Psalm 102:26 Komentář

Some think that David penned this psalm at the time of Absalom's rebellion; others that Daniel, Nehemiah, or some other prophet, penned it for the use of the church, when it was in captivity in Babylon, because it seems to speak of the ruin of Zion and of a time set for the rebuilding of it, which Daniel understood by books, Dan 9:2. Or perhaps the psalmist was himself in great affliction, which he complains of in the beginning of the psalm, but (as in Ps. 77 and elsewhere) he comforts himself under it with the consideration of God's eternity, and the church's prosperity and perpetuity, how much soever it was now distressed and threatened. But it is clear, from the application of Psa 102:25, Psa 102:26, to Christ (Heb 1:10-12), that the psalm has reference to the days of the Messiah, and speaks either of his affliction or of the afflictions of his church for his sake. In the psalm we have, I. A sorrowful complaint which the psalmist makes, either for himself or in the name of the church, of great afflictions, which were very pressing (Psa 102:1-11). II. Seasonable comfort fetched in against these grievances, 1. From the eternity of God (Psa 102:12, Psa 102:24, Psa 102:27). 2. From a believing prospect of the deliverance which God would, in due time, work for his afflicted church (Psa 102:13-22) and the continuance of it in the world (Psa 102:28). In singing this psalm, if we have not occasion to make the same complaints, yet we may take occasion to sympathize with those that have, and then the comfortable part of this psalm will be the more comfortable to us in the singing of it. A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 102 A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord; Whether this psalm was written by David, under a prophetic spirit, concerning future times; or whether by one of the Babylonish captivity, as Daniel, Nehemiah, Ezra, or any other; either just at the close of it, or upon their return from it; since it is said that "the set time to favour Zion was come", is not certain: however, since Zion was a type of the Gospel church, it may be very well applied to Gospel times; and the rather, since some passages in it are cited by the apostle in Heb 1:10 as to be understood of Christ: see Psa 102:25. The Syriac version calls it, "a prophecy concerning the new people, namely, the Gentiles in the faith:'' it is entitled, "a prayer of the afflicted", or "poor" (e); which Austin understood of Christ, who became poor for our sakes, and was afflicted of God and men. Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret it of the Jews suffering affliction in the Babylonish captivity; the former observes, that it was the opinion of some of their interpreters that this prayer was composed by some wise and understanding man that fell into the hand of his enemies. It may very well be applied to any afflicted person; all the people of God are more or less a poor and afflicted people; outwardly afflicted in body, in estate, and in their good name and character; inwardly with the corruptions of their own hearts, the temptations of Satan, and divine desertions; when it is a very proper time for prayer, Jam 5:13, and it is their privilege that they have a God of grace and mercy to pray unto, a throne of grace to come to at all times, a spirit of grace and supplication to assist them, and Christ their Advocate and High Priest, to present their petitions for them: and this everyone may do, "when he is overwhelmed"; pressed with the burden of sin, without a view of pardon, covered, as the word (f) signifies, with shame and sorrow for it; almost overset with, and ready to faint and sink under, afflictions, which like waves and billows roll over him; and at the same time is attended with much darkness and unbelieving frames of soul: "and poureth out his complaint before the Lord"; concerning his trials and afflictions, especially concerning the badness and haughtiness of his heart, the hardness of it, being so unaffected with providences, and under the word, and at the ordinances; concerning his leanness, barrenness, and unfruitfulness under the means of grace; his lukewarmness and indifference, his deadness and dulness in duty; his unbelief, distrust, and dejection of mind; as well as of the low estate of Zion, the little success of the Gospel, the few instances of conversion, and the unbecoming walk of many professors. Such a "complaint" as this, or "meditation" (g), which he has thought of and digested in his mind; or all that is in his heart, as Aben Ezra observes, "he pours out" which denotes enlargement in prayer, the abundance of his heart, out of which his mouth speaketh; the fulness of his petition, as also freedom of expression it signifies a a telling all one's mind, speaking out with great liberty; laying it in an humble manner before the Lord, before whom all things are naked and open, and leaving it with him, in entire submission and resignation to his will, to do as seems good in his sight.

