Psalm 102 (101):14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Behold, a destitute man prays openly, and his supplication is not silent. We can witness who he is: could he be the one of whom the apostle wrote, "Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be enriched" (2 Corinthians 8:9)? If this indeed is He, why is He in such poverty? In what way can one who is blind be considered rich? Who surpasses Him in wealth, the creator of even the false riches? Through Him, we also have true riches: our abilities, memories, integrity, health, senses, and the very structure of our beings; when these are sound, even the impoverished can be enriched. Through Him too, we gain spiritual wealth: faith, godliness, righteousness, charity, purity, and virtuous conduct—none can possess these unless they are bestowed by Him who justifies the unrighteous... Behold, what great wealth is this! How do we discern such words from one who is truly rich? "I ate ashes as bread, and mingled my drink with weeping." Has such glorious abundance resulted in this? The first wealth is incredibly high, yet this state is profoundly low... Test to see whether this poor man is indeed He; for the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Also, consider these utterances: "I am your servant, and the son of your servant." This servant is chaste, virgin, and a mother: there He assumed our destitution by taking on the appearance of a servant, humbling Himself; to remove any fear regarding His richness and to encourage those in their lowly state to come close to Him. He, taking the form of a servant, embraced our poverty; in doing so, He became poor so that we may become rich. We are now beginning to grasp these aspects of Him, yet we must be cautious in our assertions...

Let Him then add humility to humility: let Him transform our lowly bodies to resemble His glory; let Him be our Head, and us His body, so that both may be one flesh (Philippians 3:21) ... For it is His desire to regard us as His members. The repentant are likewise part of this body. They are neither isolated nor distanced from His Church, for He would not have united the Church to Himself if not for the call, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). Let us therefore listen to the prayers of the Head and the body, the bridegroom and the bride, Christ and the Church, both unified in one Person; the Word and the flesh are not simultaneously one and the same; the Father and the Word are united; Christ and the Church form one Person, one perfect being in the fullness of His nature... Hence, let us pay heed to Christ, who is poor alongside us and for us. For His very title suggests the poor. Finally, recognize that I have discerned the identity of that poor man: let us heed His prayer and acknowledge His essence; do not be misled when anything you hear cannot apply to His Head; it is for this reason that I have prefaced my remarks, so that anything you hear described may be understood as the sound issuing from bodily weakness, recognizing the voice of the members through the Head. The title is 'The Prayer of the Afflicted One,' as he suffers and pours his plea before the Lord. This is the same impoverished figure who elsewhere states, "From the ends of the earth I will call upon Thee when my heart is in turmoil." He suffers because he is also Christ, who, as the Prophet describes, identifies Himself as both Bridegroom and Bride: "He hath put a diadem upon me as the bridegroom, and as the bride hath adorned me with jewels" (Isaiah 61:10). He identifies as both the Bridegroom and the Bride; for what does this mean, unless the Bridegroom signifies the Head, and the Bride the body? Therefore, they are a single voice because they are one flesh. Let us listen and identify ourselves in these words; and if we find ourselves on the outside, let us strive to be included.

"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto Thee" (Psalm 100:1). "Hear my prayer, Lord" conveys the same meaning as "Let my cry come unto Thee," revealing the depth of the petitioner's feeling through repetition. "Turn not Thy face from me." When did God turn away from His Son? When did the Father forsake Christ? But because of the inadequacy of my members, turn not Thy face away from me: on whichever day I am in sorrow, incline Thy ear unto me (Psalm 101:2)... You are in distress now, I am in distress; another will be in distress tomorrow, I am in distress; after this generation, other descendants will inherit distress, I am in distress; to the fervent end of time, whoever suffers in my body, I endure that suffering. Peter prayed, Paul prayed, the other Apostles prayed; the Faithful prayed in those times, the Faithful will pray in the times to come, the Faithful prayed in the era of martyrs, the Faithful pray in our times, and the Faithful will pray in the days of our descendants. Promptly soon: for I now seek that which Thou art ready to grant. I do not petition for earthly things, as an earthly individual might; but liberated at last from former captivity, I yearn for the kingdom of heaven; Hear me quickly: for it is with such longing that You have said, "Even while you speak, I will say, Here am I" (Isaiah 58:9). To what reason do you call? In what grief? In what need? O poor one, at the gates of the All-Rich God, from what longing do you entreat? From what necessity do you cry for help? From what lack do you knock, that those gates may be opened unto you?

