Psalm 102:1 kjv
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
Psalm 102:1 nkjv
A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, And let my cry come to You.
Psalm 102:1 niv
A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the LORD. Hear my prayer, LORD; let my cry for help come to you.
Psalm 102:1 esv
Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you!
Psalm 102:1 nlt
LORD, hear my prayer!
Listen to my plea!
Psalm 102 1 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ps 4:1 | Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! | God answering in distress |
| Ps 6:9 | The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. | God hears and receives prayer |
| Ps 18:6 | In my distress I called upon the LORD... He heard my voice... | Calling out in distress, God hears |
| Ps 34:17 | When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them. | God hears cries of the righteous |
| Ps 40:1 | I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. | God inclines to hear desperate cries |
| Ps 77:1 | I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me. | Fervent, repeated crying to God |
| Ps 86:7 | In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you will answer me. | Expectation of God's answer in trouble |
| Ps 116:1-2 | I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. | God inclines ear to hear pleas |
| Ps 142:1-2 | With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy... | Pouring out complaint before the LORD |
| Lam 3:55-56 | I called on your name, O LORD, from the depths of the pit... you heard me. | God hearing from deep affliction |
| Isa 65:24 | Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. | God's readiness to hear |
| Jer 29:12 | Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. | God's promise to hear when sought |
| Zec 7:13 | "As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear" | Consequences of not listening to God's voice |
| Mt 7:7 | "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and..." | Invitation to prayer, promise to hear |
| Lk 18:7-8 | Will not God grant justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night...? | God responds to persistent crying |
| Rom 8:26 | The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what to pray for... | Spirit intercedes for unuttered cries |
| Phil 4:6 | Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and... | Prayer as a response to anxiety |
| Col 4:2 | Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. | Perseverance in prayer |
| Heb 4:16 | Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we... | Access to God's throne through Christ |
| Jas 5:16 | The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. | Power of earnest prayer |
| 1 Jn 5:14 | And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything... | Confidence in God's hearing our petitions |
Psalm 102 verses
Psalm 102 1 Meaning
Psalm 102:1 is a desperate plea from an afflicted soul to God. It is a heartfelt cry for divine attention and intervention, asking the Lord to listen closely and acknowledge the distress of the supplicant. The verse expresses a deep desire for prayer to not merely be spoken, but to truly reach the presence of God and receive a responsive hearing.
Psalm 102 1 Context
Psalm 102 bears the superscription, "A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the LORD." This establishes the tone of profound personal suffering and deep spiritual or emotional distress. The psalmist is not simply praying, but "pouring out" their soul, feeling completely overcome. The chapter unfolds with a vivid description of physical decay, intense sorrow, social isolation, and perceived divine abandonment, all while looking towards the restoration of Zion. Verse 1 serves as the urgent opening to this deeply moving and intensely personal lament, setting the stage for the profound expression of anguish that follows. Historically, the themes within Psalm 102 resonate with the suffering experienced during the Babylonian exile or periods of severe national and individual distress, where hope lay solely in God's covenant faithfulness and eventual intervention. The psalm acknowledges current pain while appealing to God's enduring nature and His ultimate plan for His people.
Psalm 102 1 Word analysis
- Hear (שָׁמַע - shama'): This Hebrew verb implies much more than mere auditory reception. It signifies listening with attention, understanding, and often, with the intent to respond or act. It carries the weight of a covenant expectation, where God's hearing of His people's prayers implies His active engagement and faithfulness to His promises. The supplicant isn't just seeking an acknowledgment of sound, but an empathetic and redemptive response from God.
- my prayer (תְּפִלָּה - tephillah): Derived from the root palal, which can mean to intervene, intercede, or even to judge or decide. Thus, "prayer" here is not just a polite request but an appeal, a reasoned plea for God to intervene on behalf of the afflicted, implying a hope for justice, deliverance, or resolution from a divine judge.
- O LORD (יהוה - Yahweh): This is the Tetragrammaton, the personal, covenant name of God, revealing Him as the eternally existing, faithful, and promise-keeping God. By addressing God as Yahweh, the psalmist appeals not to a distant or generic deity, but to the specific God who has entered into a covenant relationship with His people, a relationship characterized by steadfast love and faithfulness. This signifies a personal and intimate appeal, even in overwhelming despair.
- let my cry (שַׁוְעָתִי - shav'ati): This word originates from shava', meaning to cry aloud for help, to lament, or to shriek, typically in a situation of extreme distress, oppression, or helplessness. It describes a raw, unrefined outpouring of desperate need, an urgent appeal beyond formal words. It suggests agony that demands immediate attention.
- come unto thee (אֵלֶיךָ תָבוֹא - eilekha tavo'): This phrase means "to you let it come." It speaks of the desire for the plea to penetrate God's presence, to ascend to His throne room, and to reach His attention fully. It’s a spatial and relational petition, ensuring that the cry doesn't go unheard or unanswered, but lands directly at the feet or in the heart of God. It reflects confidence in God's accessibility despite the psalmist's deep affliction.
- "Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come unto thee." (Phrase Analysis): This verse combines two distinct but complementary appeals, creating an intensifying parallelism. "Hear my prayer" is a more formal, deliberative plea (tephillah), implying structured communication. "Let my cry come unto thee" is an urgent, instinctive outpouring (shav'a), born of sheer anguish. The use of "Yahweh" for both appeals grounds them in God's covenant fidelity. The parallelism emphasizes the depth of the psalmist's need and his desperate reliance on God's active, faithful presence. It demonstrates that the supplicant is holding nothing back, appealing to God in both a reasoned and a raw, passionate manner.
Psalm 102 1 Bonus section
The very act of praying in such a state of despair, rather than simply succumbing to it, reveals an underlying thread of faith. Even when overwhelmed and feeling God’s apparent distance, the psalmist implicitly believes that God is still capable of hearing and intervening. This tension between overwhelming distress and an enduring, even if fragile, faith in God's character is a significant aspect of many laments in the Psalms. The structured plea of "my prayer" alongside the spontaneous eruption of "my cry" demonstrates a comprehensive offering of the self and one's condition to God, leaving nothing unexpressed. It reminds believers that true prayer involves both our intellect and our deepest emotions, presenting our whole selves before the Lord.
Psalm 102 1 Commentary
Psalm 102:1 captures the essence of a soul in profound anguish seeking direct communion with its Creator. It is a primal and spiritual longing for God's active presence in the midst of suffering. The psalmist does not merely speak words into the void but directs a fervent plea, leveraging both a considered "prayer" and a desperate, raw "cry." Addressing God as "O LORD" (Yahweh) anchors this plea in the divine covenant relationship, trusting in the unchanging character of the One who faithfully listens and responds. This verse exemplifies a key truth of biblical faith: that God, despite His transcendence, is intimately approachable and responsive to the genuine pleas of the afflicted, irrespective of the form or eloquence of the words. It affirms that the heart's deepest groans, like formal petitions, are meant to "come unto Him" and find His attentive ear.