But thou art the same,.... That hast created them, as the Targum adds; or "thou art he" (h), the everlasting I AM, the unchangeable Jehovah; immutable in his nature and perfections; in his love and affections to his people; in his power to protect and keep them; in his wisdom to guide and direct them; in his righteousness to clothe them, and render them acceptable to God; in his blood to cleanse them, and speak peace and pardon to them; in his fulness to supply them, and in his intercession for them, and thy years shall have no end; See Gill on Psa 102:24, now he, that made the heavens and the earth, and will be when they will not be, especially in the present form they are, must be able to rebuild his Zion, and bring on the glory he has promised; and from his eternity and immutability may be concluded the continuance of his church and interest in the world, until all the glorious things spoken of it shall be fulfilled, as follows. (h) "tu ipse", Pagninus, Montanus.

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. [Psalms 102:25-27] But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

In like manner David says, "The heavens, the works of your hands, shall themselves perish. For even as a garment shall he change them, and they shall be changed." Now to be changed is to fall from that primitive state that they lose while undergoing the change. "And the stars too shall fall from heaven, even as a fig tree casts its green figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind." "The mountains shall melt like wax at the presence of the Lord"; that is, "when he rises to shake terribly the earth." "But I will dry up the pools"; and "they shall seek water, and they shall find none." Even "the sea shall be no more." Now if any person should go so far as to suppose that all these passages ought to be spiritually interpreted, he will still be unable to deprive them of the true accomplishment of those issues that must come to pass just as they have been written. For all figures of speech necessarily arise out of real things, not out of chimerical ones; because nothing is capable of imparting anything of its own for a similitude, except it actually be that very thing that it imparts in the similitude. I return therefore to the principle that defines that all things that have come from nothing shall return at last to nothing.

Therefore the Image of the unalterable God must be unchangeable; for “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” And David in the psalm says of him, “You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They shall perish, but you remain; and they all shall grow old as does a garment. And you shall fold them up as a piece of clothing, and they shall be changed, but you are the same, and your years shall not fail.” And the Lord says of himself through the prophet, “See now that I, even I am he,” and “I change not.”

For this very reason, a certain one of the interpreters seems to me to have handed over beautifully and accurately the same thought through another title, saying, “For the lilies,” in place of, “For them that shall be changed.” He thought that it was appropriate to compare the transitoriness of human nature with the early death of flowers. But, since this word has been inflected in the future tense (it is said: “For them that shall be changed,” as if at some time later this change will be shown to us), let us consider whether there is suggested to us the doctrine of the resurrection, in which a change will be granted to us, but a change for something better and something spiritual. “What is sown in corruption,” he says, “rises in incorruption.” Do you see the change? “What is sown in weakness rises in power; what is sown a natural body rises a spiritual body,” when every corporeal creature will change together with us. Also, “The heavens shall grow old like a garment, and as a robe” God “shall change them, and they shall be changed.” Then, according to Isaiah, “The sun will be sevenfold, and the moon like the present size of the sun.”

But when a man falls asleep, he does not rise until the heaven is sewn. This seems to indicate that until the heaven is renewed; for there will be a new heaven and a new earth, as it is written. For what is sewn is old: what is old will be changed. Lastly, listen to David saying: In the beginning you founded the earth, O Lord, and the works of your hands are the heavens. They will perish: but you endure, and all will grow old like a garment, and you will change them as a covering, and they will be changed. We can also add this, that what is old is patched; what is new is forced. But from the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven is forced, and those who force it plunder it. Therefore, the Synagogue was accustomed to this in few, the Church forces it in thousands. Or because now the sky seems patched with clouds and fog, with nocturnal darkness and with the diverse and variegated appearance of the rising saffron-colored day, often woven together. But then there will be no more night, and lamps will not need light, nor sunlight; because the Lord will illuminate them, as John says. Woe to those who take pillows to destroy the souls of the people. The Holy Spirit poured out upon the prophet lamenting the misfortune of our frailty, which neither had rest in this life nor retained anything in the sudden encounter with death, that humanity would not rise again until the one came who did not patch the new onto the old nor put a new piece of cloth on an old garment; but rather made all things new, as he himself said: Behold, I make all things new. For he is the resurrection, he is the firstborn from the dead, in whom we have indeed received a foretaste of the future resurrection, yet he alone has already risen with eternal resurrection.

