Psalm 102 is the 102nd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee." In Latin, it is known as "Domine exaudi orationem meam". In the slightly different numbering system used by the Greek Septuagint version of the bible and the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 101. This psalm is part of the fourth of the five biblical books of Psalms and is one of the seven penitential psalms. It begins the final section of the three traditional divisions of the Latin psalms, and for this reason the first words ("Domine exaudi orationem meam et clamor meus ad te veniat...") and above all the initial "D" are often greatly enlarged in illuminated manuscript psalters, following the pattern of the Beatus initials at the start of Psalm 1. In the original Hebrew, the first verse introduces the psalm as "A prayer of the poor man" or "A prayer of the afflicted". The New King James Version has a longer sub-title, "A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the Lord."

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).

King James Version

Background and themes

Midrash Tehillim quotes Rabbi Pinchas, who notes that in some psalms David calls himself by name, as in "A prayer of David" (e.g. Psalm 17 and 86), but here he calls himself "the afflicted", as in "A prayer of the afflicted". Rabbi Pinchas explains that when David foresaw the righteous men who would descend from him—Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Isaiah—he called himself David. But when he perceived the wicked men who would be his descendants—Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon—he called himself "the afflicted". In a greater context in the flow of Psalms, there are seven calls to praise with Psalms 95 though 100 immediately leading up to Psalm 102 and in the writer commits to do that in Ps 101. To the reader Psalm 102 may feel an unexpected out of place lament. By title 'A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord." In this case in the flow weeping is set before praising. What follows in the flow of Psalms is addressing self with truth as a basis of praise. "Bless the Lord Oh my soul' in Ps 103 and Ps 104.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). The extant palimpsest AqTaylor includes a translation into Koine Greek by Aquila of Sinope in c. 130 CE, containing verses 16–29.

Verse 24

There is a similar sentiment in :"I said, 'In the prime of my life, I shall go to the gates of Sheol; I am deprived of the remainder of my years'."

Uses

Judaism

Psalm 102 is one of 15 psalms recited as additional hymns during the Yom Kippur service by Sephardi Jews. Verse 1 is recited by the sheaves of barley in Perek Shirah. Verse 14 is said in Selichot. Sephardi Jews recite verse 14 after the prayer of Ein Keloheinu in the morning service. This verse is also used as a popular Jewish song called Atah takum, with the refrain ki va moed. Psalm 102 is said in times of community crisis. It is also recited as a prayer for a childless woman to give birth. In the Siddur Sfas Emes, this psalm is said as a prayer "for the well-being of an ill person".

New Testament

In the New Testament, verses 25-27 are quoted in Hebrews as an argument that Jesus is superior to the angels and making Psalm 102 in some sense both prayer to and praise concerning Jesus.

Catholic church

Verse 1, with some other psalm verses (such as 124:8), has a prominent place in Catholic and Anglican liturgies, where it is split as an antiphon into a "call" ("Lord, listen to my prayer", or "Hear my prayer, O Lord") and the response ("and let my cry come unto Thee"). This psalm occurs in the Monastic office of St Benedict (480-547) in the Saturday Vigil or Matins. It occurs in the same place in the Roman Breviary of St Pius V (1568) and occurs at Saturday Terce in the Roman Breviary of St Pius X (1911). In the revised office of Pope Paul VI (1971), the Psalm occurs on Tuesday in Week 4 of the Office of Readings.

Book of Common Prayer

In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the morning of the twentieth day of the month, as well as at Evensong on Ash Wednesday.

Musical settings

Heinrich Schütz set Psalm 102 in a metred paraphrase in German, "Hör mein Gebet und laß zu dir", SWV 200, for the Becker Psalter, published first in 1628. The second verse is set in the first part of Hear my prayer, O Lord, an anthem composed in 1682 by Henry Purcell, using the translation of the Book of Common Prayer. Verses 25b-28 (interspersed with Psalm 90) form the text of Jochen Klepper's 1938 Neujahrslied (New Years' Song). In contemporary music, the Psalm was used in Semler's song titled "Psalm 102" from their 2021 EP "Late Bloomer".

Sources