“To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 102:20 Mean?
God looks down from heaven with a specific purpose: to hear the groaning of the prisoner and to loose those appointed to death. The verse describes divine attention directed at the most desperate people — those in prison and those on death row.
"Groaning" (anaqah) means a deep, agonized cry — not a polite request but a groan that comes from the gut of someone who has no other options. "Prisoner" (asir) is someone bound, confined, unable to free themselves. God's ear is tuned to that specific frequency — the frequency of people who are stuck and can't get out.
"Those that are appointed to death" (bene temuthah — literally "children of death") are people whose death sentence has been determined. They're already marked for destruction. And God's stated purpose is to free them. Not to observe their fate. To reverse it.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Do you feel like a 'prisoner' or someone 'appointed to death' in any area of your life right now?
- 2.How does knowing God's attention is specifically drawn to the groaning of the trapped change your willingness to cry out?
- 3.Where do you see this verse fulfilled in the gospel — God loosing those appointed to death through Christ?
- 4.Who in your life is groaning — and how can you be part of God's answer to their cry?
Devotional
God hears groaning. Specifically. Intentionally. He leans toward the sound of the prisoner and the person marked for death.
This isn't general compassion. It's targeted attention. God's ear is tuned to a specific frequency: the sound of people who are trapped, bound, unable to free themselves, condemned to die. That's where His attention goes first.
If you've ever felt trapped — by addiction, by circumstance, by a pattern you can't break, by a verdict that feels final — God's attention is directed at you. Not as an afterthought. As a purpose. He looks from heaven to hear the groaning. He comes to loose the condemned.
"Appointed to death" — the death sentence has already been handed down. It's done. It's final. And God says: I'm here to reverse it. The appointment with death is not the last word when the God who hears groaning intervenes.
This is the gospel in Old Testament language. You were appointed to death. Condemned. Sentenced. And God came — not to observe the execution, but to open the prison door. "To loose those that are appointed to death" is what Jesus did on the cross. He heard the groaning of a world in chains and He came to free it.
Your groaning isn't falling on deaf ears. It's reaching the one who came specifically to answer it.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
To declare the name of the Lord in Zion,.... That is, that the prisoners and persons appointed to death, being loosed,…
To hear the groaning of the prisoner - Meaning here, probably, the captives in Babylon; those who were held as prisoners…
Many exceedingly great and precious comforts are here thought of, and mustered up, to balance the foregoing complaints;…
Cross References
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