서론
無標題
英文原文
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, Da 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 77:1-20 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 Ps 102:25,26, 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, Ps 102:1-11. II. Seasonable comfort fetched in against these grievances, 1. From the eternity of God, Ps 102:12,24,27. 2. From a believing prospect of the deliverance which God would, in due time, work for his afflicted church (Ps 102:13-22) and the continuance of it in the world, Ps 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.
1-11
Complaints in Affliction
在患難中的哀訴
困苦人發昏的時候，在耶和華麵前吐露苦情的禱告。
¹ 耶和華啊，求你聽我的禱告，容我的呼求達到你麵前！ ² 我在急難的日子，求你不要向我掩麵；求你側耳聽我，我呼求的日子求你快快應允我！ ³ 因為我的年日如煙雲消滅；我的骨頭如火把燒著。 ⁴ 我的心被傷，如草枯乾，甚至我忘記吃飯。 ⁵ 因我唉哼的聲音，我的肉緊貼骨頭。 ⁶ 我如同曠野的鵜鶘，又如同荒場的鴞鳥。 ⁷ 我儆醒不睡，如同房頂上孤單的麻雀。 ⁸ 我的仇敵終日辱罵我；那向我妄自尊大的人，指著我賭咒。 ⁹ 我吃過爐灰，如同吃飯；我所喝的與眼淚攙雜。 ¹⁰ 這都因你的惱恨和忿怒；你把我舉起，又把我摔下。 ¹¹ 我的年日如日影偏斜；我也如草枯乾。
這篇詩的標題十分值得留意：它是*「困苦人……的禱告」。它出自一位自己正在受苦、且與教會一同受苦、為教會受苦之人之手；而對於那些心懷公眾利益的人而言，這一類的苦難比任何別的苦難都更為沉重。它是為受苦的處境而寫的，旨在供其他陷入同樣困境之人使用；因為「從前所寫的一切經文，都是為教訓我們寫的」。神的全部話語都有助於引導我們禱告；但在此，正如在其他許多經文中一樣，聖靈已為我們擬好了祈求的話，將話語放在我們口中。何 14:2 說：「當歸向耶和華，用言語求他。」這裏有一篇禱告交在困苦人手中：讓他們不是用手、而是用心來領受，並將之獻給神。請注意：1. 在這世上，最聖潔的聖徒也常常遭遇深重的苦難。2. 即便是敬虔人，也可能幾乎被自己的苦難所壓倒，在其下幾乎要昏厥。3. 當我們的處境艱難、靈性低沉之時，禱告乃是我們的本分與益處，並要藉著禱告「在耶和華麵前吐露我們的苦情」*——這暗示神允許我們在他麵前坦然無懼，我們在他麵前既享有進到的自由，也享有言語的自由；這也暗示對一個受苦的心靈而言，藉著謙卑地陳明自己的冤屈與哀傷來卸下重擔，是何等的舒解。我們在此正有這樣的一份陳明，其中，
一、詩人謙卑地懇求神顧念他的苦難，並顧念他在苦難中的禱告（詩 102:1、2）。當我們在苦難中禱告之時，1. 我們當留心的，乃是神肯不肯恩典地垂聽我們；因為若我們的禱告不能蒙神悅納，對我們自己也毫無益處。所以這當成為我們的眼目所注視的，好讓我們的禱告*「達到神麵前」，甚至「達到他耳中」（詩 18:6）；為此，我們必須獻上禱告，並將我們的靈魂與之一同獻上。2. 我們可以盼望神恩典地垂聽我們，因為他已指定我們尋求他，並應許我們尋求他必不徒然。我們若憑信心獻上禱告，便可憑信心說：「耶和華啊，求你聽我的禱告！」「聽我」，意思是：(1)「求你向我顯現，當我在急難的日子，不要因不悅而向我掩麵。你若不快快搭救我，也求你讓我知道你恩待我；我若看不見你的手為我行事，也求我看見你的麵向我微笑。」對一個敬虔人而言，即便在興旺之時，神掩麵不顧已足以成為極大的患難（詩 30:7：「你掩了麵，我便驚惶」*）；但若當我們在患難中神又掩麵不顧，景況便實在淒慘了。(2)「求你為我顯現；不僅聽我，更求你應允我，賜下我所缺少、所切慕的拯救；在我呼求的日子快快應允我。」當患難重重壓迫我們之時，神也允許我們在禱告中如此迫切，但仍須帶著謙卑與忍耐。
二、他對自己所因苦難而被降到何等低微的境地，發出可悲的哀歎。1. 他的身體已被消磨枯槁，成了皮包骨的骷髏，隻剩皮和骨。正如興旺與喜樂用*「骨頭肥胖」、「骨頭如草發旺」來形容，照樣極大的患難與憂愁在此用相反的情形來描繪：「我的骨頭如火把燒著」（詩 102:3）；「我的肉緊貼骨頭」（詩 102:5）；不僅如此，「我的心被傷，如草枯乾」（詩 102:4）——這觸及了生命的中樞，在那裏有明顯的衰敗。「我也如草枯乾」（詩 102:11），被患難的炎熱烤焦。我們若因身體的疾病而被如此降卑，不要以為奇怪；身體本如草，軟弱且屬乎塵土，它枯乾也就不足為奇了。2. 他極其憂鬱，心中悲苦。他全然沉浸於自己的患難之思，「忘記吃飯」（詩 102:4）；對必需的食物毫無胃口，也不能品嚐其味。當神向一個靈魂掩麵之時，感官的樂趣都成了淡而無味之物。他總是在歎息、唉哼，如同被重擔所壓（詩 102:5），這便消磨了他、耗盡了他的心力。他偏愛獨處，如同憂鬱之人常有的情形。他的朋友離棄他、躲避他，而他也無意與他們為伴（詩 102:6、7）：「我如同曠野的鵜鶘」，或作麻鳽（有人如此解），發出哀鳴；「我如同荒場的鴞鳥」，喜愛棲息於荒廢的建築；「我儆醒不睡，如同房頂上孤單的麻雀」——我住在閣樓裏，在那裏將我的時光耗費在沉思自己的患難、自憐自歎上。人在憂傷中如此行，確實是放縱自己；但他們這樣做卻損害了自己，且不知道自己所作的，也不知道這樣給了試探者何等的可乘之機。在患難中我們當獨坐靜思己道（哀 3:28），卻不可獨坐以放縱無節製的憂傷。3. 他被仇敵惡言中傷，各樣的壞話都加在他身上。當他的朋友離他而去，他的仇敵便群起攻之（詩 102:8）：「我的仇敵終日辱罵我」，其用意既是要使他煩惱（因為正直的心總以辱罵為苦），也是要在人前使他蒙羞。他們既不能別樣地傷害他，便向他射出這些箭，就是尖利的言語。他們在此事上毫不疲倦；他們終日如此行，如同不斷滴下的水。他的仇敵極其猖狂：他們向我妄自尊大，且十分固執、不肯罷休。他們指著我賭咒，如同那些猶太人起誓要殺保羅一般；或作「他們如同控告者起誓對付我」，要奪去我的性命。4. 他在神不悅的記號之下禁食哭泣（詩 102:9、10）：「我吃過爐灰，如同吃飯」——我沒有吃我的飯，反而躺在塵土爐灰之中；「我所喝的與眼淚攙雜」——當我本該以飲水來舒解自己之時，卻隻以哭泣來得舒解。為何如此？他告訴我們（詩 102:10）：「因你的惱恨和忿怒。」使他受苦的，與其說是苦難本身，不如說是他落在其下的神的忿怒——他認定這忿怒正是苦難的根源。這一點，正是這苦難與災禍中的苦艾與茵陳：「你把我舉起，又把我摔下」——正如我們要將一件東西用力摔碎，便先將它舉起，好摔得更有力；或作：「你從前曾以尊榮、喜樂、非常的興旺將我高舉；但那記憶反倒加重了眼前的憂愁，使之更加沉重。」我們必須在神將我們高舉與摔下之時都看見他的手，並說：「耶和華的名是應當稱頌的，他賞賜，他也收取。」5. 他看自己如同將死之人：「我的年日如煙雲消滅」（詩 102:3），轉眼便散去；或作：它們如煙般消磨，甚麼也不剩；它們「如日影偏斜」*（詩 102:11），如黃昏的影子，或即將來臨之黑夜的前兆。如今這一切，雖然似乎隻是描述詩人個人的災厄，故此嚴格說來是為某一個受苦之人的禱告，卻被認為是對神教會所受苦難的描繪，詩人與之深表同情，將公眾的苦情當作自己的。基督奧秘的身體有時也如同此處詩人的身體一般，枯乾、焦枯，甚至如同死透枯乾的骨頭。教會有時被逼進入曠野，看似失喪，在神不悅的記號之下自認絕望。
英文原文
Complaints in Affliction
A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord.
