Psalm 119:84

Have you ever encountered a stressful situation which seemed to drag on and on to the point that you wondered how long you were going to live with it?  In fact, you wondered how long you were going to live, period!  If so, you are in the company of the author of Psalm 119, for we find him wondering the same thing. 

Psalms 119:84  How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?

As we have been noticing in this octave of Psalm 119, the psalmist was in a comfortless condition that was stretching out in front of him with no relief in sight.  From this passage we can deduce that prolonged persecution was the source of his stress.  As the persecution continued to wear him down, he became weary of life and, therefore, asked:  How many are the days of thy servant?  One’s life can become so distasteful that he begins to wish for it to end and to wonder how long it will be before it does.   

Job shared the sentiments of the psalmist as he too was the object of persecution, not only from the devil who was smiting him, but even from his friends.

Job 19:21  Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

22    Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

Job suffered prolonged misery and could find no relief during the day or during the night.  Therefore, he longed to die and end his days on this earth.

Job 7:1  Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?

2  As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work:

3  So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed to me.

4  When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

13  When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

14  Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:

15  So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.

16  I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

Now the psalmist posed this question to his God:  when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?  That God will execute judgment on the persecutors of His people is a given.

Psalms 7:11  God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

12  If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

13  He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

When God will execute this judgment is the question.  Of course, God will ultimately execute judgment on our enemies at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Thessalonians 1:6  Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7  And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power…. 

However, history is replete with examples of the Lord executing judgment on the persecutors of His people during their lifetime on earth.  Consider the judgments executed on the Egyptians who refused to let Israel go.  Did not the Lord execute judgment on Saul who persecuted David?  And don’t forget the judgment executed on the Assyrians who besieged Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, when an angel of the Lord smote 185,000 Assyrians in a night.  These are to name but a few.  With such precedents before us, we are encouraged to ask the Lord when He will execute judgment on our enemies and bring our trouble to an end. 

So the limited time the psalmist had on this earth was running out and what days he had were being spent being mistreated by his enemies.  But the silver lining in this grey cloud is the fact that the psalmist did not avenge himself.  He could have reasoned that since his days on earth were numbered, he might as well take matters in his own hands and secure his own relief so that he might pass the rest of his days in ease.  Instead, he brought his concerns to God appealing to Him as the One Who could resolve them.  Charles Bridges sums it up beautifully:

“Your trial has done its appointed work, when it has brought you to him; and inclined you, after your blessed Master’s example, instead of taking the vengeance into your own hands, to commit yourself and your cause ‘to him that judgeth rightouesly’” (1Peter 2:23).