Psalm 102 (101):22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Starting in Zion, the good news extended to the farthest corners of the earth. “From Zion shall the law go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge the nations, and shall reprove many tribes” (Isaiah 2:3, 4).

Behold, a destitute man prays openly; his voice reaches our ears, revealing his identity. Could this be the one spoken of by the apostle who said, “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be enriched” (2 Corinthians 8:9)? If it is indeed He, in what way is He impoverished? In what way can a man unable to see possess wealth? Who could be wealthier than the one through whom all riches, even those that are mere illusions, came into being? Through Him, we have all our treasures: our abilities, memories, characters, health, and bodily faculties; when these are secure, even those in poverty are enriched. Moreover, He provides us with profound riches: faith, devotion, righteousness, love, purity, and virtuous conduct, for none can possess these without Him who justifies those who are lost. Consider the magnitude of these riches! How can we recognize such declarations in someone regarded as impoverished? “I ate ashes as bread, and mixed my drink with weeping.” Has such immense wealth culminated in this? The disparity between this high fortune and such lowly circumstance is stark… Yet we must discern if this humble individual is indeed He; for the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Let us contemplate these expressions: “I am Your servant, and the son of Your handmaid.” Recognize that this servant is chaste, a virgin, and a mother—this is when He took on our poverty, donning the form of a servant and humbling Himself, so as not to frighten us away with His riches, enabling us, in our destitution, to approach Him. He clothed Himself in our need, became poor, and thereby made us rich. We are now in the process of coming to terms with these truths regarding Him; however, we must not presumptively claim to grasp them fully.

Let Him then layer His poverty upon our own, transforming our lowly bodies to unite with Him as our Head, with us as His members, so that the two become one flesh (Philippians 3:21). For it has pleased Him to consider us as part of His body. The penitent are included among His members; they are not estranged from His Church. After all, He would not have united His Church to Himself without those words, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). Therefore, let us listen to the prayers of the head and the body, the bridegroom and the bride, Christ and the Church, who are one entity; the Word and the flesh are not simultaneously identical, yet the Father and the Word are one; Christ and the Church are one entity, one perfect being formed by His fullness. Let us therefore hear Christ, who is in our midst, sharing our poverty on our behalf. The title evokes the essence of the impoverished. Ultimately, consider who that poor individual is; let us listen to His prayer and recognize His identity; and do not misinterpret anything that cannot be applicable to the Head, for I illustrate this point by suggesting that what you hear of this characterization is a sound arising from the frailty of the body, reflecting the voice of the members in the Head. This title is “The Prayer of the Afflicted Man,” who, when tormented, fervently offered His prayer before the Lord. This is the same impoverished man who elsewhere states, “From the ends of the earth I will call upon Thee when my heart is in anguish.” He suffers because He is also Christ. In the words of the Prophet, He calls Himself both the Bridegroom and the Bride: “He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10). He identifies as the Bridegroom and the Bride; what does this signify if not that the Bridegroom represents the Head, and the Bride represents the body? Hence, they express one voice as one flesh. Let us listen and identify ourselves in these words; and if we perceive that we stand apart, let us strive to draw near.

"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto Thee" (Psalm 100:1). “Hear my prayer, Lord,” underscores the plea: “Let my cry come to Thee.” The urgency of the petitioner is reflected in the repetition. “Do not hide Your face from me.” At what moment did God turn His face from His Son? When did the Father turn away from Christ? But for the sake of my need, do not turn away from me; in whatever day I lament, lend me Your ear (Psalm 101:2). You are in trouble now, I am in trouble; tomorrow will bring more affliction; even after this generation, those who follow your descendants will face troubles; I share in their suffering; until the end of the age, whoever endures trouble in my body, I too am in trouble. Peter prayed, Paul prayed, the other Apostles prayed; the faithful prayed in their time, the faithful will pray in generations to come. Urgently seek Him now, for I seek what You are prepared to give. I do not seek earthly treasures, as would an earthly man; rather, having been liberated from my former captivity, I yearn for the heavenly kingdom. Hear me now, for it is with such desire that You promised: “Even while you are speaking, I will say, Here I am” (Isaiah 58:9). For what reason do you call? In what sorrow? In what need? O impoverished soul, at the gates of the boundless God, what is your yearning? From what plight do you seek solace? What is the need that drives you to knock for entry?

“For my days have vanished like smoke” (Psalm 100:3). O days! If indeed they have, for where the day can be heard, the light is understood. My days, my moments; thus, they dissipate like smoke—not due to pride yet… Observe how smoke, like arrogance, rises, grows, and fades away: thus, it is rightly fleeting, not enduring. “And my bones are burned as in a furnace.” My bones and my strength are not without sorrow, nor without suffering. The bones of Christ’s body, the strength of that body—are there any greater than those of the holy apostles? Yet you see how their bones are scorched. Who is hurt and yet I am unharmed? (2 Corinthians 11:29) They are valiant, faithful interpreters and proclaimers of the Word, living as they speak and speaking as they live; they indeed show courage, yet all who take offense to them act as a furnace. In their love and within their bones, there is subtler pain. The bones reside within all flesh, supporting it; but if anyone suffers offense, and their soul is endangered, the bones ache in proportion to their distress…

Contemplate Adam, the origin of humanity. From him, how did misery spread? From him, how did this inherited poverty take root? Let him who once despaired in his body now exclaim hopefully, “My heart is afflicted and withered like grass” (Psalm 101:4). This is only right, for “all flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40:6). How did this transpire, you ask? Because I forgot to eat my bread. God gave His decree concerning bread. What, then, is the bread for the soul? It was the serpent that enticed the woman to sin, leading her to grasp the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6); He forgot the commandment, and thus his heart was struck as it deserved and withered like grass, as he neglected to eat his bread. In neglecting his bread, he ingests poison; his heart is struck and withered like grass… Now consume that bread you have forgotten. But that very Bread has arrived—the Bread through which you may recall the memory of your negligence and cry out in your poverty for true riches. Now eat, for you are within Him, who declared, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:41). You have forgotten your bread; yet, after His crucifixion, all corners of the earth will recall and turn toward the Lord. After forgetting, let remembrance arise, let us partake of the heavenly bread that we may live—not the manna they ate and died (John 6:49), but the Bread of which it is said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6).

