81 My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.
82 My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?”
83 Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
84 How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?
85 The arrogant have dug pits for me, Men who are not in accord with Your law.
86 All Your commandments are faithful; they have persecuted me with a lie; help me!
87 They almost destroyed me on earth, but as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts.
88 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.
82 My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?”
83 Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.
84 How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?
85 The arrogant have dug pits for me, Men who are not in accord with Your law.
86 All Your commandments are faithful; they have persecuted me with a lie; help me!
87 They almost destroyed me on earth, but as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts.
88 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.
Message: God's Sustaining Word
Time: The psalms were written by many different people across a period of a thousand years in Israel's history. They are thought to have been compiled and put together in their present form by some unknown editor shortly after the captivity ended about 537 B.C.
What the Lord is Saying:
The outcry of Psalm 119 is looking to God's word and in that Word we have comfort (v.82). My hope is the Word of God (v. 81). We have safety. When we are feeling forgotten or alone due to the evil that we see in our world, we can remember that God will execute judgment (v. 84). The word of God is on the highest plane in our life and those that reject it will eventually be thrown down (v. 85). We need God's word to show us that our lives are more about ourselves. It is his word that confronts us and reveals who we really are (v. 86). And we see that God can restore us, so that our lives are marked by doing God's word (v. 88).
My eyes fail with longing for Your word, While I say, “When will You comfort me?” (v.82)
The Psalmist knows the word of God will bring him comfort and yet he waits for this comfort. It is as when we look for a ship long expected, or for a friend long absent, or for help when in danger. Our eyes are ever on the lookout. How often in the life of the believer now are similar expressions appropriate! God often seems greatly to try the faith and patience of his people by mere delay; and the strength of faith and the power of religion are shown in such circumstances by persevering faith in the divine promises, even when there seems to be no evidence that he will interpose. As children, we often do not understand what our parents are doing when they speak to us and it takes time to figure it out and then we see that there strong words were valid. Verse 84 echoes the same idea - How many are the days of Your servant?
Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke (v. 83)
As I am being afflicted, I can persevere. A wineskin that is dried out and covered with soot is useless for storing wine. Yet this condition will not last forever.
The bottom line is we all struggle. We all lose our patience and we don't understand the waiting. I struggle. I struggle with God who often wants me to wait. But even in that waiting I can trust Him.
Promise: To believe in God's word and hold fast to it and find comfort in it, we must know what it says. Lord, keep me anchored in Your Word so that I do not lose sight of all that you have provided for me. You are near.
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