Psalms 102–28

Parallels

• Psalm 142:2 (verbal): Very close verbal parallel — both speak of pouring out a complaint/supplication before the LORD (Hebrew שָׁפַךְ/שַׁפְּכִי).
• Psalm 62:8 (verbal): Uses the same imagery of pouring out the heart before God (שַׁפְּךָ), a call to cast one’s inner complaint/confidence on the Lord.
• Psalm 86:1 (thematic): Another opening plea by a petitioner identifying as poor/needy — a prayer appeal to God to hear the afflicted’s cry.
• Psalm 34:6 (thematic): Declares that the ‘poor’ or ‘afflicted’ cried and the LORD heard — same motif of the needy pouring out their complaint and God’s attentive hearing.
• Psalm 120:1 (thematic): Typical lament opening: ‘In my distress I cried to the LORD’ — parallels the situation of anguish and direct address to God in Ps 102:1.

Parallels

• Psalm 86:6 (verbal): Both verses explicitly petition Yahweh to 'give ear' or 'hear' the petition and attend to the supplicant's voice—close verbal parallel in language of prayer and pleading.
• Psalm 55:1 (verbal): 'Give ear to my prayer, O God' echoes the same petition found in Ps 102:2; both open laments that ask God to listen and not hide from the supplication.
• Psalm 18:6 (2 Sam 22:7) (thematic): Describes crying out to the LORD in distress and the expectation that God will hear—shares the theme of urgent supplication and divine hearing found in Ps 102:2.
• Jeremiah 33:3 (allusion): God's promise 'Call to me and I will answer you' parallels the appeal of Ps 102:2 for the LORD to hear and respond to the cry, reflecting the prophetic assurance that God listens to prayer.

Parallels

• Psalm 13:1 (verbal): Uses the same complaint 'How long, O Lord? Will you forget me... Will you hide your face from me?'—the motif of God hiding His face from the supplicant.
• Psalm 88:14 (verbal): Directly parallels the cry that God has 'hidden his face' and left the psalmist in deep distress, echoing the plea not to be forsaken in the day of trouble.
• Psalm 69:17 (verbal): The psalmist pleads 'Do not hide your face from your servant in my days of trouble,' closely matching the language and petition of Ps 102:3.
• Isaiah 54:8 (allusion): Speaks of God briefly hiding his face in anger but later showing compassion—relates to the theological theme of divine hiddenness and restoration found in Ps 102:3.
• Lamentations 3:8 (thematic): Conveys the experience of calling for help while feeling that God has shut out or hidden himself—parallels the anguish and plea for God to incline his ear in Ps 102:3.

Parallels

• Psalm 39:5 (thematic): Both verses use stark images to express human transience — 'my days are like smoke' (Ps 102:4) parallels 'you have made my days a few handbreadths' and life as a breath in Ps 39:5.
• Job 7:6 (verbal): Job's metaphor of days passing swiftly (like a weaver's shuttle) echoes the motif of days being quickly consumed in Ps 102:4, emphasizing life’s fleeting nature.
• Psalm 31:10 (thematic): Both laments describe bodily wasting and suffering—'my bones waste away' in Ps 31:10 corresponds to the image 'my bones are like a hearth' in Ps 102:4.
• Psalm 22:14 (verbal): Psalm 22 employs visceral physical imagery ('I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint') that parallels Ps 102:4's vivid depiction of bodily affliction and loss of strength.

Parallels

• Isaiah 40:6-8 (verbal): Both passages use the 'grass' metaphor to portray human frailty and transience—'all flesh is grass' echoes 'smitten/like grass,' stressing withering and impermanence.
• Psalm 37:2 (verbal): Uses the same simile ('they will wither like grass') to depict withering and the fleeting nature of life, closely paralleling the Psalmist's 'struck like grass' image.
• Psalm 31:10 (thematic): Speaks of wasting away—'my life is spent with sorrow... my bones waste away'—paralleling the Psalmist's dried heart and physical decline caused by distress.
• Psalm 42:3 (thematic): Describes grief so intense that tears become 'food' and appetite/life is impaired, paralleling 'I have forgotten my food' as an expression of extreme anguish.
• Lamentations 3:17-20 (thematic): The lament's depiction of desolation, loss of joy, and remembering affliction ('I have forgotten happiness') echoes the Psalmist's dried heart and forgetfulness of bread as signs of deep suffering.

