(5) A Liturgy for Sufferers

Jesus invites burdened and weary people to come to him for relief. To all who labor and are heavy laden Jesus says, "Come to me … and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:29). That is also the message of Psalm 102. God cares for the "afflicted, when he is faint." He invites us to pour out our "complaint before the Lord" confident that he will hear our prayer, show us pity, and set us free.

This psalm is categorized as a psalm of penitence. The writer doesn't ponder his sin as in other penitential psalms. But he is clearly in distress. And the poet believes God to be angry at him (Ps. 102:10); our sin angers God. But the writer isn't concerned only about his situation; the poem is more corporate than personal in its penitence. Israel had sinned and become like prisoners on death row (20). Likely this psalm was written during Judah's exile in Babylon. Some have suggested that it was written by Daniel. The exiles knew that the city's stones have been cast down. Zion needed to be rebuilt (14, 16). So the psalm is written by a believer in God who knows that the sin of his people has resulted in the "day of distress" they presently lived in (2).

How do we follow this liturgy for the suffering?