Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so
that a people yet to be created may praise the
LORD: that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free
those who were doomed to die, that they may
declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in
Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather
together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
(Psalm 102:18-22)
We need to feel the depth of
God’s grace in this passage.
Although God is holy and
exalted, He looks down from
His “holy height” in heaven
to help those who are
in desperate need. He
hears the “groans of
the prisoners”; He sets
free those who were
“doomed to die.”
What a picture of
despair and bondage
and hopelessness for
God’s people. And yet
God on high promised to a
“generation to come” that He
would look down and hear them
and set them free. We’re reminded of
the way Christ described His mission during His
first coming:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of
the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
From his holy height, God has come to us in the
person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He has
taken on human flesh and lived among us––a
Savior who is both fully human and fully divine. He
has died for us so that we might be free from our
bondage to sin and death, and He has been raised
from the dead to give us life. Prisoners doomed to
die are pardoned and set free through the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
And the psalmist tells us why God wants His
people to know these truths: “. . . that they may
declare in Zion the name of the Lord, and in
Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather
together, and kingdoms, to worship the
Lord” (Psalm 102:21-22). Praise
and exaltation have always
been the proper response to
God’s unfathomable grace.
How much more now
that His grace has been
made known in Christ!
PRAYING IN LIGHT
OF TODAY’S
PASSAGE
Praise God for His
unfathomable grace to
you––that He has set you
free from the bondage
of sin and death and given
you new life through Christ.