Parallels

• Job 19:20 (verbal): “My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh” — a close verbal parallel describing bones clinging to skin as an expression of extreme bodily wasting.
• Psalm 38:3 (verbal): “There is no rest in my bones” — similar language of deep physical distress and affliction affecting the bones; shared lament imagery.
• Psalm 31:10 (thematic): “For my life is spent with grief… my bones are consumed” — thematic parallel of bodily wasting and sorrow in an individual lament.
• Psalm 6:6 (verbal): “I am weary with my groaning” — echoes the motif of groaning/sighing as the cause or expression of physical exhaustion and distress.

Parallels

• Psalm 102:6 (structural): Immediate parallel within the same psalm—verse 6–7 form a couplet using solitary desert‑bird imagery (pelican/owl) to portray the psalmist's isolation.
• Isaiah 34:11 (verbal): Uses the same roster of desolation‑birds (pelican/bittern, owl, raven) to depict a ruined, deserted land—shares the concrete image of a lone bird in the wilderness.
• Isaiah 34:14 (allusion): Lists night creatures (owl/night bird) inhabiting desolate places; thematically parallel in portraying abandonment through wild birds of the desert.
• Job 30:29 (thematic): Job compares himself to desert animals (jackals, ostriches) to express humiliation and isolation—similar use of wild‑bird/beast imagery to convey desolation and alienation.

Parallels

• Psalm 102:6 (verbal): Immediate context in the same psalm uses comparable bird/wilderness imagery ('like a pelican of the wilderness; like an owl of the desert'), reinforcing the speaker's isolation and desolation.
• Job 30:29 (thematic): Job compares himself to wild, lonely creatures ('a brother to jackals, a companion to ostriches'), similarly expressing humiliation, isolation, and identification with solitary animals.
• Isaiah 34:11–15 (allusion): Describes ruined, desolate places inhabited by owls, pelicans, and other solitary birds—an image of desolation that echoes the lone-bird-on-the-rooftop motif as a symbol of abandonment.
• Matthew 10:29–31 (thematic): Jesus uses the sparrow-as-solitary/vulnerable-bird motif to speak of vulnerability and divine care; thematically related to the Psalm's image of a lone bird awake on a housetop.

Parallels

• Psalm 22:7-8 (verbal): The psalmist is mocked and derided—‘all who see me mock me’ and make faces—closely paralleling the complaint that enemies taunt and swear against him.
• Psalm 41:5-7 (thematic): Speaks of enemies speaking evil and whispering together against the sufferer, echoing the theme of continual reproach and conspiracy in Ps 102:9.
• Psalm 109:2-5 (verbal): Enemies open their mouths with false and hostile speech against the psalmist; the cluster of hostile actions (lying, cursing, plotting) parallels the sworn hostility described in Ps 102:9.
• Psalm 35:15 (thematic): Describes adversaries who mock, rejoice, and gloat over the sufferer—similar imagery of persistent taunting and joy in another’s affliction found in Ps 102:9.

Parallels

• Psalm 42:3 (thematic): Tears are described as sustenance—"My tears have been my food day and night"—parallel imagery of sorrow mingling with one's bread/drink.
• Isaiah 44:20 (verbal): Uses the striking phrase of "feeding on ashes" to depict futility/delusion—close verbal parallel to "I eat ashes like bread."
• Job 2:8 (thematic): Job sits among the ashes in his affliction—ash imagery used to express extreme suffering, humiliation, and mourning.
• Jonah 3:6 (thematic): The king of Nineveh covers himself with sackcloth and sits in ashes—ashes as a public sign of mourning and penitence, echoing Psalm 102's ash imagery.
• Ezekiel 4:12-15 (thematic): Ezekiel is commanded to eat bread made under degrading conditions (originally dung) as a sign of extreme hardship—comparable motif of shameful/humiliating subsistence imagery.

