The Meaning of Psalms 102:1 Explained

Psalms 102:1

KJV: {A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD.} Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.

YLT: A Prayer of the afflicted when he is feeble, and before Jehovah poureth out his plaint. O Jehovah, hear my prayer, yea, my cry to Thee cometh.

Darby: {A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before Jehovah.} Jehovah, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee.

ASV: Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, And let my cry come unto thee.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

{{A Prayer  of the afflicted,  when he is overwhelmed,  and poureth out  his complaint  before  the LORD.  }} Hear  my prayer,  O LORD,  and let my cry  come  unto thee. 

What does Psalms 102:1 Mean?

Study Notes

Hear my prayer, O Lord
The references of Psalms 102:25-27 to Christ Hebrews 1:10-12 assures us that in the preceding verses of Psalms 102 we have, prophetically, the exercises of His holy soul in the days of His humiliation and rejection.
See Psalms 110, next in order of the Messianic Psalms.

Context Summary

Psalms 102:1-11 - The Cry Of The Afflicted
This is the fifth of the Penitential Psalms. Some hold that it is one of the later psalms, asking for deliverance from captivity; others, emphasizing certain Davidic characteristics, ascribe it to the hand of the royal psalmist. Its actual authorship, however, is of comparatively small consequence; the main thing is to notice what adequate expression it gives to the sorrow of an almost broken heart.
The psalmist bases his cry for a speedy answer on the swiftness with which his days are passing away, like smoke escaping, from a chimney. His bones are calcined; his heart withers like Jonah's gourd; he is worn to a skeleton by his long and passionate lamentations. He finds his likeness in solitude-loving creatures, such as the pelican and the owl. Still another element in his suffering is the mockery of his foes. He cannot get away from it; it haunts him. Ashes, the token of his mourning, are his food, and tears fill his cup. But the bitterest element of all is the consciousness of God's displeasure. It seems as if God's hand is against him, and in the accumulated weight of grief, he deems that the day of his life must expire. However, in the concluding portion of the psalm his hope is renewed. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 102

1  The prophet in his prayer makes a grievous complaint
12  He takes comfort in the eternity, and mercy of God
18  The mercies of God are to be recorded
23  He sustains his weakness by the unchangeableness of God

What do the individual words in Psalms 102:1 mean?

A Prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed and before Yahweh Pours out his complaint Yahweh Hear my prayer and my cry to You let come
תְּ֭פִלָּה לְעָנִ֣י כִֽי־ יַעֲטֹ֑ף וְלִפְנֵ֥י יְ֝הוָ֗ה יִשְׁפֹּ֥ךְ שִׂיחֽוֹ יְ֭הוָה שִׁמְעָ֣ה תְפִלָּתִ֑י וְ֝שַׁוְעָתִ֗י אֵלֶ֥יךָ תָבֽוֹא

תְּ֭פִלָּה  A  Prayer 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: תְּפִלָּה  
Sense: prayer.
לְעָנִ֣י  of  the  afflicted 
Parse: Preposition-l, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: עָנִי  
Sense: poor, afflicted, humble, wretched.
יַעֲטֹ֑ף  he  is  overwhelmed 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָטוּף 
Sense: to turn aside.
וְלִפְנֵ֥י  and  before 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
יְ֝הוָ֗ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
יִשְׁפֹּ֥ךְ  Pours  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שֶׂפֶק 
Sense: to pour, pour out, spill.
שִׂיחֽוֹ  his  complaint 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: שִׂיחַ  
Sense: meditation, complaint, musing.
יְ֭הוָה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
שִׁמְעָ֣ה  Hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
תְפִלָּתִ֑י  my  prayer 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: תְּפִלָּה  
Sense: prayer.
וְ֝שַׁוְעָתִ֗י  and  my  cry 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: שַׁוְעָה  
Sense: cry for help.
אֵלֶ֥יךָ  to  You 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
תָבֽוֹא  let  come 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.