Psalms 102:1–11, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Psalms 102:1–11
An afflicted prayer opens toward Zion's future: An afflicted life withers in isolation
The prayer asks for a face and an ear while the body burns down
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.
Speed is asked because days are already smoke. Forgotten bread and bones to skin are bodily collapse, not a fasting program. The poem does not diagnose the cause as guilt, weak faith, or a lesson the speaker should have learned faster.
Wilderness birds and a rooftop sparrow picture isolation under reproach
I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
Pelican, owl, and lone sparrow are images of unsocial watching. Ashes for bread and drink mixed with tears are grief's diet. Wrath is how the speaker interprets the throw-down. Readers still must not tell an isolated person that the pain is deserved, and they must not demand that this unit already sound like Zion's hope.
How this should shape us
When someone cannot eat, sleeps like a bird on a roof, or speaks of days as smoke, stay with them, help them eat, and ask about safety. Do not minimize the isolation for the sake of a later hopeful stanza.
Teach it back
Explain Psalms 102:1–11 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 102 and Book IV, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: Personal collapse and communal hope coexist; the poem does not demand that sufferers minimize pain for institutional optimism.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Psalms 102:1–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 102:1–11
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 102:1–11.
Official NET Bible Psalm 102 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 102:1–11
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: individual and communal lament, from lament to praise, and Bible in the World; applied to Psalms 102:1–11
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 102 for Psalms 102:1–11
Supports: Davidic superscriptions and collection shaping treated as ancient editorial evidence without assuming direct authorship or a recoverable episode.
Botha, 'The role of David,' Verbum et Ecclesia 42.1 (2021), sections 'Davidic superscriptions' and 'Davidic collections'; applied to the heading and editorial placement of Psalm 102
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying despair, isolation, death wishes, and severe loss; not exegesis.
WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii and dos and don'ts pp. 11–16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Psalms 102:1–11
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 102:1–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 102:1–11
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 102:1–11.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 102 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 102:1–11
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: individual and communal lament, from lament to praise, and Bible in the World; applied to Psalms 102:1–11
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 102 for Psalms 102:1–11
Open NETS Psalms ↗peer reviewed open access literary and redaction study
The role of David in the composition and redactional grouping of the final Davidic Psalter
Carine H. Botha
Verbum et Ecclesia 42.1, 2021
Supports: Davidic superscriptions and collection shaping treated as ancient editorial evidence without assuming direct authorship or a recoverable episode.
Exact location: Botha, 'The role of David,' Verbum et Ecclesia 42.1 (2021), sections 'Davidic superscriptions' and 'Davidic collections'; applied to the heading and editorial placement of Psalm 102
Open Botha on the Davidic Psalter ↗public health communication guidance
Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023
World Health Organization
World Health Organization, 2023
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying despair, isolation, death wishes, and severe loss; not exegesis.
Exact location: WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii and dos and don'ts pp. 11–16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Psalms 102:1–11
Open the WHO communication guide ↗