Parallels

• Lamentations 3:1 (verbal): Both texts explicitly link personal affliction to the active wrath of God (“seen affliction by the rod of his wrath”), paralleling Ps. 102:11’s language about God’s rage and resulting suffering.
• Psalm 88:7-9 (thematic): Describes being put in the lowest pit, removed from friends, and forsaken — a closely related theme of abandonment and divine rejection found in Ps. 102:11.
• Psalm 22:1 (thematic): “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” expresses the same sense of divine abandonment and anguish that underlies Ps. 102:11’s complaint about God’s wrath and casting away.
• Job 30:20 (thematic): Job’s cry that God does not answer and seems to have turned against him parallels the experience of being cast off and afflicted by divine anger in Ps. 102:11.
• Isaiah 54:7-8 (allusion): Speaks of a temporary forsaking by the Lord (“for a little while I hid my face”) followed by restoration — thematically connected to Ps. 102:11’s experience of divine anger and apparent rejection, though Isaiah adds the promise of reconciliation.

Parallels

• Ps.39:6 (verbal): Uses the image of a 'shadow' to describe human transience—closely parallels 'my days are like a shadow.'
• Job 14:2 (thematic): Compares human life to fleeting flowers and shadows, echoing the combined motifs of withering grass and a declining shadow.
• Isa.40:6-8 (verbal): Declares 'all flesh is grass... the grass withers,' a direct verbal parallel to 'I am like dried grass' and the theme of mortality.
• 1 Pet.1:24 (quotation): Quotes Isaiah's 'all flesh is as grass' formulation to signal human frailty—the same grass/withering imagery found in Psalm 102:11 (Heb.).

Parallels

• Psalm 145:13 (verbal): Declares God’s kingdom/dominion as enduring through all generations—language and theme of divine permanence and rule across generations echoes Ps 102:13.
• Exodus 15:18 (verbal): ’The LORD shall reign for ever and ever’—a succinct Old Testament affirmation of God’s eternal reign paralleling the ‘you, O LORD, shall endure forever’ wording.
• Deuteronomy 7:9 (thematic): Speaks of God’s faithfulness and covenant-keeping ‘to a thousand generations,’ thematically parallel in asserting God’s continuing presence and remembrance across generations.
• Psalm 89:1–2 (thematic): The psalmist vows to make God’s faithfulness known ‘to all generations,’ directly echoing the motif of remembering and proclaiming God from generation to generation found in Ps 102:13.

Parallels

• Isaiah 49:8 (verbal): Speaks of an 'acceptable/appointed time' of deliverance—language and concept parallel the Psalm's 'for the time to favor her... has come.'
• Zechariah 8:2-3 (thematic): God declares he will 'return to Zion' and dwell in Jerusalem; echoes the promise that God will arise and have mercy on Zion (restoration and divine presence).
• Psalm 14:7 (thematic): Longing for salvation to come from Zion—reflects the same hope that God will act on behalf of Zion at the appointed time.
• Psalm 69:35 (69:36 in some numberings) (verbal): Proclaims that 'God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah,' closely paralleling the Psalm's promise that God will have mercy on and restore Zion.
• Isaiah 52:8-10 (thematic): Imagery of watchmen rejoicing and God 'bringing back' Zion parallels Psalm 102's anticipation of God's compassionate action toward Zion and a decisive time of mercy.

Parallels

• Isaiah 62:6-7 (allusion): Watchmen/servants appointed on Jerusalem’s walls who will not rest until the city is established — parallels the devoted care and concern for Zion expressed in Ps 102:15.
• Psalm 122:6 (thematic): A call to ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ reflects the faithful’s ongoing devotion to the city, similar to the servants’ pleasure in her stones and dust.
• Psalm 137:5-6 (thematic): A personal vow not to forget Jerusalem expresses deep attachment to the city itself, echoing the servants’ delight in her very stones and dust.
• Isaiah 66:10-11 (thematic): An exhortation to ‘rejoice with Jerusalem’ and images of comforting and nourishing the city resonate with the compassionate regard for Zion shown by God’s servants in Ps 102:15.

