Psalm 119:81-88
Kaph
81 My soul longs for your salvation;
I hope in your word.
82 My eyes long for your promise;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
84 How long must your servant endure?
When will you judge those who persecute me?
85 The insolent have dug pitfalls for me;
they do not live according to your law.
86 All your commandments are sure;
they persecute me with falsehood; help me!
87 They have almost made an end of me on earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 In your steadfast love give me life,
that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth. (ESV)
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
This is a great verse. This world is tough and hard. It sucks. But we have hope that there is something better waiting for us. We know that one day Jesus will come back and take us up to heaven. We all know that heaven is the best and most perfect place. Our souls might be “fainting” right now, but don’t ever forget the hope that we have!
88 Preserve my life according to your love, and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
Its so important to be living our lives out for God each and everyday. This is what he commands us in the bible a multitude of times. We should be praying for our lives to be preserved according to his love just like this verse is saying :)
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word. 88 Preserve my life according to your love, and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
These two verses are the most important to me. We must be following God’s commandments and his laws. Our soul “faints” longing for His salvation, however we will put our love, trust, hope, and faith into following God’s word. Keep on praying for one another, as Christians, we set the example.
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
We should be urgently awaiting the Lord’s return because we will be comforted and taken by Him and saved by Him. This world brings us down and we can get caught up in it, but if you put your faith in Christ and “obey the statues of His mouth”, we will find peace. Our hope is in God alone.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
The psalmist is enduring some intensely difficult times, yet he continues to cling to God’s Word. So often tough circumstances come and we sin by blaming God and wallowing in self-pity instead of clinging to His Word. This verse is a great example of a godly response to persecution and affliction. Not only has the psalmist not forsaken God’s Word, he delights in it! My prayer today is that I would turn to God by reading His Word and delighting in it as I endure painful times in my life.
Lots of trouble in this world – Only Christ has the cure! There are nasty bugs out there trying to kill us but God’s way is the path of life. The only hope is in that, even in times of trouble.
Hope you are feeling better Pastor Bobby.
81 My soul faints with longing 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?”
Wow I am struck by the “longing for salvation”!! Jesus Christ our Savior had not come into the world yet. I thank God for the gift of salvation and the peace that comes from being saved by the blood of the Lamb. I would imagine that in old testament times assurity of salvation was more difficult to ascertain. Also the Holy Spirit, our helper, had also not yet come to dwell with us. We are so blessed to have the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Let us never stop praising Him for that!!!!!!!!
MARANATHA!
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
Talking about a tough life…even though all these times the Psalmist still obey’s and reminds himself of God commands and stays faithful to the Lord’s commands.
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
Amy I agree I too am struck with the longing for salvation! In the OT the people put their hope in the “coming” Messiah which was prophesied and trusted in the faithful promise of the Word, like Mrs. Burke said, we have the privilege of looking back on the cross of Christ and reveling in its beauty and glory! Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see!!!
NEW BLOG!! :)
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
this is what we have signed up for we know we will be persecuted, but God will help us through it if we follow his commands and cling to Him and do not lose sight on Him
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
I will piggy back on what Kelsey said. As Christians we shoud be getting persecuted to some degree. God’s is completly oppoisite of the world’s way. If are going to followChrist we will be going against the grain of what everyone else is doing.
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Timothy 3:12
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
What a beautiful set of verses that show the longing we should have for spending eternity with the Lord. I am so grateful for salvation and that we can be assured that building on a solid foundation of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior can bless us with eternity in heaven.
I also think this verse reminds us that we must remain loyal and trustworthy to the Lord even in difficult times when we are persecuted for our beliefs. We can’t give in to the pressure of this world that goes against the Lord and we must remaind steadfast in our faith.
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
God’s commands are true and trustworthy even when people treat us wrong for believing/obeying them. It is worth it every time to obey God’s word and be mistreated by man than to disobey God’s word and be accepted by man.
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
It’s SO hard to respond correctly to persecutions. On a daily basis we are persecuted, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like it just. gets. old! What we need to remember is that God will help us in those situations and we need to trust in Him. His commands are not something to be overlooked, and his promises will always be there for us. We cannot let our faith falter just because we are being persecuted and we feel as if it’s not fair. We must ALWAYS trust in our Lord.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
Sometimes it seems like there are so few people who are truly following God. And its probably true, there aren’t many that are willing to make the sacrifice. But that’s not an excuse to doubt God and its no reason to justify sin. We need to always put God first, no matter what the circumstances :]
85 The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your law.
pitfalls… that’s kinda scary!! We need to always be on the look out and spiritually equipped for when satan tries to draw us away from the Lord! This verse reminded me of Bobby’s Soldier or Warrior sermon! We need to remember that in every situation, God already knows what is going to happen and he is in control! Therefore, there should be no fear of man and only trust in what God is going to do in our lives!! :D
His precepts lead to everlasting life and He is love! How awesome is that?! He gives us salvation and has chosen us with a loving heart. God saves those that are willing. Lets praise Him for those things! :)
These verses really helped me call out to God and examine what I need Him to change in my life. Lord, I need You to preserve my life according to Your love so that I may obey You and be loving towards all people. I need You to help me when I am persecuted Father, because it does get hard.
82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”
This was really convicting for me when it comes to both mental and physical pain. I feel mental pain when I am put down because of my religion and physical pain when my ankle is just being all dumb, but then I realized that God is always there for me and there is absolutely no reason in the world why I should be asking that question. God You are the amazing creator and I love you. :)
84 How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?
85 The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your law.
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
We will always be persecuted (and God promises that), but we shouldn’t be the one to punish them. Just like Bobby preached about this last weekend, we need to be loving and forgiving.
