The life of the Christian is framed by triumph and overcoming. That is because it is not so much about our daily experience, but by the triumph of Christ over sin and death; by His overcoming that is shared with His followers. But that does not tell the whole story of our daily experience, does it?
Psalm 102 admits to this truth, that though we are overcomers, we are still beset by many problems and trials. It is one of the reasons that we are compelled to cry out to God. The pains are real pains. The fears are real fears. The sorrows are real sorrows.
Psalm 102, in its “dark” portion, uses several similes to describe our condition: “my days pass away like smoke”; “my bones burn like a furnace”; My heart is stricken and withered like grass” (vv. 3,4). These are not “just” poetic descriptions. The psalmist struggles to find word-pictures to express the distress of his soul at this particular point of his life. And you may be able to relate.
The psalmist is not done yet: “I am like a lonely bird on a housetop” (v.6); “I eat ashes like bread” (v.9); “My days are like an evening shadow” (v.11). No one makes plans for a “lonely bird” experience, feeding on “ashes” and passing like “an evening shadow.” And yet, these are real, and common, experiences for many, many people at unsuspecting times in their lives.
The turning point comes mid-psalm, reflecting the reality that we find in these familiar words from Romans 8:18 - “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
And so we move from the “dark” side of the psalm to the “bright” side - to the side where God is on the throne, and He has everything in hand. He is not unaware of the distresses of His children, and He hears their prayers, though it may seem at times as though He does not. He is of such a heart to help the downcast and oppressed, and He will do so, at just the right time, in just the right way.
Here are words to a verse of an old hymn:
Come, every soul by sin oppressed
There's mercy with the Lord
And He will surely give you rest
By trusting in His Word
