“Psalm 102: Rebuilding”
Original sermon given on April 2, 2025 written and delivered by Pastor Jeff Leininger at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church from the Lenten Series on Penitential Psalms in the Christian Life.
Watch the sermon live.
“Rebuilding”
Psalm 102
Psalm 102
In the name of the Living God and the crucified Christ. Amen.
He sits by the fire and sees the smoke rise and dissipate. He peers into the hearth and notices the red-hot embers consuming the wood. Then he sings the words of this Penitential Psalm, reflecting both upon the brevity of life and its pain; its fleeting nature and its suffering: “For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.” (NIV)
It’s time to start all over. To rebuild. To forget everything that’s behind and begin anew. They say, “Tear it down to the studs,” if your baseball team is real bad.
We can’t be exactly sure of the specific context of Psalm 102, but a couple of things are clear from the outset. The first is that whatever he’s experiencing personally, it runs parallel with the suffering of his people, his nation. This is a prayer of an afflicted individual, but it also echoes and embodies the cries of anguished nation. The second thing to note from the outset is that as bad as it’s gotten — note that he’s so distressed that he can’t even eat — but as bad as it’s gotten, he still calls out to God. Somehow, sitting by that fire, a spark of faith flies up to the Lord: “Hear my prayer, O Lord; Let my cry for help come to you.”
“Rebuilding” is the “R” word for this week in our series on the Penitential Psalms. As I mentioned, we don’t know for certain what the particular historic context is, but most likely this Psalm’s setting concerned the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return of the exiles from Babylon. Verse 16: “For the Lord builds up (rebuilds) Zion; he appears in his glory.” You might recall some of your biblical history. After their 70-year slavery, God would call his people back in redemptive freedom and would empower them to rebuild. The details are recorded for us in a couple of the minor prophets: Ezra and Nehemiah. It all occurs under the Persians in around 560 B.C.
This all may seem obscure and distant for you this evening, but “rebuilding” is a universal human theme. Psalm 102 offers biblical and spiritual insights in times when we need to start all over again, whether in a relationship, a life situation, or a time of spiritual searching. God’s word tonight in this “rebuilding” Psalm offers four things to remember for any spiritual rebuilding project.
1) It is the Lord’s Rebuild/Reign
God must remain in charge of the reconstruction project. Vrs. 12 “But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever…”; vrs. 19, “The Lord looked down from his holy height; from heaven the Lord looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners…” This is a salutary lesson to learn when your life falls apart, and the walls of your world crumble around you. When it’s time to rebuild, rebuild God’s way from the start. His word. His work. His way. He is the sovereign one, enthroned over all. Maybe this time start with “thy will be done” rather than “my will be done.”
2) The Lord’s Timing
Before they could rebuild, they had to be flattened completely; bottomed out; totally broken. Rebuilding could only begin from the very bottom. There could be nothing left of their efforts or accomplishments or glory, but all must arise from God.
Verse 13 says, “[The Lord] will arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come.” When the Lord knew that they were ready, when the divine timing was right, He would rebuild Jerusalem. Had he begun too soon, they would have been too prideful; had he begun too late, they would be too despairing, their faith flickered out. But the Lord knew with perfect precision when reconstruction would need to begin. It would not be, could not be on their schedule. They would have to trust his timing for the rebuild.
3) The Lord’s Rubble
I think the most moving verse of the whole Psalm is verse 14 (NIV): “For [Jerusalem’s] stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.” The image here is of a ruined city, crumbled walls, dust all over the ground. How precious this place was at one time to the people, as they looked upon all they had built laying in ruins.
Yet, in the end, they had to trust that this tearing down, as hard as it was, was the Lord’s doing. Not that the Lord was glad for their pain, but that even in the midst of it his love was still there. This would be his rubble, his ruins, his dust. Behind the tearing down was his love, because now they could hold only to his mercy and compassion. Now he could fully rebuild with his power, and his power alone. Even the rubble and ruins were his, the dust of destruction a work of his compassion.
4) The Lord’s Praise
The whole purpose of the rebuild was not actually for them. It was for the God’s glory, and for his praise to arise from generation after generation. Vrs. 18: “Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.” And vrs. 21 “…that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in Jerusalem his praise…”
When something solid is built, it has lasting effects for generations. And therefore, God’s praise resounds for generations. This is true in family, in church, and in life. Even those not yet born benefit and bless the Lord from a solid rebuild. It is built so strong that it benefits generations, and those generations join in the praise of the Lord.
I’ll share an illustration from ancestors on my mom’s side in Bay City, MI. I’ve recently been reading some family history on my mom’s family. In the 1800s they came to Frankenlust (not Frankenmuth). They came to start all over, to build something new. But they built so strongly on God’s word that many of the churches, schools, hospitals, and mission organizations survive to this very day. I am that “generation, yet unborn” which today praises God and continues their work.
This Psalm ultimately points us to the work of Christ Jesus, our savior. The book of Hebrews specifically finds the messiah in this Psalm. God’s salvation in the work of Jesus was his great rebuilding project for all the world.
1) It would be the Lord’s rebuild. Our salvation is God’s work. He’s in charge of the reconstruction project. “Not of our works, lest anyone should boast,” St. Paul writes. We were dead in our trespasses and sin yet have been made alive by the work of Christ through faith in his name.
2) It would be the Lord’s timing. It was at the appointed time. Galatians 4:4: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” At the Lord’s precise, perfect moment, Christ entered into our fallen human history to bring us back to himself and build his church.
3) It was the Lord’s rubble, the Lord’s cross. The cross, a horrible instrument of torture, defeat, and death, was made the very means of our salvation. This was not a tragic accident, nor a misstep of time and circumstance, but rather God’s chosen, appointed method to redeem us, rebuild us. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself on the cross. Even in the horrible pain and suffering of the perfect, righteous Son of God, God’s love was still behind it all.
4) Lord’s Praise. It is to the Praise of his glorious grace. The work of our salvation, God’s grace given to us on Calvary, brings forth in us lives of thanksgiving and praise. Not just now, but from generation to generation, we continue to build upon the solid foundation of his work. “Your renown O Lord, endures through all generations (vrs 12) …All the ends of the earth will revere your glory.” (JL translation)
Come soon Lord Jesus. Amen.