"How Long…?"
“How Long…?”
Blessings folk!
The next stanza.
The Psalmist was experiencing trials...persecution...affliction...attack of an enemy.
He was “bearing up” and standing firm in the Word of the Lord.
We have seen him declare this.
Yet.
He wondered.
How long?
How long Lord until you judge those who persecute?
How long must we endure?
Psalm 119:81-84
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?
The Psalmist longed for the salvation...the rescue of the Lord.
Still, he placed his hope in the Word of the Lord.
That the Lord was faithful, merciful, full of lovingkindness and would not abandon.
The Psalmist longed for the promise of the Lord.
To rescue.
To comfort.
The Psalmist had become as a “wineskin in the smoke” or “bottle in the smoke” (KJV).
He was all but invisible.
None heeded.
None paid attention, save for the enemy that sought harm.
Yet.
He had not forgotten the statutes of the Lord.
How long must we endure?
When will the Lord judge the persecutors?
The same question was asked by the martyrs under the altar at the opening of the fifth seal in Revelation...
Revelation 6:9-10
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.
10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
Hear the answer of the Lord…
Revelation 6:11
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
Given a white robe.
They were saved.
They were washed in the Blood.
They were told to rest a little longer.
Be patient.
Until?
Until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete.
Who were to be killed as they had.
They were/are to rest in their salvation.
There would be more martyred.
God knows how many.
God knows when.
God knows the timing of all.
May we rest and trust in Him.