Psalms 102:7

"I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I have become as an owl of the waste places."

Key Reflection

Psalms 102:7 paints a poignant image of the psalmist's suffering and loneliness, likening himself to a pelican in the wilderness and an owl in desolate places. These birds are often associated with solitude and abandonment; the pelican is known for its solitary nature and the owl for its association with dark, empty spaces. This self-description reflects the psalmist’s experience of being forsaken by God or enduring great hardship, highlighting a deep sense of isolation and despair that resonates with those who have felt similarly abandoned in their lives.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house-top -That is, I am “sleepless;” trouble drives sleep from my eyes, and I am kept awake at night - a common effect of grief. The following remarks, copied from the “Land and the Book” (i. 54, 55), will furnish all the illustration needful of this verse. “They are a tame, troublesome, and impertinent generation, and nestle just where you don’t want them. They stop up your stove and waterpipes with their rubbish, build in the windows and under the beams of the roof, and would stuff your hat full of stubble in half a day if they found it hanging in a place to suit them ... .

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