Tune My Heart, Episode 41
- Stacy Bishop
- May 2
- 3 min read
Happy Sunday, friend. As you prepare for worship this morning, let’s take a moment of quiet to invite God’s presence into your awareness today.
כ Kaph
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?”
83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,
I do not forget your decrees.
84 How long must your servant wait?
When will you punish my persecutors?
85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me,
contrary to your law.
86 All your commands are trustworthy;
help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 In your unfailing love preserve my life,
that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.
ל Lamedh
89 Your word, Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve you.
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have preserved my life.
94 Save me, for I am yours;
I have sought out your precepts.
95 The wicked are waiting to destroy me,
but I will ponder your statutes.
96 To all perfection I see a limit,
but your commands are boundless.
I love the sense of desperation in David’s voice here. The longing for God to rescue. And I love the juxtaposition between desperation and hope—he speaks of desperation but also of the great faithfulness of God:
89 Your word, Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 Your laws endure to this day,
for all things serve you.
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
The Enduring Word commentary says this:
“The psalmist knew that without his relationship with God and His word, he would not have been sustained in his season of affliction.”
It also shares this story that was recounted in a Spurgeon work:
“‘Thy law…my delights…in mine affliction.’ I happened to be standing in a grocer’s shop one day in a large manufacturing town in the west of Scotland, when a poor, old, frail widow came in to make a few purchases. There never was, perhaps, in that town a more severe time of distress. Nearly every loom was stopped. Decent and respectable tradesmen who had seen better days, were obliged to subsist on public charity. So much money per day (but a trifle at most) was allowed to the really poor and deserving. The poor widow had received her daily pittance, and she had now come into the shop of the grocer to lay it out to the best advantage. She had but a few coppers in her withered hands. Carefully did she expend her little stock – a pennyworth of this and the other necessary of life nearly exhausted all she had. She came to the last penny, and with a singular expression of heroic contentment and cheerful resignation on her wrinkled face, she said, ‘Now I must buy oil with this, that I may see to read my Bible during these long dark nights, for it is my only comfort now when every other comfort has gone away.’”
Oh, that my heart would long for the word of the lord in that way. In the way of David in his desperation for the Word. In the way of this widow in her desperation for the word, knowing that affliction can be sustained and survived by the Word of the Lord.
Let’s pray.
Father, we come to you knowing that our hearts are not fully committed in the way of these words. That we’re not fully desperate and reliant on you, as we should be. God, would you make us long for you. Would you give us that desperation that we could sing songs like, “I’m lost without you, and I’m desperate for you,” with truth and meaning. That we would see the value and the need for your Word everyday in our lives. Father, as we lead today, may it be from the place of honoring and knowing and desiring to give back praise to you, who alone are worthy. It’s in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
A printable/downloadable version of today's devo is available here:
Comments