¹ Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
² Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.
³ For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as a hearth.
⁴ My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.
⁶ I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
⁷ I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
⁸ Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.
⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
¹⁰ Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
¹¹ My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
The title of this psalm is very observable; it is a prayer of the afflicted. It was composed by one that was himself afflicted, afflicted with the church and for it; and on those that are of a public spirit afflictions of that kind lie heavier than any other. It is calculated for an afflicted state, and is intended for the use of others that may be in the like distress; for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written designedly for our use. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but here, as often elsewhere, the Holy Ghost has drawn up our petition for us, has put words into our mouths. Ho 14:2, Take with you words. Here is a prayer put into the hands of the afflicted: let them set, not their hands, but their hearts to it, and present it to God. Note, 1. It is often the lot of the best saints in this world to be sorely affected. 2. Even good men may be almost overwhelmed with their afflictions, and may be ready to faint under them. 3. When our state is afflicted, and our spirits are overwhelmed, it is our duty and interest to pray, and by prayer to pour out our complaints before the Lord, which intimates the leave God gives us to be free with him and the liberty of speech we have before him, as well as liberty of access to him; it intimates also what an ease it is to an afflicted spirit to unburden itself by a humble representation of its grievances and griefs. Such a representation we have here, in which,
I. The psalmist humbly begs of God to take notice of his affliction, and of his prayer in his affliction, Ps 102:1,2. When we pray in our affliction, 1. It should be our care that God would graciously hear us; for, if our prayers be not pleasing to God, they will be to no purpose to ourselves. Let this therefore be in our eye that our prayer may come unto God, even to his ears (Ps 18:6); and, in order to that, let us lift up the prayer, and our souls with it. 2. It may be our hope that God will graciously hear us, because he has appointed us to seek him and has promised we shall not seek him in vain. If we put up a prayer in faith, we may in faith say, Hear my prayer, O Lord! "Hear me," that is, (1.) "Manifest thyself to me, hide not thy face from me in displeasure, when I am in trouble. If thou dost not quickly free me, yet let me know that thou favourest me; if I see not the operations of thy hand for me, yet let me see the smiles of thy face upon me." God's hiding his face is trouble enough to a good man even in his prosperity (Ps 30:7, Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled); but if, when we are in trouble, God hides his face, the case is sad indeed. (2.) "Manifest thyself for me; not only hear me, but answer me; grant me the deliverance I am in want of and in pursuit of; answer me speedily, even in the day when I call." When troubles press hard upon us, God gives us leave to be thus pressing in prayer, yet with humility and patience.
