What is the meaning of Psalm 102:20?

To hear a prisoner’s groaning

Psalm 102:20a says the LORD “looked down… to hear a prisoner’s groaning.”

• Literally, God bends from heaven to listen. This echoes Psalm 34:17, “The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears.”

• The “prisoner” is every Israelite exiled in Babylon, yet also any believer trapped by circumstances—David in caves (Psalm 57:1), Jeremiah in cisterns (Jeremiah 38:6), Peter in chains (Acts 12:6–10).

• The verse shows that God’s ear is never shut. As in Psalm 18:6, distress reaches His throne, and He responds personally.

• The line reminds us that no cry is too faint. Even “groaning” (Romans 8:26–27) is intelligible to Him.

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To release those condemned to death

Psalm 102:20b continues, “…to release those condemned to death.”

• Exiles feared extinction (Psalm 79:11). God promises real deliverance, not mere sympathy.

• The pattern runs through Scripture:

– Israel freed from Egypt’s death sentence (Exodus 12:12–13).

– Isaiah 61:1 foretells Messiah “to proclaim liberty to the captives,” fulfilled by Jesus in Luke 4:18.

– Paul and Silas released from Philippian prison (Acts 16:25–26) illustrate God’s ongoing rescue.

• Ultimately, release points to the cross, where Christ “destroyed him who holds the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14–15). Every believer’s death sentence is lifted by His atonement (John 5:24).

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summary

Psalm 102:20 paints a two-part picture of God’s compassionate action: He stoops to hear every groan, and He moves to free the doomed. The verse assures us that the Lord is both attentive and powerful—listening to our deepest anguish and breaking every chain, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, through His redemptive might.