My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
-In contrast to his own frailty, the Psalmist finds that consolation in God's abiding character which assures him that God will arise and have mercy on Zion, whose representative he is.
Verse 11. My days are like a shadow that declineth - i:e., which is on the point of vanishing, as the shadows at evening (Psalms 109:23; Psalms 144:4.) Or else 'like a shadow inclined and lengthened out from the sun.' The decline of day is marked by the lengthening shadows (Jeremiah 6:4; Judges 19:8, margin; Psalms 62:4). (Muis and Gejer.)
And I am withered like grass - resuming Psalms 102:4, "my heart is withered like grass:" which proves that this verse belongs to the second or following strophe, not to the former one. Moreover, the "and I," in the Hebrew, stands in designed contrast to "But thou," Psalms 102:12. The destruction which threatens is not that general one which affects man's transitory being, but that affecting David's line, and Zion, whose cause is identified with his.
Verse 12. But thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever - Hebrew, 'shalt SIT forever' (cf. Psalms 102:26, "thou shalt stand;" Hebrew not a mere enduring, but a SITTING AS A KING: cf. Psalms 29:10; Psalms 9:7; Lamentations 5:19 is drawn from this. However near to destruction the house of David my seem, yet as Yahweh has promised its permanence, the abiding permanence of God's own throne ensures the permanence of David's seed. This confidence received its first realization in the seed of David, Messiah's first advent, notwithstanding the seeming ruin of David's line at the Babylonian captivity; but the full realization shall be at His second advent to reign in glory over Zion.
And thy remembrance - thy memorial, (Psalms 30:4, margin) Thy recorded manifestation of thyself in mighty deeds in behalf of thy people. Thou canst never disown thy character as it has always been.
Unto all generations - (Psalms 135:13.)
Verse 13. Thou shalt arise - when Zion and David's line are brought to their lowest depression (Psalms 12:5; Psalms 68:1).
And have mercy upon Zion - at the intercession of the angel of the covenant (Zechariah 1:12). Compare David's prayer at the close of another psalm of depression (Psalms 51:18).
For the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come - (Isaiah 40:2, margin) "Her appointed time is accomplished." The "set time" is when "the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24; Romans 11:25); when "that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Daniel 9:27); when the "time, times, and an half" shall be complete, and when "He shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people" (Daniel 12:7). Against the reference to the Babylonian captivity, when its seventy years were closed, the objection lies that it is when Zion has reached the deepest point of her misery, Yahweh interposes for her, which is not true of her deliverance from Babylon; because her greatest misery was at the beginning, rather than at the close of the 70 years. However, as a typical fulfillment it may be referred to: but the ulterior fulfillment is plainly future.
Verse 14. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof - (Psalms 79:1.) So Syriac, 'love the dust,' etc. Or else 'pity (mourn over) the dust,' etc. So the Septuagint, Vulgate, Ethiopic, Chaldaic, and Arabic versions. The stones and the dust of Zion are referred to as the materials for restoring the city of God (Psalms 69:35). Compare in the restoration after the return from Babylon, Nehemiah 4:2. The "For" gives another reason why God will arise and have mercy upon Zion, besides the one in Psalms 102:13 (the appointed time having come) - namely, the love and yearning sorrow which His servants have for her even when in ruins (cf. Isaiah 66:10).