Question: Could you please interpret the meaning of Psalm 102? I was told to read Matthew 5:1-12 and Ecclesiastes 1 and 3. I truly would like to know your thoughts. | thebereancall.org

Question: Could you please interpret the meaning of Psalm 102? I was told to read Matthew 5:1-12 and Ecclesiastes 1 and 3. I truly would like to know your thoughts.

TBC Staff

Question: Could you please interpret the meaning of Psalm 102? I was told to read Matthew:5:1-12 and Ecclesiastes 1 and 3. I truly would like to know your thoughts.

Response: Psalm 102 is titled "A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord." We may each, Jew or Gentile, apply it to ourselves. However, it is primarily about Israel, the affliction she has endured through the centuries because of her rebellion against the Lord, the hope of her restoration, and the Messiah's Millennial reign from Jerusalem.

Matthew:5:1-12, of course, is a practical guide to Christian living here and now-but in view of the coming kingdom. The relationship to Psalm 102 should be clear. Ecclesiastes 1 and Ecclesiastes 3 take a different approach. The key phrase in Ecclesiastes is "under the sun." If that is forgotten, one could imagine that death is the end of existence and we should get all we can out of this life, living for self to the max. Of course, the message is the exact opposite: that life "under the sun" has nothing lasting to offer, for all is "vanity and vexation of spirit."

Solomon brings it all together in the last two verses: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments....For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes:12:13-14).

I think you can see how all of these scriptures tie together.