or Messianic program in Luke 4:18-19 which is cited by Christ from Isaiah 61:1-3 strung together with Isaiah 29:18 and Isaiah 58:6. Jesus did not use what is not eschatology and made it His new eschatology. Protestants are in error here. Jesus acknowledged what He and the Spirit of God built into the psalmist (102:21) and Isaiah’s passages just mentioned originally to be interpreted that way. Messianic.

For what purpose was this great agenda of Christ? For witness, mission and testimony to others in order to be evangelized (102:22). The ultimate goal of this evangelization process is that at the Second Coming “men may tell of the name of the Lord in [spiritual] Zion and His praise in [heavenly] Jerusalem”.  “In the gathering of peoples together and the kingdoms to serve the Lord.” All the saved in the Lord are together at Resurrection, together transported, together in heaven assembled before the Lord. Great day.

From this future glance in the prophetic book at the psalmist disposal he look inward at his present own condition at the end of the exile “He [Satan] weakened his [translators are wrong here since it is the 3^rd person singular personal pronoun as suffix added to the verb. It refers to Adam] strength in the way [of the Lord]”. As a result of Adam’s fall, God pronounced the death order and woman subordinism of the Headship theology. This death pronouncement “He [God] shortened my days”.

Since death has come by one man, Adam and through him to all men so that all die and their lives are shortened [from eternal life to just a temporal lifespan] the psalmist experiences the Hezekiah agony that he may die prematurely (102:25). We are temporal but God is eternal.

The next verse (102:26) was treasured by Paul in Hebrews 1:10-12 also. That God is creator of the earth and heavens. The heavens and earth is not everlasting, sorry Buddhism or uniformatism, “they shall perish” (102:27). James also like this verse in James (1:17).

God is eternal with no end (102:28).

After the Second Coming “the children of Your servants shall dwell securely and their seed shall be established before You” (102:29).  

There is one outstanding item: In 102:19 the Psalmist is using a special form for the name of the Lord, Yahweh. He said that his name is Yah. Period. Where is Yehovah then? Are people now going to open a Yah-witnesses denomination? If Yah is permissible in the Old Testament as a name for Yahweh then puritanic claims about the name of God is maybe just esoteric attempts. God had many names, short forms and long forms. Vowels were completely absent so that we have no way to say exactly how it was pronounced except modern guesswork. The Psalmist says: “(it = the people created) shall praise Yah”.