II. He makes a lamentable complaint of the low condition to which he was reduced by his afflictions. 1. His body was macerated and emaciated, and he had become a perfect skeleton, nothing but skin and bones. As prosperity and joy are represented by making fat the bones, and the bones flourishing like a herb, so great trouble and grief are here represented by the contrary: My bones are burnt as a hearth (Ps 102:3); they cleave to my skin (Ps 102:5); nay, my heart is smitten, and withered like grass (Ps 102:4); it touches the vitals, and there is a sensible decay there. I am withered like grass (Ps 102:11), scorched with the burning heat of my troubles. If we be thus brought low by bodily distempers, let us not think it strange; the body is like grass, weak and of the earth, no wonder then that it withers. 2. He was very melancholy and of a sorrowful spirit. He was so taken up with the thoughts of his troubles that he forgot to eat his bread (Ps 102:4); he had no appetite to his necessary food nor could he relish it. When God hides his face from a soul the delights of sense will be sapless things. He was always sighing and groaning, as one pressed above measure (Ps 102:5), and this wasted him and exhausted his spirits. He affected solitude, as melancholy people do. His friends deserted him and were shy of him, and he cared as little for their company (Ps 102:6,7): "I am like a pelican of the wilderness, or a bittern (so some) that make a doleful noise; I am like an owl, that affects to lodge in deserted ruined buildings; I watch, and am as a sparrow upon the house-top. I live in a garret, and there spend my hours in poring on my troubles and bemoaning myself." Those who do thus, when they are in sorrow, humour themselves indeed; but they prejudice themselves, and know not what they do, nor what advantage they hereby give to the tempter. In affliction we should sit alone to consider our ways (La 3:28), but not sit alone to indulge an inordinate grief. 3. He was evil-spoken of by his enemies, and all manner of evil was said against him. When his friends went off from him his foes set themselves against him (Ps 102:8): My enemies reproach me all the day, designing thereby both to create vexation to him (for an ingenuous mind regrets reproach) and to bring an odium upon him before men. When they could not otherwise reach him they shot these arrows at him, even bitter words. In this they were unwearied; they did it all the day; it was a continual dropping. His enemies were very outrageous: They are mad against me, and very obstinate and implacable. They are sworn against me; as the Jews that bound themselves with an oath that they would kill Paul; or, They have sworn against me as accusers, to take away my life. 4. He fasted and wept under the tokens of God's displeasure (Ps 102:9,10): "I have eaten ashes like bread; instead of eating my bread, I have lain down in dust and ashes, and I have mingled my drink with weeping; when I should have refreshed myself with drinking I have only eased myself with weeping." And what is the matter? He tells us (Ps 102:10): Because of thy wrath. It was not so much the trouble itself that troubled him as the wrath of God which he was under the apprehensions of as the cause of the trouble. This, this was the wormwood and the gall in the affliction and the misery: Thou hast lifted me up and cast me down, as that which we cast to the ground with a design to dash it to pieces; we lift up first, that we may throw it down with the more violence; or, "Thou hast formerly lifted me up in honour, and joy, and uncommon prosperity; but the remembrance of that aggravates the present grief and makes it the more grievous." We must eye the hand of God both in lifting us up and casting us down, and say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord, who both gives and takes away." 5. He looked upon himself as a dying man: My days are consumed like smoke (Ps 102:3), which vanishes away quickly. Or, They are consumed in smoke, of which nothing remains; they are like a shadow that declines (Ps 102:11), like the evening-shadow, or a forerunner of approaching night. Now all this, though it seems to speak the psalmist's personal calamities, and therefore is properly a prayer for a particular person afflicted, yet is supposed to be a description of the afflictions of the church of God, with which the psalmist sympathizes, making public grievances his own. The mystical body of Christ is sometimes, like the psalmist's body here, withered and parched, nay, like dead and dry bones. The church sometimes is forced into the wilderness, seems lost, and gives up herself for gone, under the tokens of God's displeasure.
