Psalm 119 - Kaph: Rescued from the Pit

"Kaph. 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." 

(Psalms 119:81-88)

 

 

The Psalmist goes from death to life, from hopelessness to hope, from darkness to light.  Internally his soul languishes (v. 81), his eyes fail (v. 82), and his flesh suffers (v. 83), and yet he waited for Your word, anticipated Your comfort, and did not forget Your statutes.  Externally he was persecuted (v. 84), entrapped (v. 85), and slandered (v. 86) to the point of near destruction (v. 87), yet he knew that Your judgment is sure and he was determined not to be carried away by their evil.  His primary concern was to be strengthened for obedience towards You, not for revenge towards them.

 

‘This portion of the gigantic Psalm sees the Psalmist in extremis. His enemies have brought him to the lowest condition of anguish and depression; yet he is faithful to the law and trustful in his God. This octave is the midnight of the Psalm, and very dark and black it is. Stars, however, shine out, and the last verse gives promise of the dawn. The strain will after this become more cheerful; but meanwhile it should minister comfort to us to see so eminent a servant of God so hardly used by the ungodly: evidently in our own persecutions, no strange thing has happened unto us. [1 Peter 4:12]’[1]


 


[1] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon, Treasury of David, on Psalm 119 - Kaph, e-Sword edition

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