We often think of God as distant. Many consider Him far removed, unperceptive and unresponsive to the pain and distress of us mere mortals. We can’t imagine Him identifying with the volatility of our emotions. We also can’t fathom Him dealing with ensuing mental distress. Intervention to relieve us of them seems even more unlikely. We tend to think of Him as far removed from our earthly struggles to identify with, let some intervene, in them.

But nothing is farther from the truth. In Psalm 102, the psalmist pours his anguish, pain, and distress to the Lord. He seeks relief and rescue from these conditions. The urgency and intensity of his mental and emotional state is shown in how the psalm begins with a desperate cry to be heard – Psalm 102:1-2

Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to you!
Do 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!

On the face of it, he too feels like God is distant. God seems unperceptive and unresponsive in the time of his deepest need. Hence his despairing cries to be heard (“Hear my prayer oh Lord!”) and not be ignored (“Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress!”). He feels unheard. He cries out to be heard. He wants an answer, a response, or a sign. Anything indicating that he’s being heard would suffice. He is at the end of his tether. Despair is written all over his cries to be heard.

Even so, he presses in. He pours his heart out to God even further. He openly shares his distress and anguish with Him – Psalm 102:3-7
For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.

There seem to be no holds barred. There’s no holding back. He spews it all out without reservation: “This is where I’m at God! This is what I’m about! This is what my life has come to.” Beaten down, distressed, depressed, alone and in deep mental and emotional anguish. He has no appetite and is suffering from insomnia. The emotional pain has actually turned physical. It’s almost as if he’s describing his mental state and health condition to a physician expecting not only compassion and sympathy but also help and relief.

He is offloading an avalanche of intense emotions and states of mind onto God here. And God had no problem hearing him pour his heart and taking it all in. He may have felt unheard. However, he understood that God was not distant. God was close, receptive, and caring of his condition. The long and short of his anguish is captured and encapsulated in the statement… “My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.” (Psalms 102:11). It felt like he was about to pass way.

The psalmist bared all or, in contemporary lingo, “made himself totally venerable” before God. God knows everything. He sees all and understands all. Therefore, the term “to make ourselves vulnerable before Him” is a serious misnomer. In fact, when in the Old Testament God’s people complained about Him overlooking their predicament and condition, God had to thunder back to remind them that “his understanding (and insight) is unsearchable.” (Isaiah 40:28). The depth and breadth of His knowledge is unimaginable. In other words, we are already and totally vulnerable before Him no matter what. David understood that very well and thus routinely offloaded onto God. Nothing about him was unknown to God – Psalm 139:1– 4
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

Moving on, having started with himself and his anguished emotional and mental state, the psalmist now turns to what he considered to be the cause of his anguish and distress. He acknowledges the anger of God and how that has played into the hands of his enemies. Psalms 102:8 –11
All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down. My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

There seems to be no end to his pain and suffering. Yet it is God he chooses to return and bare everything to. Turning to God is a crucial moment for him. Turning to God turns out to be his turning point. In his turbulent condition, he makes a declaration – Psalms 102:12

But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.

Turning to God puts his own anguish and suffering into perspective. Never mind all that is going on with me. I’m withering away like grass. But you, “you, O LORD, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations.” You are Lord and King over everything. No matter what happens with me and in my life, I know that you’re on your throne. It endures and transcends all things, even time and my situation.

Your remembrance (knowledge of who God is) shall equally be timeless. It will span all generations. There is no stopping your remembrance. Not even time can bring a halt to it, even though it brings a halt to everything else.

This remembrance of God’s person, His knowledge, i.e. who He is, His timeless existence and unchanging person is what anchors our lives.

The remembrance of God’s enduring attribute, His agelessness, provides an anchor and security. This is true for every generation of God’s people. From a very local, time-bound, isolated situation that is remote and distanced from us (in time and in space too), we are given insight into the enduring and timeless nature of God. From a very localized situation, that is far removed from us in time and space, we gain a little insight. This insight is into God’s timeless and enduring nature. God’s nature supersedes time and space and anchors us too.

The psalmist continues to focus on God’s majesty. He considers God’s expansive nature – Psalm 102:25 – 26
Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
but you are the same, and your years have no end.

It is you who long ago laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are your handiwork. But even they which were established of old and by you have a “sell by” date. They have a limited life span and shelf life. They will cease to exist at some point. You will bring their existence to a halt. Meanwhile, you remain the same, unchanged and unchanging, without beginning or end.

The psalmist finds security and stability in God because of His enduring nature. This is true no matter what his personal emotional and mental condition may be. God’s nature is immutable. Therefore, he boldly declares, “The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.” (Psalms 102:28).

In verses 1 – 11 the psalmist starts by freely and profusely giving vent to his dire situation and grievance. His predicament offers the perfect backdrop against which God’s enduring and everlasting nature vividly stands out. It is here, in the desperate and dire personal circumstances that have befallen him he discovers and rediscovers God in a deep and profound manner. As he turns to God and gazes at Him, God’s transcendence over time and space is brought home to him in a real and very powerful way. It now had a depth of meaning it would not have, had he not experienced the adverse circumstances and emotional despair he found himself in. During these times, God’s reality and nature are deeply engraved on our hearts in an unusually profound way. Our negative circumstances, which, if given the choice we’d rather not experience, help us understand God more deeply. This leads to a deeper appreciation of His person and character.

The psalmist was pulled out of his dire state by his personal knowledge of the nature and character of God. This understanding caused him to turn 180º away from his situation to God. Recalling how close and responsive God actually is, he chose to fix his gaze on Him. He understood how near and accessible God was.

The psalm starts with the psalmist having hit rock bottom freely giving vent to how low he has been brought. But it ends on a magnificent high as he confidently declares and is absolutely assured of God’s unchanging person.

This assurance spans all the generations of God’s people. Including you.