Psalm 102: Temporal Struggle, Eternal Savior

"[The Lord] regards the prayer of the destitute

and does not despise their prayer." Psalm 102:17

Before I begin my devotional this morning, I want to state that these daily devotionals are not a replacement for your daily devotional reading. I call these "daily devotionals," but perhaps they could better be called "daily biblical insights from Matthew's devotionals." There is no substitute for spending time in the word for yourself and discovering what it has to say on your own, as well as making your own application. Furthermore, I encourage you all, if you have time (which you do), to read the passage of scripture that I am writing the devotional on before you read my devotional. Doing so will greatly improve the fruit that you bear from these devotionals. So STOP reading this devotional right now and go read Psalm 102. For those of you who are lazy, I'll even provide the link:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%20102&version=NIV

With all that being said, let me ask you a question: how many of you are struggling today? Now, when I speak of "struggling," let us right away blot out two extremes that people often go to. I'll let you determine for yourself which one you are more prone to. First, we have the forever-struggler. This is the guy who is constantly mopy, and whenever you ask him how he's doing, he answers: well, I'm not dead yet! Second, we have the never-struggler. This is the guy who is always happy, and whenever you ask him how he's doing, he answers: absolutely wonderful, I have the best life ever! Now, before you start laughing, let us acknowledge two things. Firstly, you were at least one of these people in the past week, if not both of them. I know that at least I have either overexaggerated my struggles or underexaggerated them in the past week, and I bet you have as well. Secondly, neither of these are biblical pictures. To be the first guy who is always mopy is to consider your struggles as so bad that you're unable to be helped, thus when someone reaches out to help you, you resist them, although they may be the solution to your problem. To be the second guy who is always happy is to stifle your struggles so that you don't portray a need to be helped, and thus no one offers to help you because you fool them into thinking you're okay. No matter which posture you turn more to, let us realize: we all struggle, we all need help, and thus we ought to name our struggles for what they are.

With all of that in mind, we read a psalm this morning written as "a prayer of one afflicted" (which we find from the inscription of the Psalm, which is inspired by the way). He starts out by addressing God in verses 1-2, asking the Lord to not hide his face from him. After this, he continues to describe his struggle, and it's pretty bad. I'd encourage you to read it for yourself in verses 3-11, but the one thing that stood out to me is that his struggle was so bad that he "forgot to eat" (v. 4). Have you ever struggled bad enough where you forget to eat dinner? I think I've been there once or twice, where my emotional sorrow outweighed my physical hunger. Nevertheless, the psalmist finds hope amidst this awful struggle by calling upon the Lord. He even tells the Lord directly that "it is the time" to deliver him (v. 13), that "the appointed time has come." Furthermore, the psalmist has confidence in the Lord's deliverance, because he knows that "he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer."

At this point in the psalm, let us stop and consider that he psalm here is contrasting the temporality of the struggle with the eternality of the Savior. After describing his struggle, the first thing that the psalmist says is that the Lord is "enthroned forever" (v. 12). Although his struggle is present, he knows that it is not eternal, because the only thing that is eternal is a Savior who has it in his nature to save!

Thus, the psalm continues to teach about how the Lord's salvation ought to be taught to further generations, all for God's great glory (v. 18-22). This portion of the psalm encourages us to tell our friends, neighbors, and coworkers about the salvation of the Lord, that they too might be delivered by him. Lastly, the psalmist ends by summarizing his words, speaking of how the Lord will cause to perish the earth just like the changing of a robe (v. 26-27). In other words, this world with we often sinfully hold so precious and dear, the Lord will destroy just as quick as we throw our daily outfit into the hamper and put on a new one. However, "[the Lord is] the same, and [his] years have no end." The earth and the struggles it contains are temporal, yet it's Creator Savior is not.

Here, we find a beautiful end the psalm, do we not? The Lord reigns forever, even over an earth that he will cause to perish in his wrath! But, let us note that this is not the end of the psalm! Observe verse 28: "The children of your servant shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you." What is the psalmist saying here? That not only will the Lord reign forever, but his children will reign forever with him! The Lord's great eternality he has "funnelled" to his children, thus, we will not fear though the mountains tremble, though the earth gives way, and when we are so sorrowful that we forget to eat our dinner, because our ultimate hope is not found in those things, but in the fact that if we are truly God's children, we will be with him forever, even after the Lord destroys his present earth. AMEN!

So, are you struggling today? Let me remind you, this psalm was written by one "afflicted." In other words, if you're struggling, this psalm was written directly to you. What are you struggling with today? Is it something small, perhaps a coworker at work who is making your job a pain? Perhaps a mental state that you can't find yourself able to shake? Or is it something big, perhaps the death of a loved one or a tribulation with a spouse? Either way, this word is for you today! The psalmist did not write to one "mildly afflicted" or "greatly afflicted," but merely to one afflicted! So, if "affliction" or "suffering," in any way, describe your circumstance today, stop overexaggerating or underexaggerating your struggles--call them what they are. Yet amidst them, proclaim the eternality of your Savior over the temporality of your struggle. For we know that if our Savior is eternal, that our salvation will be as well. AMEN!