Oct-16-0535-The weakness of man and the strength of God
535_The weakness of man and the strength of God Psalm 102:1-7 Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you! 2 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! 3 For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. 4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread. 5 Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh. 6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places; 7 I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop. Vs. 25-28 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 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, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end. 28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you. Some years ago, a pastor recounted visiting a dear member of his congregation in the hospital. She had been battling cancer for a long time. Her body had grown frail, her strength nearly gone. Yet, as he sat beside her, instead of words of despair, she smiled faintly and whispered, “Pastor, I am weak, but He is strong. I cannot even lift my hands, but I know the Lord is carrying me.” Those words stayed with him far longer than the details of her illness. They were a testimony that even in our most fragile moments, God upholds His children. Psalm 102 is a testimony much like this. It poured from the heart of someone who had come to the end of himself. The superscription describes it as “A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD.” Far from having life figured out, the psalmist felt abandoned, attacked, and forgotten. But then he discovered once again that the eternal God is strong when man is weak, and he sustains His people. The opening is a plea of desperation: “Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you!” (v.1). The psalmist cries out, asking God not to turn away from him in his day of distress. For he has nowhere else to turn. He paints a vivid picture of his suffering in verses 3 to 7. His days vanish like smoke, his bones burn like fire, his heart withers like grass, and he forgets to eat his bread. He feels like a lone sparrow on a housetop. Sparrows are small and insignificant, but they usually live in flocks. A solitary sparrow perched on a rooftop is the picture of vulnerability and sadness. Such moments occur when we feel disconnected, unseen, in the rush of life. In verse 8 he laments: “All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me