"My days have vanished like smoke" (Psalm 100:3). O days! If days exist: for where the day is perceived, there the light is understood. My days, my times; thus, as smoke, are they not due to the inflation of pride?... Observe how smoke, akin to pride, rises, swells, and dissipates: thus, fading away justly, not enduring. "And my bones are burnt as in a furnace." My bones and my strength are not free from grief, not devoid of heat. The bones of Christ's body, the strength of His being, is there anywhere greater than that of the holy apostles? Yet you see that the bones are burnt. Who is offended, and I am not scorched? (2 Corinthians 11:29). They are brave, faithful, competent interpreters and heralds of the Word, living as they preach, and speaking as they hear; they exhibit courage, but all who take offense act as a furnace to them. There exists love there, and even more so in the bones. The bones reside within all flesh and support it entirely. But if anyone take offense and endanger his soul, the burn in the bone is proportionate to how much it likes...

Consider Adam, the origin of the human race. From him, where did sorrow spread? From him, where did this inherited poverty originate? Let him who once experienced despair in his body now assert with hope, "My heart is afflicted and withered like grass" (Psalm 101:4). Deservedly so, for "all flesh is grass" (Isaiah 40:6). But how did this happen to you? Because I omitted to partake of my bread. For God commanded regarding bread. What is the bread of the soul? The serpent compelled, and the woman sinned, he touched the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6); he forgot the command, and his heart was struck as deserved, becoming withered like grass because he neglected to consume his bread. Forgetting the bread, he ingests poison: his heart is stricken and withered like grass... Now consume that bread which you have neglected. That very Bread has arrived, in whose body you may be reminded of the voice of your forgetfulness, and implore in your poverty for riches. Now partake, for you are in His body, proclaiming, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven" (John 6:41). You have forgotten to eat your bread; but following His crucifixion, all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. After forgetting, let memory return, let us consume heavenly bread so that we may live; not manna, since they consumed it and perished (John 6:49); rather the bread of which it is said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matthew 5:6).

"From the voice of my groaning, my bones have cleaved to my flesh" (Psalm 101:5). Many groan, and I, too, groan; I groan about this very matter because they lament over a wrongful act. If a man loses a coin, he laments; he has lost faith, yet does not mourn: I estimate money and faith, and find greater reason for lamenting for him who does not sorrow as he ought, or does not weep at all. He practices deceit and rejoices. With what gain, with what loss? He has gained wealth but lost righteousness. For this latter reason, he who comprehends groaning, groans; he who is close to the Head, who adheres righteously to the body of Christ, derives his groaning from that source. But the carnal do not moan for this cause, and they produce their groans out of misanthropy; and we cannot despise them, even if they do not weep at all, or weep for the wrong reasons. For we wish to restore them, desiring correction, and when we cannot, we groan; and when we groan, we do not separate from them...

"I have become like a pelican in the wilderness and like an owl among the broken walls" (Psalm 100:6). Here we have three birds and three distinct settings: the pelican, the owl, and the sparrow; along with these three distinctive places: the wilderness, the ruined walls, and the roof of the house. The pelican inhabits the wilderness, and the owl dwells among the ruins. First, let us interpret what the pelican signifies: for it is born in a location that makes it unfamiliar to us. It is generated in secluded regions, particularly along the banks of the Nile in Egypt. Whatever bird it may be, let us observe what the Psalm communicates about it. It states that it resides in the wilderness. Why speculate about its shape, limbs, voice, or behaviors? As far as the Psalm informs you, it is a solitary bird. The owl is a nocturnal bird. "Parietines," or ruins as we call them, refers to walls standing without roofs, without inhabitants—this is the domain of the owl. And as for roofs and sparrows, you are familiar with them. Thus, I find someone among the body of Christ, a preacher of the Word, compassionate to the weak, pursuing the conquests of Christ, mindful of his future Lord (Matthew 25:26).

Let us consider these three aspects from the perspective of His stewardship. Did such a man reach out to non-Christians? He is a pelican in the wilderness. Did he approach Christians and then retreat? He is an owl amidst broken walls; for even in the darkness of those dwelling at night, he endeavors to seek them out. Has he not come to Christians dwelling in a house, as if they had not believed, or as if they had abandoned their beliefs, yet walk warmly in that belief? The sparrow cries out to them not in the wilderness because they are Christians; nor in the ruins because they have not collapsed; but because they are beneath the roof; rather beneath the roof, for they are under the flesh. The sparrow calls out over the flesh and does not shrink from the commandments of God, nor does it become carnal to submit to the roof. What you hear in the ear, proclaim from the rooftops (Matthew 10:27). There are three birds and three settings; one person may represent three birds, and three individuals may separately embody three birds; and the three kinds of locations represent three classes of people; yet the wilderness, the ruined walls, and the roof of the house denote merely three classes of individuals.