12-22
The Future Glory of Zion
錫安未來的榮耀
此處有許多極大、極寶貴的安慰被思想起來、被招聚在一起，用以平衡先前的抱怨；因為正直人在黑暗中必有光照亮他，所以縱然被壓下，也不致絕望。詩人自己的處境不好，神的百姓的處境也不好；但他有許多思想可使自己甦醒。
一、我們是將死的人，我們的利益和安慰也都將逝，但神是永活、永遠的神（詩 102:12）：「我的日子如影兒快過」；無可奈何；黑夜將臨到我；但*「你，耶和華啊，卻存到永遠。」* 我們的生命是短暫的，你的生命卻是長存的；我們的朋友會死，但我們的神你卻不死；那威脅我們的不能觸動你；我們的名字將寫在塵土中，埋葬於遺忘之內，但*「你的記念存到萬代」——直到時間的末了，更直到永遠，你必被人認識、受人尊崇。一個好人愛神過於愛自己，所以能以自己憂傷和死亡，與那永恆的心意不改變之福樂的喜樂思想相平衡。神存到永遠*，是祂教會信實的保護者和護衛者；祂的尊榮和永遠的記念既與教會的利益緊密相連，我們便可確信這些利益必不會被忽略。
二、可憐的錫安如今在患難中，但為她解救和救助的時候將到（詩 102:13）：「你必起來憐恤錫安。」 拯救的指望建立在神的良善之上——「你必憐恤錫安，因為她已成為你可憐的對象」；也建立在神的大能之上——「你必起來憐恤，必激發自己來行這事，必不顧教會仇敵一切的反對而行這事」。萬軍之耶和華的熱心必成全此事。 非常鼓舞人的是，教會的拯救有時候已定——不僅將在某個時候來到，更必在所定的時候來到——是無限智慧所定的（所以是最好的時候），也是永恆的真實所確定的（所以是確定的時候，必不被忘記，也不被再延期）。七十年期滿之時，拯救錫安脫離巴比倫之女、向她施恩的時候必要來到，至終這時候果然來到。錫安如今成了廢墟，即建造在大衛城中的聖殿：向錫安施恩，就是重建聖殿，正如詩 102:16 所解釋的。這是從神的恩寵中期待的；那必將一切撥正，除了那以外別無他法；所以但以理禱告說（但 9:17）：「使你的臉光照你荒廢的聖所。」 對任何百姓而言，建造錫安是他們所能渴望的最大恩惠。對一個傾覆的國家而言，沒有比恢復並重建教會特權更可羨慕的福分。如今這件事在此被切慕、被渴望：1。 因為這將使錫安的朋友大得喜樂（詩 102:14）：「你的僕人連聖殿的石頭也喜悅」——縱然那些石頭已被推倒、散落——「也憐恤它的塵土」——連它的瓦礫和廢墟也是如此。此處請留意：聖殿雖被毀，它的石頭卻仍可供建造新殿之用，也有人因此激勵自己，因為他們連它的塵土也喜愛。真正愛神教會的人，在教會受苦時愛她，正如在教會興盛時愛她一樣；當神使祂的百姓對那些廢墟生發喜愛之情、又藉着禱告和努力顯明他們如此行時，這便是一個良好的根據，使我們可以指望神必向錫安的廢墟施恩；這也是向神為錫安求憐恤的良好根據——因為有人如此深情地顧念她，又等候耶和華的救恩。 2。 因為這對錫安的鄰舍會有良好的影響（詩 102:15）。這或許是他們歸正的喜樂途徑，至少是使他們知罪的途徑；因為這樣列國要敬畏耶和華的名——對祂和祂的百姓有更高的評價，連地上的君王也被祂的榮耀所感動。當神藉着護理如此尊榮教會時，他們對神的教會必比從前有更好的看法；他們看見神為教會出頭，便不敢妄作任何反對教會的事；不但如此，他們必要說：我們要與你們同去，因為我們看見神與你們同在（亞 8:23）。所以經上記着（斯 8:17），那地的許多人都入了猶太籍，因為猶太人的懼怕臨到了他們。 3。 因為這將使錫安的神得榮耀（詩 102:16）：「耶和華建造錫安。」 他們認定這事必成，因為神親自承擔了這事；「那時祂必在榮耀中顯現」；因此凡以祂的榮耀為最高目的的人，都切慕並祈求這事。請注意，建造教會就是榮耀神；所以我們可以確信，這必在所定的時候成就。那些憑信心禱告說*「父啊，願你榮耀你的名」的人，必得着與基督自己從天上的聲音所得的同樣回答：「我已經榮耀了我的名，還要再榮耀」*——縱然目前一時這名似乎被遮蔽。
三、如今看來神的百姓的禱告似乎被輕忽，無人理會，但這些禱告必被重新察看，又大得鼓勵（詩 102:17）：「祂要垂顧困苦人的禱告。」 先前說（詩 102:16），神必在榮耀中顯現——連君王都要敬畏的榮耀（詩 102:15）。當偉人在榮耀中顯現時，他們往往輕蔑地看待那些來求助的窮人；但偉大的神必不如此。請留意：1。 求情者的卑微；他們是困苦人。 此處用的原文是一個優美的字，意思指曠野的石楠，一種矮小的灌木，如牆上的牛膝草。他們被設想為處於卑微、破碎的境況——有屬靈的福氣使他們豐富，卻缺乏屬世的好處——是貧窮的、軟弱的、孤獨的、被剝奪的；這字有多種譯法；又或可指那種卑微、破碎的靈——神在一切親近祂的人中所尋找的，也必恩慈地看顧。這必帶他們屈膝。困苦人應當是禱告的人（提前 5:5）。2。 神對他們的恩寵，不顧他們的卑微：「祂必垂顧他們的禱告」——必看這禱告，必審閱他們的陳情（代下 6:40），又*「必不藐視他們的禱告」；言下之意多於字面所表達的：祂必看重這禱告，又喜悅它，並要回應以平安的答覆——這是禱告所能得着的最大尊榮。但這話如此表達，是因為別人藐視他們的禱告，他們自己也怕神藐視這禱告，而且當他們的患難延長、禱告未蒙應允之時，人以為神藐視了這禱告。當我們想到自己的卑微和敗壞、自己的黑暗和死沉，以及我們禱告中諸般的缺陷，我們便有理由懷疑我們的禱告在天上會被輕蔑地接收；但我們在此得着保證，並非如此——因為我們在父那裏有一位中保，又是在恩典之下，不在律法之下。神向祂禱告的百姓——縱然他們困苦——所施的這恩惠，將成為禱告長久的鼓勵（詩 102:18）：「這必為後代的人記下」，使無人因困苦而絕望，也無人以為禱告既未立即蒙應允便是被忘記了。別人的經歷當作我們尋求神、倚靠神的鼓勵。我們若從別人的經歷得着安慰，便當將榮耀歸給神：「將要造的百姓，要讚美耶和華」——為祂向他們和他們列祖所作的事讚美祂。許多如今尚未出生的人，將藉着閱讀教會的歷史，被引導歸正成為慕道者。那因神的恩典重新被造的百姓——他們是祂受造之物中的初熟的果子*——必讚美耶和華，因為祂在他們最困苦之時應允了他們的禱告。
四、那不公地被定罪、如同將宰之羊的囚犯，必有人照料他們的釋放（詩 102:19-20）：神已從祂聖所的至高處、從天上垂看——祂在那裏預備了祂的寶座，那高處、那聖所；耶和華從那裏垂看大地，因為那是瞭望之地，地上沒有甚麼事能向祂一切的眼目隱藏；祂垂看，不是為觀看世上的國度和它們的榮耀，而是為行恩典的作為——「要垂聽被囚之人的歎息」（這些歎息聲我們巴不得聽不見），不僅要垂聽，更要幫助——「要釋放那些定了死罪的」，就在他們與死只差一步之時。有人把這話理解為猶太人從巴比倫被擄中得釋放。神在那裏聽見他們的歎息，正如從前他們在埃及之時一樣（出 3:7、9），便下來拯救他們。神不僅留意祂受苦百姓的禱告——那是恩典的言語——更留意他們的歎息——那是天然的言語。請看神在聽見囚犯的歎息上所顯的神聖憐憫，以及在解開囚犯的鎖鍊上所顯的神聖大能——甚至當他們已被定死罪、被綑綁、被雙重鎖住之時。試看彼得的例子（徒 12:6）。這類神聖降卑和憐憫的事例，將有助於：1。 在錫安傳揚耶和華的名，使人看見祂與祂自己所宣告的名相符——耶和華神，有憐憫、有恩典；而祂在錫安如此宣告祂的名，這宣告也必成為在耶路撒冷讚美祂的內容（詩 102:21）。神若藉着祂的護理宣告祂的名，我們便當藉着對護理的承認宣告祂的讚美，這讚美當作祂名的回聲。神必釋放那在巴比倫作囚犯和俘虜的百姓，好使他們在錫安傳揚祂的名——就是祂所揀選要放在那裏的地方——又在耶路撒冷讚美祂；他們在被擄之地不能唱錫安的歌（詩 137:3-4），神又帶他們回耶路撒冷，正是為要使他們在那裏歌唱。為此目的，神賜下脫離捆綁的自由（「求你領我出離監牢，我好稱讚你的名」，詩 142:7），又賜下死而復活的生命（「願我的性命存活，好讚美你」，詩 119:175）。2。 這些事也必有助於吸引別人來敬拜神（詩 102:22）：「當諸民聚集、列國也聚集一同事奉耶和華的時候。」 這在耶路撒冷（在他們從巴比倫歸回之後）已應驗；許多人從列國中來，與他們聯合事奉耶和華。 這事在拉 6:21 已應驗，我們在那裏看到不僅從被擄之地出來的以色列人，連從外邦中分別出來歸向他們的許多人，也歡歡喜喜地守除酵節。 但這話也可看得更遠，指着末後日子外邦人歸信基督。基督已向被擄的宣告自由，又向那受捆綁的開監獄，使他們能在福音教會中傳揚耶和華的名——在那裏猶太人和外邦人要合而為一。
英文原文
The Future Glory of Zion
¹² But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
¹³ Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
¹⁴ For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
¹⁵ So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
¹⁶ When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
¹⁷ He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
¹⁸ This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
¹⁹ For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
²⁰ To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
²¹ To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
²² When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Many exceedingly great and precious comforts are here thought of, and mustered up, to balance the foregoing complaints; for unto the upright there arises light in the darkness, so that, though they are cast down, they are not in despair. It is bad with the psalmist himself, bad with the people of God; but he has many considerations to revive himself with.