Parallels

• Psalm 86:9 (verbal): Almost identical language — all the nations you have made will come and worship before you and glorify your name, echoing the international recognition of God's name and glory.
• Psalm 72:11 (thematic): Royal/ messianic vision where all kings bow and all nations serve the king, paralleling the universal fear of the LORD and acknowledgment of his glory.
• Isaiah 52:10 (allusion): The LORD reveals his arm and salvation to all nations so that the ends of the earth see God's saving work — a prophetic envisioning of nations beholding God's glory.
• Habakkuk 2:14 (thematic): Foretells that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, a thematic counterpart to nations fearing God's name and seeing his glory.
• Revelation 15:4 (quotation): A New Testament liturgical cry: 'Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name?' — directly echoing OT language of nations fearing and glorifying God.

Parallels

• Psalm 48:2 (thematic): Describes Mount Zion as beautiful and the joy/seat of God's presence—echoes the image of Zion being established as the place of God's glory.
• Isaiah 52:7-10 (thematic): Announces God's revealing of his salvation and glory so that Zion/Jerusalem is seen and celebrated—parallels the motif of God building up Zion and appearing in glory.
• Isaiah 4:5-6 (allusion): Speaks of the LORD creating a cloud/guarantee of glory over Mount Zion so that it is a place of protection and divine presence—an image akin to God’s appearing in his glory over Zion.
• Zechariah 8:3 (verbal): Yahweh declares he will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem—closely parallels the promise that the LORD will (re)build Zion and manifest his presence.
• Revelation 21:2-3 (structural): Presents the new Jerusalem where God dwells with humanity—an eschatological fulfillment of Zion’s restoration and God’s manifest presence/glory among his people.

Parallels

• Psalm 22:31 (verbal): Speaks of future generations being told about the LORD and serving him—echoes the Psalm 102 motif of the coming generation praising God.
• Psalm 145:4 (verbal): ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another’ closely parallels the idea that posterity will praise the LORD in Psalm 102:18.
• Psalm 78:4-7 (thematic): Urges passing God’s works and statutes to the next generation so they may set their hope in God—expanded teaching parallel to Psalm 102’s concern for future praise.
• Psalm 71:18 (verbal): Prays that the psalmist’s strength and God’s deeds be shown ‘to a generation to come,’ mirroring Psalm 102’s forward-looking hope for future praise.
• Deuteronomy 4:9 (thematic): Commands teaching the acts of God to children and grandchildren—background covenantal imperative for handing God’s praise to succeeding generations, underpinning Psalm 102:18.

Parallels

• Psalm 22:31 (verbal): Speaks of declaring the LORD’s righteousness to a people yet to be born—close language and idea of future generations praising God, echoing 'a people not yet created may praise the LORD.'
• Psalm 78:6-7 (thematic): Commands telling coming generations so they might put their hope in God; shares the instructional purpose of preserving testimony for future peoples.
• Psalm 145:4 (verbal): ‘One generation shall praise your works to another’—directly parallels the intergenerational praise motif and the duty to transmit praise to succeeding generations.
• Habakkuk 2:2 (verbal): ‘Write the vision’ echoes the imperative to record for posterity (Psalm 102:19’s 'write this down'), linking the act of inscription with communication to future generations.

Parallels

• Psalm 33:13-14 (verbal): Uses nearly identical language and image: 'The LORD looks from heaven; he sees all the children of men,' echoing God beholding the earth from heaven.
• Psalm 113:4-6 (thematic): Portrays Yahweh as exalted above the nations yet stooping to look down on the lowly and the earth, sharing the theme of God's high sanctuary and oversight.
• Proverbs 15:3 (verbal): States 'The eyes of the LORD are in every place,' a concise verbal parallel to God's attentive gaze from heaven upon the earth.
• 2 Chronicles 16:9 (thematic): Speaks of the eyes of the LORD running 'to and fro throughout the whole earth,' reflecting the motif of divine watchfulness over the earth found in Ps 102:20.
• Job 34:21-22 (thematic): Affirms that God’s eyes are on human ways and that he observes all steps, resonating with the Psalm's depiction of God looking down from his heavenly sanctuary.

