Psalm 102:9
“For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,”
KJV
Read in Psalm 102Meaning
Mourning has saturated ordinary life. The images express grief and humiliation; they are not instructions for ascetic self-harm.
The afflicted person pours out grief
Urgent petitions and images of weakness, isolation, humiliation, grief, and mortality.
Read carefully
It is imagery of mourning, not an ascetic command.
Reflection
Let prayer acknowledge how pervasive the grief feels.