I. We are dying creatures, and our interests and comforts are dying, but God is an everliving everlasting God (Ps 102:12): "My days are like a shadow; there is no remedy; night is coming upon me; but, thou, O Lord! shalt endure for ever. Our life is transient, but thine is permanent; our friends die, but thou our God diest not; what threatened us cannot touch thee; our names will be written in the dust and buried in oblivion, but thy remembrance shall be unto all generations; to the end of time, nay, to eternity, thou shalt be known and honoured." A good man loves God better than himself, and therefore can balance his own sorrow and death with the pleasing thought of the unchangeable blessedness of the Eternal Mind. God endures forever, his church's faithful patron and protector; and, his honour and perpetual remembrance being very much bound up in her interests, we may be confident that they shall not be neglected.
II. Poor Zion is now in distress, but there will come a time for her relief and succour (Ps 102:13): Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion. The hope of deliverance is built upon the goodness of God—"Thou wilt have mercy upon Zion, for she has become an object of thy pity;" and upon the power of God—"Thou shalt arise and have mercy, shalt stir up thyself to do it, shalt do it in contempt of all the opposition made by the church's enemies." The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. That which is very encouraging is that there is a time set for the deliverance of the church, which not only will come some time, but will come at the time appointed, the time which Infinite Wisdom has appointed (and therefore it is the best time) and which Eternal Truth has fixed it to, and therefore it is a certain time, and shall not be forgotten nor further adjourned. At the end of seventy years, the time to favour Zion, by delivering her from the daughter of Babylon, was to come, and at length it did come. Zion was now in ruins, that is, the temple that was built in the city of David: the favouring of Zion is the building of the temple up again, as it is explained, Ps 102:16. This is expected from the favour of God; that will set all to rights, and nothing but that, and therefore Daniel prays (Da 9:17), Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary, which is desolate. The building up of Zion is as great a favour to any people as they can desire. No blessing more desirable to a ruined state than the restoring and re-establishing of their church-privileges. Now this is here wished for and longed for, 1. Because it would be a great rejoicing to Zion's friends (Ps 102:14): Thy servants take pleasure even in the stones of the temple, though they were thrown down and scattered, and favour the dust, the very rubbish and ruins of it. Observe here, When the temple was ruined, yet the stones of it were to be had for a new building, and there were those who encouraged themselves with that, for they had a favour even for the dust of it. Those who truly love the church of God love it when it is in affliction as well as when it is in prosperity; and it is a good ground to hope that God will favour the ruins of Zion when he puts it into the heart of his people to favour them, and to show that they do so by their prayers and by their endeavours; as it is also a good plea with God for mercy for Zion that there are those who are so affectionately concerned for her, and are waiting for the salvation of the Lord. 2. Because it would have a good influence upon Zion's neighbours, Ps 102:15. It will be a happy means perhaps of their conversion, at least of their conviction; for so the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, shall have high thoughts of him and his people, and even the kings of the earth shall be affected with his glory. They shall have better thoughts of the church of God than they have had, when God by his providence thus puts an honour upon it; they shall be afraid of doing any thing against it when they see God taking its part; nay, they shall say, We will go with you, for we have seen that God is with you, Zec 8:23. Thus it is said (Es 8:17) that many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them. 3. Because it would redound to the honour of Zion's God (Ps 102:16): When the Lord shall build up Zion. They take it for granted it will be done, for God himself has undertaken it, and he shall then appear in his glory; and for that reason all that have made his glory their highest end desire it and pray for it. Note, The edifying of the church will be the glorifying of God, and therefore we may be assured it will be done in the set time. Those that pray in faith, Father, glorify thy name, may receive the same answer to that prayer which was given to Christ himself by a voice from heaven, I have both glorified it and I will glorify it yet again, though now for a time it may be eclipsed.
