Psalms 102:17

Destitute - Those whose souls have been laid bare.

The prayer of the destitute - הערער haarar of him who is laid in utter ruin, who is entirely wasted.

He will regard the prayer - literally, "He looks upon," or "he 'turns himself' to their prayer." He does not any longer seem to turn away from them and disregard them. He shows by thus building up Zion that he does regard prayer; that he hears the supplications of his people. There is no higher proof that prayer is heard than that which is often furnished in a revival of pure religion. All such revivals, like that on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1 ff), are usually preceded, as that was Acts 1:13-14, by special prayer; in those revivals there are often most manifest and clear answers to prayer for the conversion of individuals; to prayer for a blessing on a preached gospel; to prayer for particular relatives and friends.

Of the destitute - literally, "of the poor." The word - ערער ‛ar‛âr - occurs only here and in Jeremiah 17:6, where it is rendered "heath:" "He shall be like the 'heath' in the desert." The word, according to its etymology, means "naked;" then, poor, stripped of everything, impoverished, wholly destitute. It would thus be eminently applicable to the poor exiles in Babylon; it is as applicable to sinners pleading with God, and to the people of God themselves, destitute of everything like self-righteousness, and feeling that they have nothing in themselves, but that they are wholly dependent on the mercy of God. Compare Revelation 3:17.

And not despise their prayer - Not treat it with contempt; not pass it by unheard. This is stated as one of the reasons why the nations would be struck with awe - that God, the infinite God, would hear the prayers of those who were so poor, so powerless, so friendless. There is, in fact, nothing more suited to excite wonder than that God does hear the prayer of poor, lost, sinful man.