Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

A. THE AUTHORSHIP OF THIS PSALM—It is another of the fifty anonymous psalms.

The superscription says it is “A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord,” but it does not identify the afflicted one.

B. THE NATURE OF THIS PSALM—It is “a Prophetic-Messianic Psalm” (a psalm which at the time of its writing was prophecy to be fulfilled by the Messiah at the time of His first advent).

The Psalmist, whoever he was, no doubt speaks words which reflect his own afflictions and sufferings but he is led by the Holy Spirit to speak words which go beyond his own experience to reflect the afflictions and sufferings of Christ during the last few hours of His life here on the earth.

Scholars list this psalm as one of the seven (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143) “Penitential Psalms” but really psalm 102 is not a penitential psalm.

C. THE THEME OF THIS PSALM—The consolation given to Christ in the midst of His overwhelming afflictions

[Roy E. Gingrich, The Book of Psalms (Book Four) (Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing, 1995), 24.]

Unfading life is found in the afflicted Son of God.

We shall see that this is the comfort of this psalm.

It is ‘a prayer of an afflicted person’, in principle any believer who ‘has grown weak’, by which each of us may ‘pour out a lament before the LORD’.

But we shall see that, before it becomes your prayer or mine, it is the prayer of the Son of God.

[Christopher Ash, Teaching Psalms: A Christian Introduction to Each Psalm, ed.

Jonathan Gemmell and David Jackman, vol.

2, Teach the Bible (Ross-shire, Scotland; London: Christian Focus; PT Resources, 2018), 210.]

Sometimes the troubles of this life can feel overwhelming.

We feel weak and unable to stand under the load.

Such was the case for the author of Psalm 102, as the title indicates: “A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed,” The title also indicates the best way of working through those feelings of being overwhelmed—it comes when he “poureth out his complaint before the LORD.”

Honest prayer is a key to moving from being overwhelmed to being an overcomer in life.

[Mark D. Futato, “The Book of Psalms,” in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 7: The Book of Psalms, The Book of Proverbs (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2009), 323.]

Body:

I. Pour Out Your Problems Before the Lord (Ps.

102:1-11)

[Go Slow]

A. Call on Him to Intervene (Ps.

102:1-2)

When the load of life’s troubles gets so heavy that we feel we have no strength to go on, there is a path to renewed strength and confident living.

That path begins by calling on the Lord to intervene (Ps.

102:1–2), coupled with honestly pouring out our problems before him (Ps.

102:3–11).

There will be days of distress; in those days, we call on the Lord to intervene.

“Lord, hear.…

Listen.…

Hide not Thy face.…

incline Thine ear, and answer me speedily” (Ps.

102:1–2).

Days of distress are days when we cry out to God to respond quickly to deliver us from the distress.

[Futato, 323.]

When I fancied that I stood alone I was really in the ridiculous position of being backed up by all of Christendom.

~ G.K. Chesterton

[Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 621.]

B. Face Your Problems Honestly Before Him (Ps.

102:3-11)

Metaphorical and literal language are combined in a powerful outpouring of problems in Ps. 102:3–11.

The language is that of illness: “My bones are burned as an hearth.…

I forget to eat my bread.…

my bones cleave to my skin” (Ps.

102:3–5).

Death seems to be imminent, as the psalmist’s days “are consumed like smoke” (Ps.

102:3) and his days pass “like a shadow that declineth” (Ps.

102:11).

Added to illness is isolation.

The psalmist likens himself to a lonely [pelican or] owl sitting far off, isolated from community in a desolate place.

In the middle of sleepless nights, he is like a lonely [sparrow] on a rooftop.

Then there is the animosity directed toward him by the “enemies” who have disdain for him and not compassion.

Most painful, however, are the feelings of abandonment by God: “Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down” (Ps.

102:10).

The psalmist was sick in heart as well as in body.

And he let nothing go unspoken in prayer.

From his example, the Holy Spirit teaches us to pour out our problems before the Lord with complete candor.

[Futato, 324.]