Psalms 102:1
in Psalms 102Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come before You.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, And let my cry come unto thee.
KJV
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.
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This verse in Psalms 102
Commentary
9 notes on this versePrayer of the poor man, when he is in anguish, and pours out his supplication before the Lord. He speaks of a poor man, not of this world, but of the one about whom it is written: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit.' When he is in anguish: when he calls to mind his sins, both past and present. Pours out: with his whole heart, not with his lips. But who is able to pour out his prayer before the Lord? Who is able not to be stung by his own conscience?
This site's exposition
let my cry for help come
on Psalms 102:1-2
He asks for two things, a face turned toward him and an ear bent down to hear. Distance and deafness are what a sufferer fears first, and this is his day of distress. The answer he wants is a quick one.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Hear my prayer, O Lord: and let my crying come unto You" [Psalm 102:1]. "Hear my prayer, O Lord," is the same as, "Let my crying come unto You:" the feeling of the suppliant is shown by the repetition. "Turn not Your face away from me." When did God turn away His Face from His Son? When did the Father turn away His Face from Christ? But for the sake of the poverty of my members, "Turn not away Your face from me: whatsoever day I am troubled, incline Your ear unto me" [Psalm 102:2]....You are in trouble this day, I am in trouble; another is in trouble tomorrow, I am in trouble; after this generation other descendants, who succeed your descendants, are in trouble, I am in trouble; down to the end of the world, whoever are in trouble in My body, I am in trouble....Peter prayed, Paul prayed, the rest of the Apostles prayed; the faithful prayed in those times, the faithful prayed in the following times, the faithful prayed in the times of the Martyrs, the faithful pray in our times, the faithful will pray in the times of our descendants. "Right soon:" for I now ask that which You are willing to grant. I ask not earthly things, as an earthly man; but redeemed at last from my former captivity, I long for the kingdom of heaven; "Hear me right soon:" for it is only to such a longing that You have said, "Even while You are speaking, I will say, Here I am." [Isaiah 58:9] Wherefore do you call? In what tribulation? In what want? O poor one, before the gate of God all-rich, in what longing do you beg? From what destitution do you ask relief? From what want do you knock, that it may be opened unto you?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It may be our hope that God will graciously hear us, because he has appointed us to seek him and has promised we shall not seek him in vain. If we put up a prayer in faith, we may in faith say, Hear my prayer, O Lord! "Hear me," that is, (1.) "Manifest thyself to me, hide not thy face from me in displeasure, when I am in trouble.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Hear my prayer, O Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Hear my prayer, O Lord. Or O Jehovah. Sincere supplicants are not content with praying for praying's sake, they desire really to reach the ear and heart of the great God. It is a great relief in time of distress to acquaint others with our trouble, we are eased by their hearing our lamentation, but it is the sweetest solace of all to have God himself as a sympathizing listener to our plaint. That he is such is no dream or fiction, but an assured fact.
Hear my prayer, O Lord. Or O Jehovah. Sincere supplicants are not content with praying for praying's sake, they desire really to reach the ear and heart of the great God. It is a great relief in time of distress to acquaint others with our trouble, we are eased by their hearing our lamentation, but it is the sweetest solace of all to have God himself as a sympathizing listener to our plaint. That he is such is no dream or fiction, but an assured fact. It would be the direst of all our woes if we could be indisputably convinced that with God there is neither hearing nor answering; he who could argue us into so dreary a belief would do us no better service than if he had read us our death-warrants. Better die than be denied the mercy-seat. As well be atheists at once as believe in an unhearing, unfeeling God. And let my cry come unto thee. When sorrow rises to such a height that words become too weak a medium of expression, and prayer is intensified into a cry, then the heart is even more urgent to have audience with the Lord. If our cries do not enter within the veil, and reach to the living God, we may as well cease from prayer at once, for it is idle to cry to the winds; but, blessed be God, the philosophy which suggests such a hideous idea is disproved by the facts of every day experience, since thousands of the saints can declare, "Verily, God hath heard us."
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Hear my prayer - The chief parts of the Psalm answer well to the title: it is the language of the deepest distress, and well directed to Him from whom alone help can come.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hear my prayer, O Lord - The prayer which I offer in view of my personal trials; the prayer which I offer as one of an afflicted people. Compare Psa 4:1; Psa 17:1; Psa 18:6. And let my cry come unto thee - My prayer, accompanied with an outward expression of my earnestness. It was not a silent, or a mental prayer; it was a loud and earnest cry. Psa 5:2; Psa 18:6, Psa 18:41; Psa 30:2; Psa 72:12; Job 35:9; Job 36:13.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שִׁמְעָ֣ה | shimah | hear ! | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| תְפִלָּתִ֑י | tefilati | prayer my | H8605 → | 72 times |
| וְ֝שַׁוְעָתִ֗י | veshavati | and cry for help my | H7775 → | 11 times |
| אֵלֶ֥יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| תָבֽוֹא׃ | tavo' | let it come | H935 → | 2568 times |
יְ֭הוָהO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
שִׁמְעָ֣הhear !
shimahH8085 →1159 times
תְפִלָּתִ֑יprayer my
tefilatiH8605 →72 times
וְ֝שַׁוְעָתִ֗יand cry for help my
veshavatiH7775 →11 times
אֵלֶ֥יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
תָבֽוֹא׃let it come
tavo'H935 →2568 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 61:2From the ends of the earth I call out to You whenever my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
- Psalms 139:9–10
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,
- Isaiah 32:2
Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.
- Psalms 62:6
He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress; I will not be shaken.
- Psalms 18:2
Through
Psalms 18:6In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- 2 Samuel 22:7
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried out to my God. And from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help reached His ears.
- Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- Psalms 130:1–2
Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD!
- Psalms 50:15
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 102; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, Homily 28, on Psalm 101; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.