Psalm 102 (101):4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Have you observed that the body's eyes, when constantly surrounded by smoke, perpetually weep, while in open air, meadows, springs, and gardens, they become revitalized and clearer? The same principle applies to the eye of the soul. When nurtured in the fields of spiritual wisdom, it remains pure, bright, and discerning; however, if it is engulfed by the smoke of earthly preoccupations, it will continually weep and suffer both in this life and the next. Indeed, the endeavors of humanity resemble smoke. This is why it has been said: ‘My days are gone like smoke.’ Yet the prophet's intention was to convey a notion of the fleeting and unstable nature of human existence, and I would argue that this should also be seen as a reflection of life's rebelliousness.

Behold, a destitute man prays aloud, making his supplications known. Let us hear him and discern who he is—could it be the one described by the apostle when he 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 is Him, then why does He embody poverty? In what way is He, who perceives no lack, considered destitute? Who could be richer than the one through whom all wealth was brought into existence, even that which is not true wealth? Through Him, we receive other kinds of riches—abilities, memory, virtue, bodily health, and the proper functioning of our senses and faculties. When these are secure, even those with nothing can attain wealth. He also grants us immeasurable treasures: faith, devotion, justice, love, purity, and virtuous conduct—none possesses these except through Him who redeems the unrighteous. What wealth is present! How do we recognize these words spoken by such a rich figure? "I have eaten ashes as bread, and mixed my drink with weeping"—has such grand fortune led to this? This initial estate is exalted, and yet this state is lowly.

And yet, let us verify whether this impoverished man is indeed He, as it is written, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Contemplate also: "I am your servant, and the son of your servant." Consider this minister: chaste, virgin, and mother; for it is here that He assumed our state of poverty, taking the role of a servant and humbling Himself, so that you might not recoil from His wealth but approach with confidence in your own destitution. In this role of a servant, He embraced our poverty, transforming Himself into one lacking and us into the affluent. We draw closer to apprehending these truths about Him—even still, we hesitate to make bold declarations.

Let Him then layer poverty upon poverty, and transform our mortal bodies to conform to His! He is our Head; we are His members, united as one flesh (Philippians 3:21). He desires to count us as His members, including the repentant. They are neither cut off from His Church, nor would He have chosen the Church as His bride without the call to "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). Hence, let us listen to the prayers spoken by Christ, the Head, and the Church, His beloved, both embodying one perfect being. Though the Word and the flesh are not identical entities at once, the Father and the Word are one, and so are Christ and the Church.

Let us hear the cries of Christ, who experiences poverty within us and on our behalf, for this title—'The Prayer of the Suffering Man'—belongs to Him. He uttered this when He was tormented, addressing his prayer to the Lord. The same poor soul, in another context, declares, "From the ends of the earth I will call upon Thee when my heart is in travail." He suffers, for He is also Christ, who through the Prophet acknowledges Himself both as Bridegroom and Bride: "He has put a diadem upon me as the bridegroom, and as the bride has adorned me with jewels" (Isaiah 61:10). He calls Himself Bridegroom, and Bride; for what is this, if not that the Bridegroom signifies the Head, and the Bride refers to the body? They utter one unified voice because they are one flesh. Let us heed and recognize our own selves in these expressions; and if we find ourselves distanced, let us strive to approach closer.

"Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto Thee" (Psalm 100:1). To request, "Hear my prayer, Lord," is the same as saying, "Let my cry reach You," where the strong feeling of the supplicant is emphasized in the repetition. "Do not turn Your face away from me." When has God ever turned away from His Son? When did the Father turn His back on Christ? However, because of the scarcity in my membership, do not turn Your face from me; on whatever day I lament, incline Your ear unto me (Psalm 101:2).

You are now troubled; I am troubled. Others today are troubled, and I am troubled; even in future generations, those who will come after you are troubled, and I am troubled; until the end of time, anyone enduring difficulty in my body shall find me troubled. Peter prayed, Paul prayed, the other Apostles prayed; the faithful prayed in their time and continue to pray in the times yet to come, as they prayed during the age of martyrs and pray in our own era. I call upon You at once, for I now seek what Thou art prepared to provide. I do not ask for earthly pleasures, as earthly men do, but having finally been redeemed from prior bondage, I yearn for the heavenly kingdom. Hear me soon; for to such yearning, You responded: "Even while you speak, I will say, Here am I" (Isaiah 58:9).

