Not So Obvious
A Prayer of the afflicted when he is weak and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Psalm 102 NASB
Before – A curious thing has happened in this verse. The English order doesn’t follow the Hebrew order. In Hebrew, the phrase “before the Lord” comes after “is weak (is faint).” The Hebrew verse reads: “A prayer of the afflicted when he is weak before the Lord and pours out his complaint.” It’s a subtle change, but I think an important one. If we read the English translation, we think that the complaint is voiced before the Lord. The sequence is “weakness – vocalization – address to God.” But Hebrew is different: “weakness – in the face of God – vocalizes śîaḥ” (translated “complaint,” but we will discover something about this as well). So the English version suggests that the speaker voices his complaint before God, but the Hebrew version suggests that the speaker recognizes his condition before God and then voices śîaḥ. In English, weakness generates the complaint. In Hebrew, recognition of the divine generates śîaḥ. It’s subtle, but it matters.
Soon we will begin examining the English verses of Psalm 102. In the introduction (which, of course, is part of the Hebrew psalm), we learn that this tĕpillâ is particularly rare, that it involves someone who recognizes his status as ʿānî (forced, submissive, or wretched). He doesn’t say why. In this state he acknowledges that he is weak (Hebrew: ʿāṭap, probably better understood as pleading). And then, instead of moving directly to his complaint (śîaḥ, if that’s what it really means), he acknowledges the relationship that brings about this state of dependence. What matters is not the “complaint,” but the involvement with God. He is ʿānî before God. He might be the king. He might be a valiant warrior. He might be rich and powerful in this world. He might be considered self-sufficient, honorable, upright, even presidential. But before God he is ʿānî, helpless, afflicted, forced. It isn’t the state of his outward condition that’s at issue here. It’s his status in the face of the divine. Before God he is helpless, insufficient, undone, desperately in need of mercy and grace. The world of men no longer matters. What matters is לִפְּנֲי (lifne).
So, then, what is לִפְּנֲי (lifne)? The translation “before” disguises what is really happening in Hebrew. We could have expressed “before” with the simple לְ (lĕ), but here we find the combination of the preposition with the word פָּנָה (pānâ), the root of the all-important word pānîm, meaning “face.” What this implies is that “before” has its context in face-presence. To be “before” means “to be in the face of.” English translation hides the fact that this word means much more than “before,” either temporally or physically. It means face-to-face present; in this case, face-to-face present to God. The man who prays in this verse says that he is undone when he finds himself pleading with God face-to-face. He recognizes his pitiful condition. He is totally dependent. And it is for this reason that he voices śîaḥ, translated “complaint.” In other words, śîaḥ follows the penitent declaration of need in the face of God. Now, of course, we need to know what śîaḥ is all about.
Topical Index: lifne, before, face, pānîm, Psalm 102
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