Psalm 119:81–88 (NIV),
81 My soul faints with longing [1] for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke [2], I do not forget your decrees.
84 How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?
85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me, contrary to your law.
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.
Father, You are eternal, time is somewhat irrelevant to You. It's especially frustrating when I'm in a hurry and You are not. That's why I feel that sometimes my life is shriveled up and its hard to endure. Tomorrow can't come too soon. There is a sense where every true heart, born of Your Spirit, cries "How long Oh Lord." Sometimes Your promise seems like a sunrise that is ever so slow in mounting the horizon. But our confidence is not in what is seen, it is in the promises of Your Word. Your Word was established before time and therefore it is not eroded by time. Some of us, Oh Lord, have been ordained to be persecuted by people -- people who have no cause. Some of us are harassed by events -- circumstances over which we have no control. Some of us know what a loveless bondage some relationships are. But again Father we are reminded that Your Law is trustworthy and within it there is relief and escape. The Bible unlocks the prison of our circumstances; and the Bible enables us to live above the circumstances. In light of this assurance, with Your help, grant me the grace to trust You more; obey You more; and hope in You always -- even if the answer doesn't come -- right away. For the sake of Jesus. For the encouragement of Your Church. For the glory of You, my God and Father. Amen.
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1. כָּלָה [kalah /kaw·law/] ("faints," v.81; "fail," v.82; "wiped [out]," v.87). The word kalah means “to come to an end” or “be consumed.”
2. An unused wineskin, hanging in the rafters, becomes shriveled by the smoke; this is an image of one’s vitality “drying up.” [Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (1097). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.]
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