Psalms 102:17-28: a reflection

17He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer. 18This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise the LORD, 19for he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, the LORD saw the earth, 20to hear the groans of the prisoner, to free those who are condemned to death, 21that men may declare the LORD’s name in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem, 22when the peoples are gathered together, the kingdoms, to serve the LORD. 23He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days. 24I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the middle of my days. Your years are throughout all generations. 25Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands. 26They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed. 27But you are the same. Your years will have no end. 28The children of your servants will continue. Their offspring will be established before you.”

In the midst of a psalm of deep affliction, the writer lifts his eyes to a comforting truth about God: He has regarded the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer. God looks down from heaven, the psalm says, to hear the groans of the prisoner, to set free those condemned to die. The high and eternal God, whose years have no end and who laid the foundations of the earth, stoops to hear the cry of the lowest, the destitute, the prisoner, the dying.

Notice who this great God attends to: the destitute, those with nothing, those the world overlooks. The psalm holds together God's immense greatness, he endures when heaven and earth wear out like a garment, unchanging, his years without end, and his tender attention to the lowly, hearing the groans of prisoners, not despising the prayer of the poor. The God so great that the universe is passing before him does not despise the prayer of the destitute.

That is a deep comfort when we feel we have nothing to bring to God, when we come to him empty, low, and destitute. This God does not despise such prayers; he regards them, hears them, stoops to the cry of the lowest. You need not come to God impressive or full; the prayer of the destitute is precisely the one he does not despise. When you feel you have nothing to offer, when you come to God empty and low, remember: he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise it. The great, eternal God stoops to hear the cry of the lowly, and he will not turn away yours.

Lord, in his affliction the psalmist took comfort that you regard the prayer of the destitute and do not despise it, that you stoop from heaven to hear the groans of the prisoner and the cry of the lowest. When I feel I have nothing to bring you, when I come empty, low, and destitute, remind me that these are the very prayers you do not despise. You are great beyond measure, enduring when heaven and earth wear out, your years without end, and yet you attend to the lowly. I need not come to you impressive or full. Hear the prayer of this destitute heart, and thank you that you will not turn it away.