Parallels

• Isaiah 61:1 (verbal): Uses the language and theme of proclaiming liberty to captives and opening prisons—closely parallels Psalm 102's concern to hear and relieve the groans of prisoners.
• Isaiah 42:7 (verbal): Speaks of bringing out prisoners from the dungeon and opening blind eyes; shares verbal imagery of release and deliverance tied to God's compassionate action.
• Psalm 146:7 (thematic): Affirms that the LORD 'sets the prisoners free'—a direct thematic parallel emphasizing God's care for the captive and oppressed as in Ps 102.
• Psalm 107:10–14 (structural): Narrates those who sat 'in darkness, prisoners in affliction' whom God hears and brings out—structurally parallels the motif of hearing prisoners' cries and delivering them.
• Luke 4:18 (quotation): Jesus cites Isaiah 61:1 ('to proclaim liberty to the captives'), applying the OT motif of release to his mission—an NT fulfillment/allusion resonant with Psalm 102's petition for prisoners.

Parallels

• Psalm 9:11 (verbal): Explicitly calls for praise of the LORD who dwells in Zion and to ‘declare among the peoples his doings,’ closely matching the language and intent of proclaiming God's name/praise in Zion/Jerusalem.
• Isaiah 12:4 (thematic): Commands calling on the LORD’s name and making known his deeds among the peoples—parallel theme of proclaiming God’s name and praise publicly, rooted in Zion/Jerusalem.
• 1 Chronicles 16:8, 23-24 (structural): A liturgical summons to ‘give thanks, call upon his name, make known his deeds…tell of all his wondrous works,’ functioning as an extended parallel liturgy to declaring God’s name and praise in Zion.
• Psalm 48:1 (thematic): Proclaims the greatness of the LORD and that he is greatly to be praised ‘in the city of our God, on his holy mountain,’ echoing the localization of divine praise in Zion/Jerusalem.

Parallels

• Psalm 72:11 (verbal): Declares that "all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him," closely echoing the image of nations and kingdoms gathered to serve the LORD.
• Isaiah 2:2-3 (thematic): Predicts many nations streaming to the mountain of the LORD to learn his ways and worship—a prophetic picture of peoples gathered to serve God like Ps 102:23.
• Micah 4:2 (verbal): Uses language parallel to Isaiah 2:2-3 about many nations coming to the LORD's house to be taught and to walk in his paths, corresponding to peoples and kingdoms assembled to serve the LORD.
• Psalm 22:27-28 (thematic): Speaks of all the ends of the earth remembering and turning to the LORD and all the families of the nations worshiping him, echoing the universal gathering to serve God in Ps 102:23.
• Revelation 15:4 (allusion): Asks which nations will not fear and glorify God and affirms that all nations will come and worship him—New Testament fulfillment/allusion to the OT theme of peoples gathering to serve the LORD.

Parallels

• Psalm 39:5 (verbal): Both speak of life’s brevity in measured terms—'my days are a few handbreadths' parallels 'my days are shortened' (shared imagery of curtailed lifespan).
• Job 7:6 (thematic): Expresses the same theme of transient, rapidly passing life: 'my days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,' echoing the sense of diminished strength and shortened days.
• Psalm 90:10 (thematic): Explicit meditation on limited human life ('the days of our years are seventy years'), resonating with the psalm’s concern about shortened days and frailty.
• Isaiah 38:10 (verbal): Hezekiah’s lament—'in the cutting off of my days'/'I shall not see the Lord'—uses language of days being cut short, closely paralleling the idea of days being shortened.
• Ecclesiastes 9:12 (thematic): Reflects the unpredictability and limitation of life ('no one has power over the day of death'), thematically linked to the psalmist’s sense that strength and days are curtailed.

Parallels