Psalm 119 KAPH

 "My soul faints with longing for your salvation,   

    but I have put my hope in your word.

My eyes fail, looking for your promise;

        I say, 'When will you comfort me?'

Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,                             

    I do not forget your decrees.

How long must your servant wait?

        When will you punish my persecutors?

The arrogant dig pits to trap me,

        contrary to your law.

All your commands are trustworthy;

        help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.

They almost wiped me from the earth,

     but I have not forsaken your precepts.

In your unfailing love preserve my life,

        that I may obey the statutes of your mouth."

                                Psalm 119:81-88

        The coolest part about the longest chapter in Psalm is not only that it is split into 22 sections, each with 8 verses a section, or that the sections are split by the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The coolest part is that the sections themselves follow what is called an acrostic pattern. According to the blog God's Growing Garden, the author describes an acrostic pattern as a poem that is arranged to  is a poem where certain letters in each line spell out a word or phrase. We see in this section KAPH split like this

                 Keep me 

               SAfe,

                  Preserve my life;

I place my Hope in your Word.

        The main theme of this section is the truth that even when we feel at our weakest, God, in all of his strength, has a plan, and it is through this that we find the greatest strength, despite our weakness. An underlying concept that continues to show up in this psalm are the people who are simply termed "the pride" or "the prideful". Sometimes, they accuse the righteous of false unrighteousness, or they belittle the righteous because of their belief, but this instance shows the heart of the psalmist. "How long will your servant wait, when will you punish your persecutors? The arrogant dig pits to trap me, contrary to your law. All your commands are trustworthy, help me for I am being persecuted without cause."- vs 84-86. 

        What the psalmist is saying is that although he knows God has redeemed him and saved him, his enemies still rise up against him, many times without any truth in their accusations. Unfortunately for the writer, he probably couldn't see the fulfillment of his hopes. Fortunately for us, we have been given the gift of the completed Bible. The book of Revelation reveals God's plan for exactly what will happen to the prideful and arrogant, as well as the blessings and fulfillments of promises to the people who are written in the Lamb's book of Life. 

        I believe their have been times in all of our lives where we hit this same stance as Christians. We serve God faithfully, obeying his rules and following his commandments, yet we tend to get looked over and pushed around, simply because we desire to act in kindness instead of hate. Despite all this, the proud succeed and become the objects of desire for the world to admire. We wonder when will the universe shift in our favor and the arrogant finally get what is coming to them. We tell God all the reasons why our life should be in a better position then it is and clearly He must have messed up somewhere along the way. If the commands we follow are truly for our good, why is our life seemingly in shambles. "When will they get what you said they deserve?" This section KAPH reminds us that in times of emotional distress, God's strength will make us strong to overcome the weakness of the flesh and to allow God's plan to fall into place as he has designed and planned it to go. 

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Journey Through the Psalms