"Lord, When Will You Comfort Me?"

[Psalm 119:81-88]

Have you ever felt the limit of your endurance? Have you ever prayed to God saying, “God, how long must I endure this pain?” As the pain and adversity we face drag on, we often feel the limits of our endurance. At times like these, we may cry out to God with the question, “How long?” The psalmist in today’s passage in Psalm 119 experienced this. He longed for God’s salvation while waiting for God’s word, but as the answers to his prayers did not come, he prayed, “When will You comfort me?” (Psalm 119:82) “I have become weary waiting for Your promise to be fulfilled, and my eyes grow tired looking for Your word.” (Modern Korean Bible). Today, I want to reflect on two things: the Limitation of Endurance and the Challenge of Endurance, based on this passage.

First, let’s consider the limitation of endurance.

Let’s look at Psalm 119:81-82: “My soul longs for Your salvation; I hope in Your word. My eyes fail from searching Your word, saying, ‘When will You comfort me?’” (Modern Korean Bible: “I have become weary longing for Your salvation, but I still trust Your word. I am asking, ‘When will You comfort me?’ as I wait for Your promises to be fulfilled, and my eyes have grown tired.”) The psalmist was weary. He was tired and exhausted. Why? Because he was being persecuted by his enemies (verse 84). Who were these enemies? They were “the proud who do not follow Your law” (verse 85). They persecuted the psalmist “without cause” (verse 86) and they “dug pits” for him, trying to trap him (verse 85). In other words, they plotted to harm him. They almost destroyed him (verse 87). The Modern Korean Bible translates this as, “They nearly killed me.”

In this desperate situation, the psalmist longed for God’s salvation (verse 81) and waited for His word (verse 82), but it seems that he had not yet experienced the fulfillment of God’s promises. And so, he became weary and exhausted (verse 81), his eyes grew tired (verse 82).

This passage speaks to the moments when we feel that God’s promises are delayed, when we are exhausted from waiting and wondering when God will answer us. In times like these, the psalmist’s experience becomes our own, and we too find ourselves asking, "How long, Lord?"

There are times when, like the psalmist, we feel exhausted and weary. No matter how much we cry out to God asking Him to deliver us from our painful circumstances, it seems that there are no answers to our prayers, and our situation only worsens. During such times, we can grow weary and tired both physically and spiritually. At such moments, the real danger is discouragement. When our situation is so difficult and painful, and it feels like no matter how much we cry out to God, there is no response, and the situation keeps getting worse, we may reach a point where we can no longer endure. In our tiredness, we may become discouraged, and even fall into despair. Especially when our arrogant enemies continue to mock us saying, "Where is your God?" (Psalm 42:10), we may feel tempted to give up. Like the psalmist, when we think, "When will God punish our arrogant enemies?" (Psalm 119:84, Modern Bible), we may feel that God's judgment is delayed, and we may easily fall into discouragement.

What should we do at such times? When we pray, wait, and hope for God's salvation, but still experience no response to our prayers, and our soul becomes anxious and discouraged, what should we do? When, after waiting and waiting, we still don't feel God's comfort, how should we respond when, like the psalmist, we cry out: "Lord, when will You comfort me?" This is the true challenge of patience.

Secondly, let’s consider the challenge of patience.

What should we do when we grow weary in longing for the Lord's salvation? (Psalm 119:81, Modern Bible). What should we do when the Lord's comfort seems slow in coming, and our eyes grow weary as we wait for His promises to be fulfilled? (Psalm 119:82, Modern Bible). What should we do when we feel that "I have become worthless" (Psalm 119:83, Modern Bible)? What should we do when arrogant people who do not follow God's law persecute us for no reason, set traps to catch us, and yet God's judgment against them is delayed? (Psalm 119:84-86, Modern Bible). What should we do when they "almost killed me?" (Psalm 119:87, Modern Bible). How should we respond to such a challenge of patience?

Even when we grow weary longing for the Lord’s salvation, we must still trust in His Word (Psalm 119:81, Modern Bible). The reason for this is that God's commandments are trustworthy (Psalm 119:86, Modern Bible). Even though we become weary waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled (Psalm 119:82, Modern Bible), we must not forget God's law (Psalm 119:83). Even if our arrogant enemies persecute us and almost kill us for no reason, we must not forsake God’s teachings (Psalm 119:87, Modern Bible). When we do this, we will be revived according to the Lord's mercy (Psalm 119:88). At that time, we will continue to keep His law (Psalm 119:88, Modern Bible).

God’s patience toward us is never reckless. Every moment that God waits and endures is never wasted but is used in the most precious way (Park Yun-seon). Although from our perspective, God's salvation, comfort, and help may seem delayed, leading us to ask, "Lord, when will You comfort me?" "Lord, will You always help me?" "Lord, when will You save me?"—even in these moments, we must not forget the Lord's faithful commandments and trust in His word. We must never abandon His word. When the Lord's time comes, He will surely save us. The faithful Lord will fulfill every promise He has made to us. With this assurance of salvation, we must endure in faith and hope, even in the midst of tribulation and persecution. Even though we may feel that we’ve reached the limits of our patience, we must not become discouraged. Instead, we should look to our true hope, the Lord, and desire His word even more fervently.

Let us pray that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will comfort us with the living and powerful word of God.

Even within the limits of patience, accepting God's challenge, let us pray in faith, eagerly awaiting the fulfillment of God's trustworthy and faithful promises.

James Kim, Pastor
(Remembering that the Lord “first showed all His patience to me” (1 Timothy 1:16))