III. The prayers of God's people now seem to be slighted and no notice taken of them, but they will be reviewed and greatly encouraged (Ps 102:17): He will regard the prayer of the destitute. It was said (Ps 102:16) that God will appear in his glory, such a glory as kings themselves shall stand in awe of, Ps 102:15. When great men appear in their glory they are apt to look with disdain upon the poor that apply to them; but the great God will not do so. Observe, 1. The meanness of the petitioners; they are the destitute. It is an elegant word that is here used, which signifies the heath in the wilderness, a low shrub, or bush, like the hyssop of the wall. They are supposed to be in a low and broken state, enriched with spiritual blessings, but destitute of temporal good things—the poor, the weak, the desolate, the stripped; thus variously is the word rendered; or it may signify that low and broken spirit which God looks for in all that draw nigh to him and which he will graciously look upon. This will bring them to their knees. Destitute people should be praying people, 1Ti 5:5. 2. The favour of God to them, notwithstanding their meanness: He will regard their prayer, and will look at it, will peruse their petition (2Ch 6:40), and he will not despise their prayer. More is implied than is expressed: he will value it and be well pleased with it, and will return an answer of peace to it, which is the greatest honour that can be put upon it. But it is thus expressed because others despise their praying, they themselves fear God will despise it, and he was thought to despise it while their affliction was prolonged and their prayers lay unanswered. When we consider our own meanness and vileness, our darkness and deadness, and the manifold defects in our prayers, we have cause to suspect that our prayers will be received with disdain in heaven; but we are here assured of the contrary, for we have an advocate with the Father, and are under grace, not under the law. This instance of God's favour to his praying people, though they are destitute, will be a lasting encouragement to prayer (Ps 102:18): This shall be written for the generation to come, that none may despair, though they be destitute, nor think their prayers forgotten because they have not an answer to them immediately. The experiences of others should be our encouragements to seek unto God and trust in him. And, if we have the comfort of the experiences of others, it is fit that we should give God the glory of them: The people who shall be created shall praise the Lord for what he has done both for them and for their predecessors. Many that are now unborn shall, by reading the history of the church, be wrought upon to turn proselytes. The people that shall be created anew by divine grace, that are a kind of first-fruits of his creatures, shall praise the Lord for his answers to their prayers when they were more destitute.
IV. The prisoners under condemnation unjustly seem as sheep appointed for the slaughter, but care shall be taken for their discharge (Ps 102:19,20): God has looked down from the height of his sanctuary, from heaven, where he has prepared his throne, that high place, that holy place; thence did the Lord behold the earth, for it is a place of prospect, and nothing on this earth is or can be hidden from his all-seeing eye; he looks down, not to take a view of the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, but to do acts of grace, to hear the groaning of the prisoners (which we desire to be out of the hearing of), and not only to hear them, but to help them, to loose those that are appointed to death, then when there is but a step between them and it. Some understand it of the release of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon. God heard their groaning there as he did when they were in Egypt (Ex 3:7,9) and came down to deliver them. God takes notice not only of the prayers of his afflicted people, which are the language of grace, but even of their groans, which are the language of nature. See the divine pity in hearing the prisoner's groans, and the divine power in loosing the prisoner's bonds, even when they are appointed to death and are pinioned and double-shackled. We have an instance in Peter, Ac 12:6. Such instances as these of the divine condescension and compassion will help, 1. To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and to make it appear that he answers to his name, which he himself proclaimed, The Lord God, gracious and merciful; and this declaration of his name in Zion shall be the matter of his praise in Jerusalem, Ps 102:21. If God by his providences declare his name, we must by our acknowledgments of them declare his praise, which ought to be the echo of his name. God will discharge his people that were prisoners and captives in Babylon, that they may declare his name in Zion, the place he has chosen to put his name there, and his praise in Jerusalem, at their return thither; in the land of their captivity they could not sing the songs of Zion (Ps 137:3,4), and God brought them again to Jerusalem in order that they might sing them there. For this end God gives liberty from bondage (Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name, Ps 142:7), and life from the dead. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee, Ps 119:175. 2. They will help to draw in others to the worship of God (Ps 102:22): When the people of God are gathered together at Jerusalem (as they were after their return out of Babylon) many out of the kingdoms joined with them to serve the Lord. This was fulfilled Ezr 6:21, where we find that not only the children of Israel that had come out of captivity, but many that had separated themselves from them among the heathen, did keep the feast of unleavened bread with joy. But it may look further, at the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ in the latter days. Christ has proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those that were bound, that they may declare the name of the Lord in the gospel-church, in which Jews and Gentiles shall unite.
