The Context of Meditation

A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and pours out his complaint before the Lord.  Psalm 102 NASB Complaint – You’re praying.  You feel oppressed and downtrodden.  You acknowledge your total dependency on God. You’re weak; He’s strong.  You kneel before Him—His servant, His child.  And you complain? Before we tackle the noun “complaint” we…

Not So Obvious

A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and pours out his complaint before the Lord.  Psalm 102 NASB Before – A curious thing has happened in this verse.  The English order doesn’t follow the Hebrew order.  In Hebrew, the phrase “before the Lord” comes after “is weak (is faint).”  The Hebrew verse reads: “A…

Giving Up the Ghost

A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and pours out his complaint before the Lord.  Psalm 102 NASB Weak – Amazingly, our word “weak” isn’t found in the languages of Europe until the 12th Century.  I guess before that people never knew what it meant to be physically exhausted (No, probably not.  There are…

Under My Thumb

A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and pours out his complaint before the Lord.  Psalm 102 NASB Afflicted – The Hebrew word ʿānî comes from a root that means “to force,” or “to try to force submission,” and “to punish or inflict pain upon.”[1]  Here the noun describes someone who is feeling the…

Introductory Matters

Prayer of an Afflicted Man for Mercy on Himself and on Zion.  ­­­A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and pours out his complaint before the Lord.  Psalm 102 NASB Prayer – In the NASB, these two statements have no verse numbers.  They are treated as introductory summaries before the text of the actual…