Psalm 102:7 Explained

"I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top." — Psalm 102:7 (KJV)

Ten words that give loneliness an image rather than an explanation, from a psalm whose title says it is for the afflicted.

Read it in context: The Book of Psalms. Also gathered under verses about loneliness.

Psalm 102:7 in context

What does Psalm 102:7 mean?

'I watch' is wakefulness, not vigilance — the involuntary kind. Then the picture: a sparrow, a bird that is never alone, sitting by itself on a roof. The strangeness is the point. Loneliness here is not the absence of people but being the only one of your kind in a place made for company, and the psalm offers the image instead of an argument.

What is the context of Psalm 102:7?

Psalm 102 carries an unusual heading: a prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed. It is one of the seven penitential psalms and reads like a man keeping vigil through a long night, listing what the sleeplessness feels like.

How do I pray Psalm 102:7?

Pray it at the hour you actually cannot sleep, and let it be a description rather than a request — the psalm spends eleven verses describing before it asks for anything. If you are praying for someone isolated, this verse says the thing that platitudes miss: it names the shape of it without hurrying to fix it.

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