Psalms 119:83 - Meaning and Application

David asks God to hurry and comfort him because his trouble is so great that he is an object of pity. He says, “I have become like a bottle in the smoke.” This refers to a leather bottle, which, if it hung long in smoke, would be blackened, dried out, and shriveled. David felt worn down by age, sickness, and grief. Affliction can weaken even the strongest people. He had once been bright and healthy, but now he feels faded, wrinkled, and exhausted, as if God’s rebukes have worn him down like moths ruin cloth.

A bottle in that condition would be thrown aside, with no more use for it. In the same way, David, in his low state, felt like a broken vessel that others despised and found no pleasure in. When good people are sad and discouraged, they sometimes think they are more rejected than they really are.

David also asks for mercy because, even though his suffering is heavy, it has not pulled him away from obedience. “Yet I do not forget your statutes.” No matter what our outward condition is, we must not let our love for God’s word cool off, and we must not let it slip from our minds. No worry or grief should crowd it out. Some people drink and forget God’s law (Proverbs 31:5), and others weep and forget it. But in every condition, whether life is pleasant or hard, we should keep God’s things in mind.

If we remember God’s statutes, we may pray and hope that he will remember our sorrows, even if for a time he seems to have forgotten us.