The use of the conjunction “but” sets up an interesting contrast in verse 81.
On the one hand, we faint with longing for our salvation. For believers today, this would ultimately look like a desire to be done with the struggles of this life and be with Christ. We know that this world is not our home; it is full of suffering.
However, in the mean time, as we wait for God’s salvation, we do not have to despair because we can put our hope in the word of God. And as we see in verse 86, “All your commands are trustworthy.” Even though we live in a fallen world and look to our future salvation, we trust and live each day by the word of God!
What a great Psalm this is!
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
This verse by itself sums it up for me :]
***LONG 4 JESUS!***
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
“I have hope in your word”! oh my goodness it is so comforting to know that even though this life may stink sometimes.. most of the time.. all the time.. whatever it is for you, we have hope in something wayyy wayyy wayy wayy wayy better!!
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
God’s word is trust worthy! awesome! This is God’s word we can put our full reliance in it. That is truly awesome. Ill see everyone tomorrow at True North!!
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
All He says is law, it’s trustworthy. So in times of sorrow and persecution we should turn to His word, because God will not provide us with trails that have no means of escape
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 Preserve my life according to your love, and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
GOD’s forgiveness is the only way that we can actually gain life. No matter what we do, we can not earn salvation, but with GOD’s forgiveness we can be completely forgiven of all our sins. We must loose our lives to gain them.
Great comment Beth!!
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
This is an awesome verse! The psalmist is being persecuted and going through a difficult time, yet he clings to God’s word and His commands!!! That is so important! I have seen many people go through hard times, and just give up on going to the word and putting their trust in God and it becomes even harder for them, because they aren’t rooted in the word! Recently, I have seen someone who is going through a very hard time and persecution, yet is trusting in God and relying on His word and this person has such a good attitude and is growing so much through this! It’s awesome to see both sides. I want to be just like the psalmist and delight in God’s word and remember His commands no matter what is happening in my life!
82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”
God’s timing is not our own and sometimes we go through trials for long periods of time. It may feel like God has forgotten about us but that’s definitely NOT the case. We need to put our trust in Him and know that we go through everything for a reason. Our God is so big and so powerful and He loves us a whole lot. So let’s rest in that, knowing that he will take care of us.
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
This verse is so encouraging. We have something to look forward to, something to long for. Its Christ and his promise that he gives us about Heaven.
Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.
A wineskin in the smoke would become dry and shriveled. The psalmist is in distress because of his circumstances, yet he does not forget Gods instruction. God’s commands always profit the believer and should consistently be observed. As Christians we know we will experience suffering but ultimately our distress will be forgotten when we leave this world behind to spend eternity with our King!
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word.
The first part of this verse is actually pretty true. Living as a Christian in this world is really hard and it becomes weary after a while. While we are still driven by God’s promise and love, it is still really hard.
82 My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”
This is just a cool image of how we should be living Maranatha. The psalmist is looking for God’s promise of salvation to be fulfilled (Jesus Christ) so much that his eyes fail metaphorically from strain. His desire to be with God is also shown in him asking when God will come to comfort Him. This just shows me how much we should be desiring God and thinking about/hoping for His return because then we will be truly dependent and focussed on Him. And as we wait, we need to devote ourselves to God’s law so that we can glorify Him while we are still here like He wants.
84 How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?
Really good verse for those of us who have tough days serving the Lord. It’s definitely not easy to be a Christian, and sometimes when our faith is really tested, we get to wondering, “How long will I have to wait until this is over?” Fortunately we know that the Lord will not forsake us, and that even at our worst He is always faithful!
81 My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word
We can’t get salvation on our own so therefore we put our hope in Christ’s word and he gest our salvation for us.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
Over 80% of “Christians” fall away into apostasy before they get out of college, because it’s ‘just too hard’ or ‘impractical’. But here in the Psalms, we see that even to the point of death they were holding strong to the Word! This should give us confidence and boldness to not compromise in any way but to stand firm in the Lord!
88 Preserve my life according to your love, and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
Live your life every second for God. for we shall serve Him on this earth. We have greater things to come in Heaven. Obey everything you have command.
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
Everything is for a purpose and if men prosecute us for believing in God so be in for I stand up for God and preach His Word not in fear of others but Him.
84 How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?
85 The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your law.
86 All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause.
I like how the writer does not go out and take revenge for himself, but waits for God to take it for him. we need to show self control and trust God to fulfill his promises. One thing that I think that I need to work on is when I trust God to take revenge on those who have wronged me it comforts me sometimes, but as a christian I need to show love for whoever it is and try to work things out with them so that they can repent and avoid punishment.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
The Psalmist was totally enduring some tough times, but he remained faithful to God’s Word despite the hardships. I’m wondering if we could say the same thing when we experience difficulty- Do we remain faithful? Are we quick to obey God’s commands? Only living a life daily rooted in God’s Word will allow us to remain there when the tough times come.
84 How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?
We should Call on he name of the lord and eagerly await his return. The most amazing thing in our lives will be seeing Jesus Christ our lord. So let us be excited to live for him and hope that day will soon come.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
No matter how much people try to hurt us or even kill us here on earth, that can’t separate us from God and His love for us. And we need too stay strong in His word and never forget it so we can stick up to people with God’s word.