What do you call for? In what anguish do you seek? O wretched one, at the gates of the all-sufficient God, what longing drives your request? From what need do you seek deliverance? For my days have faded like smoke (Psalm 100:3). O days! If days are present; for where the daylight shines, there is light comprehended. My days and times, therefore, are like smoke—are they not a consequence of pride's puffery? Observe how smoke, akin to pride, rises, swells, and then dissipates: thus it fades rightly, not remaining. "And my bones burn as in a furnace." My bones and my strength are no stranger to sorrow and fervor. The bones of Christ's body, the strength of this body, is there anywhere transcending that of the holy apostles? And yet, witness that their bones are indeed ablaze. Who is offended that I am unscathed? (2 Corinthians 11:29). They are valorous, faithful, skilled interpreters and proclaimers of the word, living their messages and practicing their teachings; they are indeed dedicated, yet all who take offense serve as a furnace to them. In love, and even more so, there resides intensified warmth within the bones. The bones are cloistered within all flesh, supporting it all. But if anyone suffers any offense, jeopardizing his soul, that bone is scorched relative to its appetite….

Reflect on Adam, from whom humanity originated. From him began our suffering. From him came this inherited destitution. Let him who once inhabited despair in his body now exclaim with hope, "My heart is afflicted and withered like grass" (Psalm 101:4). Rightly so, for all flesh is grass (Isaiah 40:6). But what has brought about this state? Because I ceased to partake in my bread. For God issued His command concerning bread. Yet what qualifies as the bread of the soul? The serpent enticed, and the woman erred; he touched the cursed fruit (Genesis 3:6) and neglected the commandment. Consequently, his heart was stricken as it rightly deserved and withered like grass, for he forgot to partake of his bread. In forgetting to consume his bread, he ingests poison: his heart is afflicted and has withered like grass.

Now partake of the bread you have neglected! Yet that very Bread has arrived, in whose body you may recall the echoes of your negligence, crying in your destitution for wealth. Come now, eat, for you dwell in His body! As He declared, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven" (John 6:41). You have forgotten to eat your bread; but post His crucifixion, all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord. Let remembrance return after forgetfulness; let us consume the Bread from Heaven so that we may live—not the manna, for they who ate thereof perished (John 6:49). Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after 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 as I lament their wrongdoing. When a man loses a coin, he groans; yet when he loses faith, he remains silent: I weigh the value of money against the worth of faith and find far more reason to lament for him who fails to groan as he ought. He engages in deception and takes delight in it. What gain can this be, and what loss? He has gained wealth, yet has lost righteousness. It is for this reason that he who genuinely understands how to groan is the true groaner; he who is closely tethered to the Head and faithfully clings to the body of Christ groans for that reasoning. Yet the carnal ones do not groan for this cause, nor do they truly groan; and even if they do not groan for the right reasons, we cannot dismiss them. We wish to rectify them, we yearn to guide them, and when we are unable, we groan alongside them, and our groaning does not separate us from them.

"I have become like a pelican in the wilderness, and like an owl among the broken walls" (Psalm 100:6). Here are three birds and three locations—the pelican, the owl, and the sparrow; and each corresponds to different habitats: the wilderness, the ruins, and the roof. The pelican resides in the wilderness; the owl inhabits the ruins of broken walls; and the sparrow occupies the rooftop. First, we must interpret the significance of the pelican, as it exists in a region unknown to us. It is birthed in seclusion, predominantly found along the banks of the Nile in Egypt. Whatever the nature of the bird, let us heed the Psalm's description. It is said to dwell in the wilderness. Why inquire about its form, limbs, voice, or habits? As far as the Psalm conveys, it is a solitary bird. The owl is a creature of the night, living amidst broken walls, lacking a roof; this signifies its dwelling in desolation. And regarding roofs and sparrows, you are well aware of them. I identify someone from Christ's body—a preacher of the word—who is compassionate towards the weak, striving for the victories of Christ, conscious of his future Lord (Matthew 25:26).

