A Sackloth Song – Psalm 102
As providence would have it, our Psalm a month series presents us Psalm 102 today. This message follows 2 sermons from various passages in Nehemiah 8-10. We have emphasized in these occasional sermons, the seriousness of the historical moment we find ourselves in this day as a nation in 2020. Our world has been interrupted by a viral pandemic that has ground ordinary life to a screeching halt. Times like these raise the question: “How should we respond to such a crisis?” We've gleaned from Nehemiah that, under the judgements of God, our options are sackcloth (repentance) or slavery. We've also studied specific documentation of repentance modeled for us at this time where the people sealed their intentions in “a firm covenant in writing”. Today Psalm 102 presents us with a prayerful anthem to be sung in sackcloth. Adam Clarke comments on this song: “This Psalm has been attributed to Daniel, to Jeremiah, to Nehemiah, or to some of the other prophets who flourished during the time of captivity.” Spurgeon writes concerning Psalm 102: “This is a patriot’s lament over his country's distress. He arrays himself in the griefs of his nation as in a garment of sackcloth, and casts dust and ashes upon his head as the ensigns and causes of his sorrow. ---- He is, moreover, sore afflicted in body by sickness, but the miseries of his people cause him a far more bitter anguish, and this he pours out in an earnest, pathetic, lamentation. Not however, without hope does the patriot mourn, he has faith in God and looks for the resurrection of the nation through the omnipotent favor of the Lord.” Here is what to sing in sackcloth...