Day 118 — Psalms 102 – 104

In making real and relatable to us the situations they address, the psalms should speak powerfully to us. They run the gamut of human experience, and in them we get to see real and God-honoring responses to those experiences.

Psalm 102 is an example from Scripture of one who has grown weak in affliction. Do you experience such times, or are you always strong in times of affliction? In his weakness the writer pours out a lament before the Lord. Note the words that describe his emotional state: distress, blighted and withered heart, no interest in food, groaning aloud, in a desolate place (that’s what the image of the owl is supposed to convey), lonely (like the bird on the roof), tears…. His emotional state is causing him physical pain. He feels thrown aside by God. Can you relate? As Christians, do we experience such times? If we do, should we be sharing that? The psalmist wanted his words “written for a future generation, that people not yet created may praise the Lord.” How did he get from lament to praise? He lifted his eyes to God. Note some of the things he wrote about God; could contemplating those have power to lift your sight above yourself in times of affliction and thus give you hope in God?

It’s easy to praise God for His greatness, but the writer of Psalm 104 does more by describing details about God’s greatness. I encourage you to contemplate what these all signify about God. That He wraps Himself in light, for example: think how impressive light can be, especially to a culture whose only source of light was the sun or a flame. Who can wrap himself in light like he wraps himself in a garment? What about each of the descriptions makes God great? Contemplating these can help one get to know God better.