When Will This be Over?

I just love David’s testimony of how he handled difficult times. He wrote Ps. 119, and in the four verses we will look at today, we see what ran through his mind and his prayers. He demonstrated that experiencing emotional pain is universal. But he knew how to encourage himself in God, which meant talking to God and sometimes questioning him. But in all cases, he sought God for relief. He didn’t have it in him to do anything but trust God.

How can I get like that? It might require being stripped of all other help. When God is all we have, God is all we need.

Psa 119:81 My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.	Deliverance from this trial is overdue. That’s the sentiment sometimes. It surely was the case with David as he spent a lot of time on the run from Saul and later from his son Absalom.  Fortunately, David made a habit of encouraging himself in God, and we benefit from his testimony. He did it by actively hoping in God’s word. He meditated on God’s character and his promises and trusted them. There’s no need for a psychiatrist, and a friend is a false hope. David turned to God’s word.
(82)  Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?	Not that life trusting God’s character and promises is always easy. God will come through, but not on our schedule. David’s eyes failing makes me think he must have cried so much, he couldn’t see what he was reading. But we know he didn’t stay in that state. Another time he wrote about the victory he experienced: Psa 30:5b  weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. God will come through. Just hang on.
(83)  For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.	Bottles in the olden days were made of leather and were hung in the tents in which pheasants lived. The leather bottles absorbed the soot from the fires they burned and thus became black. David may have been likening his life to absorbing soot as he lived through difficult trials. In spite of it, he didn’t forget God’s statutes, which are prescribed tasks. There are only two times we can obey God—when we feel like it, and when we don’t. David is a model of obedience here.
(84)  How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?	David felt like his life was wasting away while his persecutors chased him. It’s a very wonderous thing that he trusted God to eliminate his persecutor, Saul, rather than eliminate him himself. He had opportunities to kill Saul, but his conscience wouldn’t let him. Instead, he cut off a piece of Saul’s robe, held it up to him and said: The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. (1 Sam 24:12) So, the question was, “God, when will you avenge me? Time’s a wastin’. He was certainly human. It’s OK to ask God, when will this be over?