23-28
Hoping in God's Compassion
仰望神的憐憫
²³ 他使我的力量中途衰弱；他使我的年日短少。
²⁴ 我說：我的神啊，不要在我中年之年將我取去；你的年數世世無窮。
²⁵ 你起初立了地的根基；天也是你手所造的。
²⁶ 天地都要滅沒，你卻要長存；天地都要如外衣漸漸舊了；你要將天地如裏衣更換，天地就都改變了。
²⁷ 惟有你永不改變，你的年數沒有窮盡。
²⁸ 你僕人的子孫要長存；他們的後裔要在你面前堅立。
我們在此可以觀察到，
一、猶太教會瀕臨被巴比倫的擄掠完全滅絕、剪除的迫切危險（詩篇一○二23）：他使我的力量中途衰弱。 許多世代以來，他們一直走在成就那向列祖所應許的彌賽亞大事的路上，巴望得著這應許，正如旅客巴望走到路程的終點一樣。律法的制度引導他們前行；但當十個支派在亞述失散，兩個支派幾乎在巴比倫失散，那國的力量就衰弱了，從一切表象看來，它的日子也縮短了；因為他們說：我們的指望失去了；我們被剪除淨盡了（結三十七11）。那麼，論到示羅要從猶大興起、星要從雅各而出、彌賽亞要從大衛家而出的應許，又將如何呢？這些若落空，應許也就落空了。詩人把這事說成好像是他親身的經歷，這也恰切地適用於今日兩種常見的患難：——1. 多病。身體的疾病很快便 使我們的力量中途衰弱，使看守房屋的發顫、有力氣的屈身。2. 短命。前者既被感受到，後者就被懼怕；當我們照著自然的常理、到了日子的中途力量就衰弱，我們除了指望 我們的年日要被從中間剪除 之外，還能期望甚麼呢？我們又當怎樣照此預備呢？我們必須承認神的手在其中（因為我們的力量和時間都在他手中），也必須將這事與他的愛調和，因為善用力量的人力量卻被削弱，難以或缺的人日子卻被縮短，這常常是那些人的份。
二、為這應許得以延續而禱告（詩篇一○二24）：我的神啊，不要在我中年之年將我取去；不要讓這可憐的教會在應許所定的日子中間被剪除；不要讓它被剪除，直到彌賽亞來到。不要毀壞它，因為福氣在其中（賽六十五8）。她本是罪犯，但為了在她裏面的那福氣的緣故，她求告緩刑。這是為受苦之人的禱告，我們可以存著順服神旨意的心，憑信心獻上：求神不要 在我們日子的中途將我們取去，而是若合他旨意，求他存留我們，使我們能進一步事奉他，並更預備好進入天堂。
三、為加強這禱告而提出的理由，取自所應許之彌賽亞的永恆性，詩篇一○二25-27。使徒引用了這幾節（來一10-12），並告訴我們：他是對兒子說的；我們必須順服這個解釋。論到教會所經歷的一切變遷和所面臨的一切危險，最令人安慰的莫過於：耶穌基督昨日、今日、一直到永遠，是一樣的。你的年數世世無窮，不能被縮短。論到我們自己身體的衰殘與死亡，以及朋友從我們中間被挪去，同樣令人安慰的是：神是永活的神，因此，他若是我們的神，我們在他裏面就可以得著永遠的安慰。在這個理由中我們可以看到，為了說明創造主的永恆，他怎樣將之與受造之物的可變性相比；因為永不改變乃是神獨有的特權。1. 神創造了世界，因此他在世界以先便從永遠有了存在。神的兒子、永恆的道創造了世界。聖經明明說：萬物是藉著他造的；凡被造的，沒有一樣不是藉著他造的；因此 太初 之時他便 與神同在，從永遠 就是神（約一1-3，西一16，弗三9，來一2）。地和天，以及兩者的萬象，包括了宇宙及其豐盛，這一切都從神那裏、藉著他的兒子而領受存在（詩篇一○二25）：你起初立了地的根基——這地 建立在海上、建立在大水之上，卻 仍舊存立；那麼教會 建造在磐石上，更必存立。天是你手所造的，天的一切運行和影響都由你引導；因此神不僅是一切存在的源頭，也是一切權能和統治的源頭。請看這位偉大的救贖主何等配得受託掌管天地一切的權柄，因為他自己既是天地的創造主，就完全認識兩者，對兩者也有完全的權利。2. 神將要再拆毀這世界，因此他必存到永遠（詩篇一○二26-27）：天地都要滅沒，因為 你要將天地更換——用那創造它們的同一無所不能的大能；因此無疑地 你卻要長存；惟有你永不改變。 神和世界、基督和受造之物，在人不朽的靈魂深處和最高處，彼此競爭那最內裏、最至高的位置；如今這裏所說的話，我想已足以立即裁決這爭訟，並定我們向著神和基督的心。因為，（一）在受造之物中的分是衰殘而消逝的：天地都要滅沒；它們不能像我所要存留的那樣久。日子將到，地和其上的作為都要被燒盡；那時那些將財寶積蓄在其中的人又將如何呢？天地要 如外衣漸漸舊了，不是逐漸衰殘，而是當所定的時候來到，就要像一件不再需要的舊衣一樣被撇在一旁：你要將天地如裏衣更換，天地就都改變了——不是歸於無有，而是被改變，可能是改變得與從前完全不同，乃是 新天新地。請看神對天地的絕對主權。他可以隨己意、按時候改變它們；而它們在日夜更替、冬夏循環中所經歷的不斷變化，正是它們末了那最終改變的憑據——那時 天 與 時間（時間是由天體來量度的）就不再有了。（二）在神裏面的分是持久而永遠的：惟有你永不改變，不受任何改變所影響；你的年數沒有窮盡，詩篇一○二27。基督在成就上必與在應許中一樣，對被擄中的教會必與在自由中的教會一樣。教會不要怕她的力量被削弱，也不要怕她的日子被縮短，因為基督自己既是她的力量，又是她的生命；他永不改變，並曾說：因為我活着，你們也要活着。 基督在時候滿足時降臨，在舊約巴比倫的權勢之下建立了他的國度，他也必在新約巴比倫的權勢之下維持這國度。
四、關於這禱告必蒙應允的安慰確據（詩篇一○二28）：你僕人的子孫要長存；基督既不改變，教會便要一代一代存留下去；從頭的永恆，我們可以推斷身體的長存，雖然這身體常常軟弱多病，甚至到了死門口。那些想要 磨滅至高者的聖徒 的人，必要大失所望。基督的僕人必有兒女；那些兒女必有後裔、必有承續的子民守道；教會和世界一樣，都在 生養眾多 這福分的影響之下。這些 子孫要長存，不是靠自己的身體（因有死亡），而是靠他們的後裔，那後裔要在神面前堅立（就是在他的事奉中，藉他的恩典堅立）；宗教的傳承在世界存立之日必不被剪除，而是一代敬虔人過去，另一代又來，基督的寶座就如此長存。
英文原文
Hoping in God's Compassion
²³ He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
²⁴ I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
²⁵ Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
²⁶ They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
²⁷ But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
²⁸ The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
We may here observe,
I. The imminent danger that the Jewish church was in of being quite extirpated and cut off by the captivity in Babylon (Ps 102:23): He weakened my strength in the way. They were for many ages in the way to the performance of the great promise made to their fathers concerning the Messiah, longing as much for it as ever a traveller did to be at his journey's end. The legal institutions led them in the way; but when the ten tribes were lost in Assyria, and the two almost lost in Babylon, the strength of that nation was weakened, and, in all appearance, its day shortened; for they said, Our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts, Eze 37:11. And then what becomes of the promise that Shiloh should arise out of Judah, the star out of Jacob, and the Messiah out of the family of David? If these fail, the promise fails. This the psalmist speaks of as in his own person, and it is very applicable to two of the common afflictions of this time:—1. To be sickly. Bodily distempers soon weaken our strength in the way, make the keepers of the house to tremble and the strong men to bow themselves. 2. To be short-lived. Where the former is felt, this is feared; when in the midst of our days, according to a course of nature, our strength is weakened, what can we expect but that the number of our months should be cut off in the midst? and what should we do but provide accordingly? We must own God's hand in it (for in his hand our strength and time are), and must reconcile it to his love, for it has often been the lot of those that have used their strength well to have it weakened, and of those that could very ill be spared to have their days shortened.