But this opinion of prophecy could not withstand the evidence, which the divine majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ also confirmed in the Gospel. For David said: In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, O Lord, and the works of your hands are the heavens. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, and like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end. The Lord approved so much in the Gospel that He said: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

There are many allusions to the last judgment in the Psalms, but for the most part only casual and slight. I cannot, however, omit to mention what is said there in express terms of the end of this world: “In the beginning hast Thou laid the foundations of the earth, O Lord; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shall endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; and as a vesture Thou shall change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.”

"They shall perish, but You shall endure" [Psalm 102:26]. The Apostle Peter says this openly: "By the word of God the heavens were of old," etc. [2 Peter 3:5-6] He has said then that the heavens have already perished by the flood: and we know that the heavens perished as far as the extent of this atmosphere of ours. For the water increased, and filled the whole of that space in which birds fly; thus perished the heavens that are near the earth; those heavens which are meant when we speak of the birds of heaven. But there are heavens of heavens higher than these in the firmament: but whether these also shall perish by fire, or those only which perished also by the flood, is a much harder question among the learned, nor can it easily, especially in a limited space of time, be explained. Let us therefore dismiss or put it off; nevertheless, let us know that these things perish, and that God endures....

Suppose they say, though, that the Lord’s own divine substance is not the same when he is with the Father as it was when he wished to show himself on earth without taking a body, then what else have the poor fools committed themselves to, but saying that the divine substance is subject to change in place and time? They do not want to read, or they find it difficult to understand, what is said by the prophet, “They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them, and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end”; and what is written in the book of divine Wisdom about Wisdom: “While remaining in herself, she renews all things.”

If, however, they do not say “so impure” but “so weak,” we agree entirely. And that is why Christ is our strength, because he was not changed by our weakness. Here I recognize the aptness of the prophet’s words, “You will change them, and they shall be changed; but you yourself are the same, and your years shall not fail.” Not only did the weakness of the flesh not change him for the worse, but by him it was changed for the better.

These things that we hold according to our faith, and which reason also demonstrates, can be supported by testimonies from the divine Scriptures, so that the less intelligent who cannot follow the argument may believe on divine authority and so may deserve to reach understanding. Those who understand, and are less instructed in ecclesiastical sacred books, are not to think that we have produced them out of our heads and that they are not in the Scriptures. That God is immutable is written thus in the Psalms: “You shall change them, and they shall be changed; but you are the same.” And in the book of Wisdom it is written of Wisdom: “Abiding in herself she renews all things.” The apostle Paul says, “To the invisible, incorruptible, only wise God.” The apostle James writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Because the Son was not made, but all things were made through him, it is written, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, is to come from heaven, and to come with glory at the end of this world, on the last day. For an end of this world there will be; this created world will be made new again. Corruption, theft, adultery and sins of every kind have flooded the earth, and bloodshed has been paid with blood; so to prevent this wondrous dwelling place from continuing forever filled with iniquity, this world is to pass away, to make room for a fairer world. You want proof of this from Scripture? Listen to Isaiah: “The heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all their hosts shall wither away as the leaf on the vine or as the fig withers on the fig tree.” And the Gospel says, “The sun shall be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven.” Let us not grieve as though we alone were to die, for the stars also will die; but perhaps they will rise again. The Lord shall fold up the heavens, not to destroy them but to raise them up more beautiful. Listen to David the prophet: “Of old you established the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They shall perish, but you remain.” But someone will say, “Behold, he says plainly that ‘they shall perish.’ Ah, but hear in what sense he says, ‘they shall perish’; it is clear from what follows: ‘though all of them grow old like a garment. Like clothing you change them, and they are changed.’ ” For just as humankind is said to perish, according to the text, “The just perishes, and no one takes it to heart,” and this is said, though the resurrection is expected, so we look for a “resurrection” of the heavens.

Hold most firmly and never doubt that the holy Trinity, the only true God, just as it is eternal, is likewise the only one by nature unchangeable. God indicates this when he says to his servant Moses, “I am which I am.” Hence, it is said in the psalms, “In the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you endure.”

A Psalm of joyous praise, in which the writer rises from a thankful acknowledgment of personal blessings to a lively celebration of God's gracious attributes, as not only intrinsically worthy of praise, but as specially suited to man's frailty. He concludes by invoking all creatures to unite in his song. (Psa. 103:1-22) Bless, &c.--when God is the object, praise. my soul--myself (Psa 3:3; Psa 25:1), with allusion to the act, as one of intelligence. all . . . within me-- (Deu 6:5). his holy name-- (Psa 5:11), His complete moral perfections.