Read Psalm 102:1-11. 1Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you! 2Do 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! 3For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. 4My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread. 5Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh. 6I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places; 7I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop. 8All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse. 9For I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink, 10because of your indignation and anger; for you have taken me up and thrown me down. 11My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
The psalmist is suffering, not because of his sin, but for reasons either unknown or unmentioned. Often our seasons of depression and discouragement can feel the same. The question why am I feeling this way can go without an answer, and there may be no end in sight, no problem to solve or situation to get out of.
The repeat emphasis on the day or days may be the only hope in these opening verses.
In the DAY of my distress.
My DAYS pass away like smoke.
All the DAY.
My DAYS are like an evening shadow.
If we can just make it through this day. Have you ever felt or thought that? I wonder if Jesus prayed this psalm from the cross on his worst day. Good Friday. The Lord did hide his face from Christ that day. Jesus was taken up on the cross and thrown down to the grave.
Where does this leave us on our worst of days? In Christ all the suffering described here will be reversed, just as it was at the empty grave. Until that final Day may we know that we are never alone in our despair. Christ has been there and will meet us there again.
To live is Christ is to join all those whose prayers and cries of lament are carried by Jesus himself into the presence of our Father.
You: Have you ever had a day when you felt totally alone and rejected?
You in Christ: How does union with Christ allow us to face our worst days?
Christ in you: How can you let Christ go through your worst days with you?
Prayer. Jesus, in your undeserved suffering your cries were not heard on the cross, but you went through that sorrow for me so that I might go through it with you. Let me be there for others too as they face days of great despair. Amen.
To Live is Christ 