Constant Cry of God’s People

Some Few Other Selected Translations

AMPLIFIED VERSION

My eyes fail [with longing, watching] for [the fulfillment of] Your promise, Saying, “When will You comfort me?”

HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE

My eyes grow weary looking for what You have promised; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION

I am worn out from waiting for you to keep your word. When will you have mercy?

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD VERSION

My eyes grow weary with respect to what you have promised— I keep asking, “When will you comfort me?”

Introduction

This is the longest chapter in the bible, intriguingly the book itself is the longest book in the entire bible. This chapter is written in a sectionalized and acrostic format, with each alphabet word of the Hebrew word heading the sectionalized section. In the book of Deuteronomy the Lord through his prophet Moses told them of the need to always have the word of God handy with them always, therefore, most of the Hebrew religious leaders have always encouraged their followers to be memorizing the bible.

Now if this chapter would be memorized, the sectionalization and its acrostic format would enhance the easy memorization of this chapter.

The author being human shows one of the commonest questions being asked by humans (especially believers) while we are awaiting God’s miracles which have been promised us, either through His prophets, the ones we have been opportune to directly receive from God and indubitably the ones we have read from the Scriptures to be the lots of those who have been God’s lovers and followers.

As Apostle Paul says in his epistle to the Romans that “for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Rom 15:4)

He wrote this so that those of us alive now and the Jews would know that sometimes it could be tiring and demanding waiting for the manifestations of God’s promises.

Shall we examine this verse, 82nd of Psalms 119 beneath.

Not an Imagination

The author is herein talking from his experience not from what he heard someone says, nor inferring anything. He was not imagining it, it was what he had experienced.

What the Experience was

The experience was not a palatable one, so he had to share it so that we could learn from it. The Hebrew word for fail here is kâlâh, (pronounced as kaw-law’) which also means expire, faint. And the Hebrew word for “word” used in this verse is ‘imrâh-’emrâh (pronounced as im-raw’, em-raw’) which means commandment, speech.

This means that the Lord has spoken some words with him probably outside those which he had read from the scriptures which calls for his waiting for its fulfillment.

Holman Christian Standard Bible aptly puts this well by translating this verse as “my eyes grow weary looking for what You have promised; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

What He was doing

After hearing those words of promises what he has been doing was:

1) Waiting For His Promises to be fulfilled

He has been waiting for the promises of God through the word of God, the ones spoken by the prophets which had not come to pass. The promises have been taking a long time before it becomes fulfilled, therefore he becomes somewhat wearied, and he cries out to Yahweh in prayers asking when he shall be comforted.

2) Looking hither and thither for God’ s help, like a man who was expecting a visitor,

3) He was hopeful even when it seems as if all hope had gotten lost (Rom. 4:18)

4) He was patient, (Rm. 8:25; Jam. 5:7-8)

5) He continued in God’s will (Heb 10:36; Psa. 119:83)

6) Quietly expecting (Lam. 3:25-26)

What He did Afterwards

After his heart had failed him, after he had become exhausted from his waiting, he then spoke, albeit in a question format, “when will you comfort me? When will you help me? When will you have mercy on me?” (Psa. 119:82) He knows the promise is for an appointed time, (Hab. 2:3) and he believes the time is nigh, He should have been visited because he has been waiting for the fulfillment of the promises for a while.

The Hebrew word used for “saying” in this verse is ‘âmar (pronounced as aw-mar’) which means commune, challenge amongst other meanings.

From this meanings we could imply that he therefore:

1) Commune with the Promise Maker which is Yahweh, maybe silently or not, he prayed to him asking him to have mercy on him and favour him.

2) Challenged him, through his written commandments (laws) that it is high time he should be remembered and visited,

Congregation in the Church

What He did not do

1) He was not moved by what people were saying during those periods,

2) He was not eager for fanciful earthly things but for the objects of faith,

As God’s People

Those of us who are Israelites of God (Gal. 6:16) have also been enveloped by expectations of the fulfilment of God’s words and promises to us for long, and these fulfilment have seemed to be at a distance to us like it did to father Abraham, they seemed elusive to us, and have been thinking and probably saying would these promises ever be fulfilled? We may even be thinking of maneuvering our ways, but we shouldn’t. We should emulate the author of this book as we cry to him in prayers, challenging him to fulfil what he has promised to us and we won’t be disappointed.

Conclusion

There are times in our lives that we wonder why some things happen the way they are happening, we should know that such has been the case with our patriarchs in faith and they have gone weary of waiting, however even at that stage, they keep following the Lord, challenging him, putting him in remembrance that He needs to expedite action and comfort them. This we could as well do knowing that there is time for fulfilment of every vision and promise.

(The End)

© 2025 OLUSEGUN