“From the sound of my groaning, my bones cleave to my flesh” (Psalm 101:5). Many are groaning, and I too groan; I groan about this very circumstance. A man loses a coin and moans, yet he who loses faith does not lament. I measure money against faith, finding greater cause for sorrow for one who does not grieve as he should, or does not grieve at all. He commits wrongdoing and revels in it. What benefit, what loss is this? He gains wealth but loses righteousness. Therefore, the one who knows how to groan does groan; the one close to the Head, who clings righteously to the body of Christ, groans for this reason. But the carnal do not groan for this knowledge, and they make themselves grieve, not understanding the true cause for their sorrow; we cannot disregard them, even if they neither grieve nor grieve for the wrong reasons. We desire to bring correction to them, we long for their correction, and when we cannot, we groan; and in our groaning, we remain united with them…

“I have become like a pelican in the wilderness and like an owl among the ruins” (Psalm 100:6). Here we have three birds and three locations: the pelican, the owl, and the sparrow; each in distinct locations: the wilderness, the desolate walls, and the house’s roof. The pelican inhabits the wilderness, and the owl, the desolate walls; the sparrow rests on the roof. We must first elucidate the significance of the pelican, which emerges from places hidden from our sight. It is born in secluded areas, notably along the banks of the Nile in Egypt. Regardless of what bird we discuss, let us heed the Psalm's description. It states it resides in the wilderness. Why ponder on its form, limbs, voice, or nature? As the Psalm indicates, it is a solitary bird. The owl is a creature of the night. Ruins, or what we term crumbled walls, are structures devoid of roofs and inhabitants, serving as the owl's abode. As for roofs and sparrows, you are familiar with them. So I find a member of Christ's body: a preacher of the Word, compassionate toward the weak, pursuing the triumphs of Christ, aware of his future Lord (Matthew 25:26).

Let us examine these three aspects from the perspective of His stewardship. Did such a person reach out to non-believers? He is a pelican in the wilderness. When he encounters believers but withdraws, he becomes an owl in the desolate walls; for he does not abandon even those lost in the darkness of night, seeking to find them. If he has not approached those believers who seem to have forsaken their faith or claimed warmth within it, the sparrow cries out to them—not in the wilderness, for they are believers; nor among the ruins, for they have not collapsed; but rather from their position under the roof, denoting their flesh. The sparrow over the flesh calls out and does not shy away from the commandments of God, nor condescend to fleshly desires under the roof. What you hear in whispers, declare from the rooftops (Matthew 10:27). Three birds and three places: one individual may encapsulate three birds, and three individuals may represent them separately; and these three types of locations represent three classes of people; yet the wilderness, crumbling walls, and house roofs embody three groups of individuals.

The purpose of His descent was also so that the Church could learn to praise His name in worship, for Zion represents the Church.

The Almighty, who governs and oversees everything, listened to those under His care and declared a proclamation of salvation, allowing the bound to return to the realm of the dead, to establish a homeland, and once again perform the sacred duties as prescribed by the divine law.

The Lord, as stated, descended to earth to proclaim upon Mount Zion the name of His Father, emphasizing His role as the Father of His true and natural Son, of whom the Lord Himself affirmed, ‘He hath revealed thy name unto men’ (John 17:6). Additionally, He came to illuminate the glory of the Father, which again embodies the essence of the Father's name. He often expressed this reverence, attributing all His works to the Father and declaring that He was sent by Him. Consequently, He also refers to the time when He made these declarations. Isychias: This affirmation and declaration of God, namely the Gospel, was not intended to be confined to the local inhabitants but to extend and reach the ends of the earth. For out of Zion shall come forth the law and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem, and He shall judge among the nations (Isaiah 2:3).

In this passage, the author delves deeper into the outcome of salvation than previously mentioned, predicting that it will not only be the Jewish people who will praise God, but that upon their return to their homeland, they will welcome kings and nations in a shared faith and devotion. Consequently, in the rebuilt temple, there will be worship given to God both from the Jews, who may now appear like a lifeless body, and from various rulers and nations who will come together with the Jews to honor God.

This passage speaks of a beggar, someone who is stripped of God's grace due to his transgressions yet seeks to regain it through heartfelt repentance and tears, approaching the Lord, who is abundant in mercy (Eph. 2:4). Christ, the Lord, during His earthly existence, became the Father of all for the benefit of humanity; He Himself committed no sin but liberated those ensnared by it, submitting to the humiliation of death on the cross (Phil. 2:8) and lifting up those who have stumbled into iniquity. With fervent prayers and earnest supplications, He approached the one capable of delivering Him from death, offering strong cries and tears. Having been heard by the faithful, He became the author of eternal salvation for all who heed Him (Heb.