Psalm 119:81

Psalm 119:81

A reason for hope

And so to the 11th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s “Kaph” and the letter signifies the palm of a hand and whatever the hand may contain. The word for spoon, in Hebrew, is “Kaf” and is a natural extension of the palm as a container. As you may recall, in Isaiah 49:16 we read that the Lord has engraved Jerusalem upon the palms of His hands so it’s easy to see that the letter “Kaph” illustrates His abiding concern for Zion.

Maybe the above is the context for the verse that follows the letter. The psalmist is still facing afflictions and longs to be free; the only source of comfort is the Word of the Lord and there he discovers that He has a place in the palms of God’s hands. Notice that he does not say that it is his body that faints with longing for God’s salvation, rather it is his soul that has become almost unconscious with yearning for deliverance. In other words, deep within his inner self is a longing, a craving to be free and to be able to enjoy the liberation that God’s salvation brings. Some of us have faced long periods in the wilderness with our emotions, and we call it depression. Or we may have suffered intense loneliness, rejection or abandonment by those we thought were friends. There are a thousand reasons why our souls might faint with longing but there is none worse that believing ourselves to be abandoned by the Lord! In those circumstances there is only one-way forwards, it is to believe God’s Word and then wait in expectation for salvation to come. That is our hope, it is driven by faith not by reason or by evidence. Hope is what we have to cling to when nothing seems to be happening, and the Lord seems a thousand miles away. Hope that is fuelled by God’s Word.

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