#860 Kaph

Kaph

81 My soul longs for your salvation;

I hope in your word.

82 My eyes long for your promise;

I ask, “When will you comfort me?”

83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,

yet I have not forgotten your statutes.

84 How long must your servant endure?

When will you judge those who persecute me?

85 The insolent have dug pitfalls for me;

they do not live according to your law.

86 All your commandments are sure;

they persecute me with falsehood; help me!

87 They have almost made an end of me on earth,

but I have not forsaken your precepts.

88 In your steadfast love give me life,

that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth. Psalm 119: 81-88 ESV

A continuation of Psalm 119, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Kaph  is the 11th letter in the Hebrew alphabet, numeric value of 20, and a pictograph representing the palm of the hand. In Hebrew it looks like a bent line, which some say appears to be the crown of  a prostrate king. Crowns in the Bible:

12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.… James 1: 12-13

16 Then the soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called the whole company together. 17 They dressed Him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and set it on His head. 18 And they began to salute Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!”… Mark 15: 16-18

…9 And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist, and came to be.”… Revelation 4: 9-11

Hands and Palms in the Bible:

…15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me. 17 Your builders hasten back; your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.… Isaiah 49: 15-17

…40 Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD. 41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: 42“We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven.”… Lamentations 3: 40-42

21 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality. 22 Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. 23 Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments.… 1 Timothy 5: 21-23

My soul longs for Your salvation - There is no other name under heaven. When a man can be brought to such a state that none else will do, he is then looking at the greater state for which none else can do. 

…11 He is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” 13 When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.… Acts 4: 11-13

I hope in Your Word - His visible circumstances are declining quickly, but His hope is in what God says, "though You slay me yet will I praise You."

- Therefore he felt that salvation would come, for God cannot break his promise, nor disappoint the hope which his own word has excited: yea, the fulfilment of his word is near at hand when our hope is firm and our desire fervent. Hope alone can keep the soul from fainting by using the smelling bottle of the promise. Yet hope does not quench desire for a speedy answer to prayer; it increases our importunity, for it both stimulates ardour and sustains the heart under delays. To faint for salvation, and to be kept from utterly failing by the hope of it, is the frequent experience of the Christian man. We are "faint yet pursuing" hope sustains when desire exhausts. While the grace of desire throws us down, the grace of hope lifts us up again. C. H. Spurgeon

For I have become like a wine skin in the smoke - Drained, emptied, covered in the soot of despair, he looks longingly at the horizon, where will his help come from, when will it come? I think of my Lord upon the cross, hung up for all the world to see and abuse. The life fluids draining, covered in my filth, and wearing a crown of thorns, forsaken by God in that moment of the pouring out of His wrath against me, there it is, my salvation. 

When will You judge those who persecute me - These men have not spoken only once, but again and are still digging pits for him like a quarry for large prey. They may think much of their religion, but the Psalmist points out that they do not live according to God's law. 

…18 I am One who testifies about Myself, and the Father, who sent Me, also testifies about Me.” 19“Where is Your Father?” they asked Him. “You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.” 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.… John 8: 18-20

But I have not forsaken Your precepts - Regardless of what these men do, the Psalmist remains loyal to God's law. 

In Your steadfast love give me life - Give me life more abundant than these struggles, Thy will be done. 

- None keep the word of the Lord's mouth unless the word of the Lord's mouth quickens them. We ought greatly to admire the spiritual prudence of the Psalmist, who does not so much pray for freedom from trial as for renewed life that he may be supported under it. When the inner life is vigorous all is well. David prayed for a sound heart in the closing verse of the last octave, and here he seeks a revived heart; this is going to the root of the matter, by seeking that which is the most needful of all things. Lord, let it be heart work with us, and let our hearts be right with thee. C. H. Spurgeon