Hebrews 1:10-12 consists of one long quotation from Psalm 102, and while the quotation itself fits the overall theme of the chapter (Jesus being superior to anything else we’ve ever encountered), Psalm 102 is a peculiar choice for several reasons. Bearing titles like “The Bible’s Prayer Book” and often quoted in inspirational settings, the book of Psalms actually reflects a wide range of emotions toward God and the world. In fact, around 40% of the psalms are “psalms of lament” (expressing fear, anguish, desperation, and even anger), and many psalms contain explicit curses directed at the speaker’s enemies. Psalm 102 falls into this lament tradition.

The psalmist begins with a petition for God’s intervention (“Hear my prayer, Lord…”) before stating the central problem:

For my days vanish like smoke;
my bones burn like glowing embers…
My days are like the evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
(Psalm 102:3, 11)

While other concerns are lifted up in these verses, the speaker’s key fear is his own impermanence, and I want to draw special attention to that word “smoke.” Throughout the Old Testament, smoke/vapor is a metaphor for impermanence (most famously in the book of Ecclesiastes), but the image has many layers. Smoke is ephemeral and beautiful, but it also fades. It is present, but it cannot be grasped and contained. It is transparent, yet it also obscures our vision. When describing a paradox, Hebrew writers frequently reference smoke:

Life is beautiful, but it is also painful;
   it’s like smoke.
Something which brings great joy also carries feelings of sadness;
   it’s like smoke.
The psalmist’s remarkable achievements will one day fade to ruin;
   they’re like smoke.

But in the face of this impermanence and confusion and pain, the psalmist focuses on God’s eternity. God looks down with favor and compassion on the impermanent and provides safe haven, and this is the portion of the psalm quoted in Hebrews:

In the beginning, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.
(Hebrews 1:10-12/Psalm 102: 25-27)

As with so many of the Old Testament passages in Hebrews, the reference carries deeper meaning. Not only do these verses reiterate Christ’s eternity, the original psalm reminds us of our impermanence. But we know God hears the psalmist’s call and will hear ours as well, and the author isn’t quite done with this point.

The next verse of Hebrews contains yet another quotation, this time from Psalm 110, a psalm of victory or possibly a coronation psalm. While the psalm speaks to Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, there’s a beautiful in-joke happening here. It’s hard to say if the author of Hebrews had a configuration of psalms that would lend itself to this, but modern readers can look back one verse from Psalm 110 to the final verse of Psalm 109 and receive a subtle message about who Jesus is:

For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save their lives from those who would condemn them.
(Psalm 109:31)

Jesus is at the right hand of God,
the place of honor reserved for a ruler,
yet Jesus is also at the right hand of the needy,
ever the servant, ever the savior.

Jesus is higher than even the angels
but chooses to become low among humanity.
The ruler is also the servant.
The eternal steps into our impermanence.

It’s like smoke.