The Meaning of Psalms 102:2 Explained

Psalms 102:2

KJV: 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.

YLT: Hide not Thou Thy face from me, In a day of mine adversity, Incline unto me Thine ear, In the day I call, haste, answer me.

Darby: Hide not thy face from me: in the day of my trouble, incline thine ear unto me; in the day I call, answer me speedily.

ASV: Hide not thy face from me in the day of my distress: Incline thine ear unto me; In the day when I call answer me speedily.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Psalms 102:2 Mean?

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 102:2 mean?

Not do hide Your face from me in the day of trouble my Incline to me Your ear that I call speedily answer me
אַל־ תַּסְתֵּ֬ר פָּנֶ֨יךָ ׀ מִמֶּנִּי֮ בְּי֪וֹם צַ֫ר לִ֥י הַטֵּֽה־ אֵלַ֥י אָזְנֶ֑ךָ אֶ֝קְרָ֗א מַהֵ֥ר עֲנֵֽנִי

תַּסְתֵּ֬ר  do  hide 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect Jussive, second person masculine singular
Root: סָתַר  
Sense: to hide, conceal.
פָּנֶ֨יךָ ׀  Your  face 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
מִמֶּנִּי֮  from  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
בְּי֪וֹם  in  the  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
צַ֫ר  of  trouble 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: צַר 
Sense: narrow, tight.
לִ֥י  my 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
הַטֵּֽה־  Incline 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: נָטָה 
Sense: to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow.
אֵלַ֥י  to  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: אֶל  
Sense: to, toward, unto (of motion).
אָזְנֶ֑ךָ  Your  ear 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֹזֶן  
Sense: ear, as part of the body.
אֶ֝קְרָ֗א  that  I  call 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: קָרָא  
Sense: to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim.
מַהֵ֥ר  speedily 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: מַהֵר  
Sense: hurrying, speedy, swift, hastening adv.
עֲנֵֽנִי  answer  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: לְעַנּׄות 
Sense: to answer, respond, testify, speak, shout.