Psalm 119 Devotional
22 Days: Knowing is Loving
Day 11 (Kaph – verses 81-88)
My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word. My eyes fail with longing for Your word, while I say, “When will You comfort me?” Thought I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes. How many are the days of Your servant? When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me? The arrogant have dug pits for me, men who are not in accord with Your law. All Your commandments are faithful; they have persecuted me with a lie; help me! They almost destroyed me on earth, but as for me, I did not forsake Your precepts. Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.
I would guess that many of us at one point were languishing without the knowledge of the salvation that we have in Jesus. What were we waiting for? We really had nothing to wait for except death before we knew Jesus in our lives. Now, if we have accepted Jesus in our lives, we have salvation and we wait for the day that we will be face to face with Him. Do we find ourselves at times, even in our salvation, stale and longing for greater communion with our Lord? The psalmist has reached a point in his life, just as maybe we have, in which he has great hope and confidence in the Lord, yet in the moments of a trial a question arises, how long before things change Lord. God’s perfect word will build our confidence and set our hearts right as we reflect on His timing (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Often the “things” that cause us consternation in God’s timing can cause us to want God to set others right in their ways, immediately. We will be persecuted as we go through our days. The persecution will often come from those who have no knowledge of Jesus as their Savior, or perhaps they do, but arrogance and pride have gotten in their way. Even in those hardest of moments can we keep on trusting God and seeking His will? We can, and as we do, we may well find that our faith grows through the trials. All of God’s word is faithful and true; it is based on His character and His holiness. What a mighty gift that He has given to us.
Have any of us ever been almost destroyed as the psalmist states he has? We are in our earthly bodies right now, but one day we will know what lays ahead. We will be victorious in Christ. Our time here on this earth includes trials as promised in God’s word. But, with those promises come the great promises that our trials we will no longer face when we arrive in heaven. Yes, we need revival and thanks to the lovingkindness of our Lord we have that, and we can endure. Grasp onto the promise of the Lord.
Father in heaven, you are so good to me, and I thank you. Lord, I do desire to thank you every day, yet I do fail, but I know that you forgive and have forgiven me. Lord, I do not want to take your forgiveness lightly as it comes with a cost. A cost that was fully paid for me by Jesus on the cross. Lord, I am in the middle of trials right now, but my confidence is in You and Your perfect word. I will persevere through the trials Lord, as I always have (take a moment and write those trials you have passed through down). Lord, I know that there is nothing in this world that can overcome You, nor is there anything in this world more powerful than You. Lord strengthen me, and discipline me to be a student of Your word. A student of the great love that You have provided for me in Your word. Thank you, Jesus, I pray all of this in Your holy and mighty name.