By: Dale Weckbacher
Psalm 119:82
My eyes grow weary
looking for what you have promised;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
looking for what you have promised;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
(CSB)
Patience is a virtue, a virtue sadly missing in much of our
instant gratification society. At the
touch of our finger or the click of a mouse, modern technology makes information
or anything we want available. Unfortunately,
along with this convenience comes impatience when the technology buffers or
goes down.
God is not in the instant gratification business and even
though we can speak with Him at any time from anywhere in prayer, his response
comes in his time and not ours.
Fortunately for us, God is never late but our impatience causes us to
experience doubts and fears during this waiting period. In Psalm
119:81-88 we see the psalmist expressing his feelings of doubt and unbelief
while waiting for God to answer his prayer.
This passage teaches us that we can have,
1)
Have hope while waiting (Psalm
119:81) – The psalmist expresses his longing for salvation from God. While, unlike the psalmist, we can look back
at Jesus’ completed purchase of our Salvation on the cross, something we will
celebrate this coming Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the psalmist was looking
forward in faith to the coming Messiah. While
waiting for Salvation, the psalmist places his hope in God’s Word. While we can look back at the completed work
of Salvation, we still must wait for God to answer our prayers, and like the
psalmist eagerly await the second coming of Christ. During this waiting period, it is important
for us to place our hope in the promises in God’s Word, knowing that God always
keeps His Word.
2)
Become weary while waiting (Psalm
119:82) – While I personally do not have the patience to do this, I know people
who will wait hours, sometimes even days, in line for some Black Friday deal or
the latest gadget. I am sure those that
do so experience fatigue. The psalmist
must feel a similar fatigue while waiting for God to bring comfort by
fulfilling what He promised in His Word.
The greatest biblical example of patience while waiting is Job who never
denied God during his suffering and loss.
The temporary suffering while waiting for an answer from God is tiresome
but our steadfastness of faith will pay off, as it did for Job.
3)
Have faith through the misery of waiting (Psalm
119:83) – While most of us, including myself, are unfamiliar with wine
stored in wineskins, the figure of speech in this passage can be
confusing. According to many
commentaries on this passage, a wineskin hung over a fire would dry up and
shrivel. (1) The psalmist is metaphorically describing his
feelings of misery as his life situation seems to be drying and shriveling
while hanging over the struggles of the fires of opposition and
persecution. However, even in the middle
of this level of misery, the psalmist vows not to forget God’s Word.
4)
Have honest dialogue with God about our suffering
(Psalm
119:84) – The psalmist now asks God how long he must wait for God to
execute judgment on his persecutors. While
we could view this statement by the psalmist as a lack of faith in God, since
God already knows our hearts and thoughts, this is a genuine cry out to
God. We therefore can and must be honest
with God about our feelings of doubt and unbelief and not view them as a lack
of faith meaning we do not believe in God, after all, why would we cry out to
someone we do not believe in (Mark
9:24).
5)
Ask for help against arrogant ungodly
persecutors (Psalm
119:85-86) – While scripture does not provide specifics about what the
psalmist’s persecutors were doing, they were ungodly individuals living lives
in violation of the commands of God. The
psalmist continues by reaffirming his belief in the truthfulness of God’s Word
and speaks out against the lies spoken by his persecutors.
6)
Have faith even when facing death (Psalm
119:87) – Once again scripture fails to provide details about the
persecution suffered by the psalmist, this passage provides a hint, however, that
his persecutors attempted to kill him.
However, even this did not cause the psalmist to abandon his faith.
7)
Know that life comes from God (Psalm
119:88) – Life comes from the faithful love of God. In response to this truth, we should dedicate
our lives to living in obedience to Word of God.
Isaiah
40:31 reminds us that those choosing to wait on the Lord will experience
renewal of strength, the ability to soar on wings like eagles over the
struggles they are experiencing, access to the power of God to overcome the
weariness of waiting, and the strength to carry on and not give up. Many reading this may be experiencing great
struggle at this moment in their lives.
If that is you I encourage you to read Psalm
119:81-88 often and stand on the promise of Isaiah
40:31.
May God bless everyone reading this and provide the strength
they need to carry on.
1. Bible Hub. Psalm 119:83. biblehub.com. [Online]
Bible Hub. [Cited: March 25, 2018.]
http://biblehub.com/commentaries/psalms/119-83.htm.
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