Psalm 119:84 | “How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me?”

The psalmist continues to suffer. He asks the question that echoes through the psalms of lament, “How long?” Psalm 13 opens the same way, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?” The psalmist feels his suffering has lasted long enough. Then he adds a second plea, “When will you judge those who persecute me?” His hardship comes at the hands of his enemies, yet he knows God could stop them with a single word. So he wrestles in prayer with God himself. We know a day is coming, a great and terrible day, when God will judge every proud persecutor of his people. His justice will not fail. Until that day, we are free to honestly ask, “How long, O LORD?” Yet as we pour out our hearts, we must end where Psalm 13 ends, “I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” Let us never forget that God has been so good to us.