Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 102:1-11

"Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, And let my cry come unto thee. 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. For my days consume away like smoke, And my bones are burned as a firebrand. My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; For I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning My bones cleave to my flesh. I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places. I watch, and am become like a sparrow That is alone upon the house-top. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; They that are mad against me do curse by me. For I have eaten ashes like bread, And mingled my drink with weeping, Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: For thou hast taken me up, and cast me away. My days are like a shadow that declineth; And I am withered like grass." — Psalms 102:1-11 (ASV)

The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but here, as often elsewhere, the Holy Spirit has put words into our mouths. Here is a prayer put into the hands of the afflicted; let them present it to God. Even good men may be almost overwhelmed with afflictions. It is our duty and interest to pray; and it is a comfort to an afflicted spirit to unburden itself by a humble representation of its griefs. We must say, Blessed be the name of the Lord, who both gives and takes away. The psalmist looked upon himself as a dying man: My days are like a shadow.