II. A prayer for the continuance of it (Ps 102:24): "O my God! take me not away in the midst of my days; let not this poor church be cut off in the midst of the days assigned it by the promise; let it not be cut off till the Messiah shall come. Destroy it not, for that blessing is in it," Isa 65:8. She is a criminal, but, for the sake of that blessing which is in her, she pleads for a reprieve. This is a prayer for the afflicted, and which, with submission to the will of God, we may in faith put up, that God would not take us away in the midst of our days, but that, if it be his will, he would spare us to do him further service and to be made riper for heaven.
III. A plea to enforce this prayer taken from the eternity of the Messiah promised, Ps 102:25-27. The apostle quotes these verses (Heb 1:10-12) and tells us, He saith this to the Son, and in that exposition we must acquiesce. It is very comfortable, in reference to all the changes that pass over the church, and all the dangers it is in, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Thy years are throughout all generations, and cannot be shortened. It is likewise comfortable in reference to the decay and death of our own bodies, and the removal of our friends from us, that God is an everliving God, and that therefore, if he be ours, in him we may have everlasting consolation. In this plea observe how, to illustrate the eternity of the Creator, he compares it with the mutability of the creature; for it is God's sole prerogative to be unchangeable. 1. God made the world, and therefore had a being before it from eternity. The Son of God, the eternal Word, made the world. It is expressly said, All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made; and therefore the same was in the beginning from eternity with God, and was God, Joh 1:1-3, Col 1:16, Eph 3:9, Heb 1:2. Earth and heaven, and the hosts of both, include the universe and its fulness, and these derive their being from God by his Son (Ps 102:25): "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, which is founded on the seas and on the floods and yet it abides; much more shall the church, which is built upon a rock. The heavens are the work of thy hands, and by thee are all their motions and influences directed;" God is therefore the fountain, not only of all being, but of all power and dominion. See how fit the great Redeemer is to be entrusted with all power, both in heaven and in earth, since he himself, as Creator of both, perfectly knows both and is entitled to both. 2. God will unmake the world again, and therefore shall have a being to eternity (Ps 102:26,27): They shall perish, for thou shalt change them by the same almighty power that made them, and therefore, no doubt, thou shalt endure; thou art the same. God and the world, Christ and the creature, are rivals for the innermost and uppermost place in the soul of man, the immortal soul; now what is here said, one would think, were enough to decide the controversy immediately and to determine us for God and Christ. For, (1.) A portion in the creature is fading and dying: They shall perish; they will not last so long as we shall last. The day is coming when the earth and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up; and then what will become of those that have laid up their treasure in it? Heaven and earth shall wax old as a garment, not by a gradual decay, but, when the set time comes, they shall be laid aside like an old garment that we have no more occasion for: As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed, not annihilated, but altered, it may be so that they shall not be at all the same, but new heavens and a new earth. See God's sovereign dominion over heaven and earth. He can change them as he pleases and when he pleases; and the constant changes they are subject to, in the revolutions of day and night, summer and winter, are earnests of their last and final change, when the heavens and time (which is measured by them) shall be no more. (2.) A portion in God is perpetual and everlasting: Thou art the same, subject to no change; and thy years have no end, Ps 102:27. Christ will be the same in the performance that he was in the promise, the same to his church in captivity that he was to his church at liberty. Let not the church fear the weakening of her strength, or the shortening of her days, while Christ himself is both her strength and her life; he is the same, and has said, Because I live you shall live also. Christ came in the fulness of time, and set up his kingdom in spite of the power of the Old-Testament Babylon, and he will keep it up in spite of the power of the New-Testament Babylon.
IV. A comfortable assurance of an answer to this prayer (Ps 102:28): The children of thy servants shall continue; since Christ is the same, the church shall continue from one generation to another; from the eternity of the head we may infer the perpetuity of the body, though often weak and distempered, and even at death's door. Those that hope to wear out the saints of the Most High will be mistaken. Christ's servants shall have children; those children shall have a seed, a succession, of professing people; the church, as well as the world, is under the influence of that blessing, Be fruitful and multiply. These children shall continue, not in their own persons, by reason of death, but in their seed, which shall be established before God (that is, in his service, and by his grace); the entail of religion shall not be cut off while the world stands, but, as one generation of good people passes away, another shall come, and thus the throne of Christ shall endure.
有人認為大衛是在押沙龍叛亂之時寫了這詩；也有人認為是但以理、尼希米，或其他某位先知，在教會被擄於巴比倫之時為教會的使用而寫，因為它似乎論到錫安的荒涼，並論到一個為重建錫安而定的時候——這是但以理從書上明白的（但九2）。又或許詩人自己處於極大的苦難之中，他在詩的開頭為此哀訴，卻（如詩七七1-20以及其他地方一樣）藉著思念神的永恆、與教會不論現今多麼受壓迫受威脅卻終必興旺長存，而在其中得著安慰。
但從詩一○二25,26被應用於基督身上（來一10-12）來看，這詩顯然是指著彌賽亞的日子，論及祂的受苦、或為祂的緣故而臨到祂教會的苦難。
在本詩中我們看到：一、詩人所發的悲傷哀訴——無論是為自己，還是代表教會——論到極大、極其沉重的苦難（詩一○二1-11）。二、針對這些苦情而引入的合時安慰：1. 來自神的永恆（詩一○二12,24,27）。2. 來自憑信心盼望神必在祂的時候為受苦的教會施行拯救（詩一○二13-22），以及教會在世上存留不斷（詩一○二28）。
唱這詩時，我們若沒有緣由作同樣的哀訴，卻可趁機與那些有這緣由的人表同情，這樣在唱的時候，本詩安慰的部分對我們就越發顯得安慰了。