Let us examine these three symbols through the lens of His stewardship. If such a man arrives among non-believers, he is the pelican in the wilderness. If he visits believers and withdraws, he is the owl in the ruins, for he does not abandon even those lost in darkness, but seeks to reach them too. If he finds himself among believers who act as if their faith is overshadowed, yet still dwell warmly in their beliefs, the sparrow cries out to them—not in the wilderness, for they are believers; nor in the ruins, for they are standing firm; but because they are nestled under the roof—understood more accurately as being enshrouded in the flesh. The sparrow perched over the flesh calls out, not shying away from God's commandments, nor is it ensnared by the flesh to yield to its own roof. "What you hear in the ear, preach on the rooftops" (Matthew 10:27).

There reside these three birds and three places, and one individual may embody three birds, while three separate individuals may represent them distinctly; likewise, the three categories of locations symbolize three groups of people. The wilderness, the ruined walls, and the roof of the house signify only various classes of society.

Let us not overlook the assertions regarding this bird, specifically the pelican. Neither shall we make sweeping claims without proper consideration, nor will we ignore what remains yet to be read and articulated by those who studied it. This bird is reported to strike its chicks with its beak and grieve for three days after slaying them within the nest. It is said that through this act of sorrow, it restores their life. This might be true or false; however, if it holds truth, it aligns well with Him who granted life through His blood. It parallels Him in that the flesh of the mother, through her blood, brings forth life; it bears a remarkable correspondence. For He likens Himself to a hen that gathers her chicks (Matthew 23:37).

While this has been previously addressed, it warrants reiteration. The entirety of their power, which upheld the lesser ministry of the law, was diminished and ultimately vanished. This power was comprised of the high priesthood, the temple, the sacrificial system, and the autonomy of the people.

As a child, I was unaware of my transformation into a young man. Moving into adulthood, I realized I had overlooked the passage of time. My days slipped away like vapor. Some individuals deceive themselves into believing they will live forever, continuing in their wrongdoings. 'And the bones of my bones, like kindling, dried up.' The mention of 'bones' symbolizes foundational strength. Hence, if my entire strength withers and diminishes, how much weaker is the flesh, which is frail by its very nature?

Thus, the Prophet uniquely begins to depict forthcoming tribulations as if they have already occurred, stating that the duration of his existence has vanished like vapor and that his body has become desiccated due to grief, resembling a piece of charred wood, as if it had been consumed by flames. This is similarly expressed in Aquila's translation, where it reads, "And my bones were scattered like parched ground."

My days are dwindling like vapor. Listen to me, declares the Lord, for my spirit is fading and weary. In another text, he expresses, Listen to me quickly, O Lord, for my spirit departs (Psalm 142:7). He notes that my days have evaporated like smoke, indicating that the years of my existence have disappeared and faded away. My bones are as parched as the wood of the brush. Instead of brushwood, Simmah refers to charcoal and ashes. He states that my very bones have dried up like scorched charcoal, having been ignited by the fires of temptation. In the most profound context, the mention of bones pertains to the thoughts that sustain the spirit, similar to how bones uphold the body.

He explains the reason for his plea, “Hear me soon,” highlighting the fragility of human existence that inevitably trends toward mortality; thus, if suffering is not alleviated promptly, it poses a significant risk of remaining unhealed indefinitely. It’s as if he expresses, “The duration of my life, which has unfolded until this moment, has evaporated like smoke, which, regardless of how dense and substantial it appears, is swiftly dissipated into the air. My very bones, the sturdy pillars of my being, have rapidly weakened, leading them to frailty and the looming threat of total ruin. Another analogy follows:

This metaphorical beggar symbolizes a person stripped of God's grace due to their transgressions, who, in a heartfelt state of repentance and humility, seeks to receive that grace, pouring out tears to the Lord, who is abundant in mercy (Eph. 2:4). Christ, the Lord, is the Father of all, created no sin Himself, yet willingly humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross (Phil. 2:8) to liberate sinners, raising those who have stumbled in their transgressions. He offered prayers and heartfelt pleas to the One capable of delivering Him from death, crying out with strong emotion, and His pleas were answered. He became the source of eternal salvation to all who heed Him (Heb. 5:7-9), for in Him all have been enriched abundantly (1 Cor. 1:5).